Bacchae keywords

Question 1

speech song - A

Answer 1

In tragedy, speech sounds like song “when we become emotional” for example in Bacchae when Agave transitions from song to speech when she regains sanity. Aristoxenus

Question 2

paradox of joy vs suffering - G

Answer 2

“The most striking paradox is that the god who throughout the play promises joy will at the end produce only suffering and horror.” Garvey

Question 3

despair increased by joy - G

Answer 3

“Somehow the despair seems all the darker because of the recurring theme of joy that has preceded it.”

Question 4

continuity of actors on performance - H

Answer 4

“One actor played Dionysus and Tiresias, another Pentheus and Agave, the third Cadmus and the two messengers; the continuity of actors, who will not have been able to disguise their voices altogether, must have affected the impact of the performances.” Hall

Question 5

tragic hero definition - K

Answer 5

“A tragic hero was someone who makes a decision rooted in personal nature (physis) and maintains it to the point of self-destruction.” Knox

Question 6

Dionysus is not spectacular - M

Answer 6

“He is not a remote, spectacular deity but a deity who has deliberately disguised himself in human clothing to deceive a mortal into threatening and disrespecting him.” Mills

Question 7

Pentheus deals with equal, audience uncomfortable - M

Answer 7

“Because Pentheus is manipulated into the mistake of believing that he is dealing with an equal, watching the whole experience becomes highly uncomfortable for the audience.” Mills

Question 8

smiling mask - M

Answer 8

“If we feel that Dionysus’ treatment of suffering humanity is anything but a sport, we should remember that he may well be wearing a smiling mask.” Morwood

Question 9

Dionysus disturbing city social structure - M

Answer 9

“In driving the Theban women from the city to worship him on the mountainside, Dionysus has profoundly disrupted the city’s social structure. The women have abandoned not only their looms but their children too.” Morwood

Question 10

agave’s recognition scene - R

Answer 10

“Agave’s recognition scene is one of the most painful and harrowing scenes in Greek tragedy. No parent can watch it and not sympathise.” Roisman

Question 11

mask neutrality - T

Answer 11

“It looks as though the ‘neutrality’ of the mask was ready to take its ‘expression’ from the tragedy rather than imposing a certain tone upon it.” Taplin

Question 12

ecstatic joy heightens pathos - W

Answer 12

“Their ecstatic joy is chilling, while heightening the pathos for the circumstances of Pentheus’ destruction.” Wyles

Question 13

visual representation of dionysus’ control - W

Answer 13

“The appearance of Pentheus cross-dressed and with bacchic accessories offers a visual representation of Dionysus’ full control over him.” Wyles

Question 14

house a a symbol - W

Answer 14

“The house is transformed by this scene from a symbol of royal authority to a symbol of Dionysus’ power.” Wyles