Prof. Wareh's Course Pages > Greek 333: Tragedy

GRK333. Bacchae Winter 2006 Prof. Wareh

Schedule of Readings

Books and Resources

Assigned textbooks

• E.R. Dodds, Euripides: Bacchae, OUP (ISBN 0198721250)
• Liddell and Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, OUP (ISBN 0199102066)

Special Topics for Discussion

• Jan. 16: Maenadism [handout with texts; see further references below under Miscellanea]
• Jan. 23: Teiresias' "sophistry" in the first episode
  • secondary readings: Charles Segal, Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides' Bacchae (1982), pp. 277f., 294-6, 305-7; Seaford on 266-327, 274-85; Dodds, p. 91; Kirk, p. 44; Mary Lefkowitz, 'Impiety' and 'Atheism' in Euripides' Dramas (1989), rev. vers. in Judith Mossman, ed., Oxford Readings in Classical Studies: Euripides (2003); Paul Roth, Teiresias as Mantis and Intellectual in Euripides' Bacchae (1984); D.J. Mastronarde, The Optimistic Rationalist in Euripides: Theseus, Jocasta, Teiresias (1986), esp. pp. 7-8; D.J. Conacher, Euripides and the Sophists: Some Dramatic Treatments of Philosophical Ideas (1998) is available from Bard College Library
  • primary readings: see handout
• Feb. 13: General interpretative issues in preparation for choosing paper topics. Among the ideas discussed:
  • Pentheus' reasons, emotions, and social stance
  • Euripides' repertoire of figurative and pictorial language (Mastronarde handout)
  • Nature, violence, and civilization in Bacchae
  • (We also discussed the possibility of paper topics that would interpret Bacchae against other texts, either based on dramatic similarities within the Euripidean corpus or in relation to non-tragic Greek song traditions.)
• Feb. 20: The two great messenger speeches
  • The events narrated in these speeches are rich in evocations of ritual. This applies not only to what the maenads do on their own, but also to Pentheus' being cross-dressed, paraded, pelted, torn apart, and brought home as a trophy. The outlines of the argument are presented by Richard Seaford, Dionysiac Drama and the Dionysiac Mysteries (1981), pp. 263-265. The article by A.G. Bather to which Seaford refers, The Problem of the Bacchae (1894) is an interesting attempt to parallel each key plot element with folk customs known from other cultures (see pp. 249 ff.).
    • A more contemporary parallel: J.Z. Smith, Imagining Religion, pp. 112-117, develops a comparison between Ba. and Jim Jones, especially around the idea of the cult devotees' violent reaction upon the invasion of their utopia (sources: Jonestown transcripts, some audio).
  • To view the pyxis mentioned by Dodds' note on 754, go here, click "New Search" to get to the search form, and then type E775 into the "catalogue number" field. The baby-stealing maenad is on the lid at three o'clock!
• Feb. 27: Discussion of students' paper topics
  • Pentheus' rightfulness; his identity as political leader, and his consequent views on religion and family; his role as tragic hero & the dramatic importance of his discernments, judgments, and strategies
  • The chorus: its unusual role, its exchange with Dionysus (576-641), and its influence on the drama's other characters
  • Piety in Bacchae and the theme of Theban kinship and lineage, with special reference to Episode 1 and its impact on the unfolding drama
• March 6: The Dionysus myth satirized in later Greek literature (Lucian, Dialogi deorum 12)

Electronic reserves

• Hymn to Dionysus (ed. and trans. M.L. West)
• Introduction to Bacchae (Richard Seaford)

Online References

Miscellanea dionysiaca

• The bell-krater painting referred to by Seaford in his note on 918-9 "in which a maenad carrying part of a fawn seems about to strike with a sword a naked young man who holds up and looks at a drum containing an image of a maenad which is clearly (albeit mysteriously, like Dionysus appearing as a bull here, 920-2n.) a reflection of himself" [larger image]:
  
  
  
• Real-Life Maenadism:
  • Albert Henrichs: Greek Maenadism from Olympias to Messalina (1978), Between City and Country: Cultic Dimensions of Dionysus in Athens and Attica (1990), Drama and Dromena: Bloodshed, Violence, and Sacrificial Metaphor in Euripides (2000)
  • J.N. Bremmer, "Greek Maenadism Reconsidered" (1984) [source 1, source 2]
  • Barbara Goff, Citizen Bacchae (review; library: PA3015.W65 G65 2004)
  • Literary sources on the Thyiads: Plutarch, De mul. virt. §13, 249ef (cf. Lawrence Alma-Tadema's painting The Women of Amphissa, which hangs across the Taconics in Williamstown), Pausanias 10.4.3 and 10.32.7
  • various texts translated in Kraemer (ed.), Women's Religions in the Greco-Roman World (PDF: see nos. 3, 7-9, 12, 16a-c)
  • See also Deborah Lyons, Dionysiac Heroines (section "Women in Dionysiac Cult")
  • Olympias: the first historical maenad (Plut. Alex. 2)
  • Rome, 186 B.C.: Senatus consultum de bacchanalibus (inscription: image, text in Latin and English; account in Livy)
• Plants of Bacchae: Smilax aspera ("bryony," Ba. 108), Ferula communis (narthêx), Abies cephalonica [1] [2] [3] (from the map here, this, the Grecian fir, seems more likely than Abies alba, the European silver fir, for the elatai of Ba.)
• Images etc. related to Bacchae: Iconography, Literary Sources, and Modern Views (Silverman), Slide Lecture (Jansen), Slide Lecture (Huber), Slide Lecture (Wareh)
  • Mark Edwards 1960: Representation of Maenads on Archaic Red-Figure Vases (no images)
• The Structure of Greek Tragedy (Mastronarde)
  • Overview of Bacchae's structure: Esposito, Adams, Pozzi (who also has an extremely concise overview of Dionysiac rituals)
• A handy online translation of Bacchae

Course Requirements

Weekly Meetings and Assignments

The hours of our weekly class meetings are M 4:50-5:55, TuTh 3:35-4:40 (in the Beuth House Seminar Room).

For the first class meeting of each week (not counting Weeks 2, 6, and 9), instead of just preparing to translate and review the day's text in class, you will hand in a written, triple-spaced translation of the Greek reading assignment. Monday meetings will include broader discussions of Euripides' Bacchae and related topics in Greek culture and literature, as well as sight-readings from ancillary texts or upcoming assignments.

Requirements and Grading

Attendance is mandatory. Regular, punctual attendance and completion of all assignments are the minimal requirements for passing this course. Any arrangements for absences or missed work must be agreed to in advance.

The two exams (midterm and final) are not cumulative, and the final exam will be in the same format and carry the same weight as the midterm. The exams will focus on translation and grammatical understanding, but may also ask for brief accounts of passages' context and content, stylistic features, etc.

Course Policies

Office Hours. My scheduled office hours (Humanities 214A) are M 2:30-3:30, Tu 10-11, Th 2:30-3:30. In addition, please email or call me to make an appointment, which can usually be arranged with very short notice if I am in my office. I also encourage you to email me as often as you like to ask questions about Greek or to run your ideas by me.

Academic Honor Code. All work submitted for this course must be your own. You may work with others in preparing assignments. If you ever have any question about the propriety of collaboration, please consult with me.

Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code. The Academic Honor System of Union College is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility to:

• Uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work,
• Refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the college community, and
• Foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the college community.

A full statement of Union's Academic Honor Code may be found in the Student Handbook (see pp. 27ff. = pp. 13ff. of 76 in this PDF). See also Union's statement on plagiarism.

Disabilities. It is Union College policy to make accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you have any disability or special concern, please let me know what your needs are in order that they may be accommodated. All discussions will remain confidential to the extent permissible by law.

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations must also:

• Register with and provide documentation to the Dean of Students Office.
• Bring a letter to the instructor from the Dean of Students Office indicating what academic accommodations you require. This must be done within the first two weeks of the term. For more information about services available to Union College students with disabilities, please contact the Dean of Students Office:
            Shelly Shinebarger, Director of Student Support Services
            Dean of Students Office
            shinebas@union.edu
            (518) 388-6116