The Clouds by Aristophanes

Strepsiades is an older man from a rural background who “married up” to a woman with higher class notions.  Together they had a son (Pheidippides) who is more interested in horses and racing than in working the farm.  Strepsiades has gotten himself into significant debt which he blames on his son’s spending habits.  He would like his son to be gainfully employed, but it doesn’t appear that is going to happen.  So, instead of his son going to school with Socrates, he goes himself.  His intent is to learn how to use speech to talk his way out of his legitimate debts.  He tells Socrates “a galloping consumption seized my money.  Come now; do let me learn the unjust Logic that can shirk debts.”

Socrates is presented as a double-talking charlatan.   Through the use of twisted logic and changing the subject, he convinces Strepsiades of the error of a number of beliefs commonly held.  Among these is the notion that there are gods.  Specifically, he says that Zeus doesn’t exist, and that it is actually the Clouds which control man’s destiny.  When Strepsiades inquires as to how the clouds cause thunder, Socrates’ answer is to liken it to the rumblings of ones stomach after consuming something that doesn’t agree with him.  He makes reference to flatulence as the explanation for multiple things.  (i.e. he uses bathroom humor)

Socrates eventually pronounces Strepsiades too stupid to learn, and Strepsiades convinces his son to enter the school.  At this point, “Right Logic” and “Wrong Logic” enter in to a debate in front of Pheidippides.  Right Logic advocates the “old ways” of truth and justice and manly behavior.  Wrong Logic pokes fun at this and advocates dishonesty and promiscuity.  Wrong Logic ends up winning the argument and so Pheidippides accepts it.

The problem with this is that it backfires on Strepsiades.  Pheidippides starts beating him because Wrong Logic once employed makes it perfectly acceptable for a son to beat his father and his mother. 

Strepsiades then sets the house of Socrates on fire.  Socrates yells that he is suffocating.  Strepsiades again claims to believe in the gods.  The Clouds, for their part, are pleased with the outcome saying, “We find a man on evil thoughts intent, and guide him along to shame and wrong, then leave him to repent.”

I wonder how his contemporaries reacted to Aristophanes’ plays.  I suspect they found them wickedly funny, although from my perspective he makes quite a bit of humor from bodily functions.

                e.g.  Strepsiades trying to convince Pheidippides how carefully he tended him as a child:  “And you could hardly say “cacca!” when through the door I flew and held you out a full arms’ length, your little needs to do.”

The play drips with sarcasm and irony, and Aristophanes clearly didn’t think much of philosophers in general and Socrates in particular.

The Knights by Aristophanes

This play centers on Demus, and who controls him, although he is not the character from whom we hear the most.  He is presented as a ruler who is elderly and easily swayed, and it seems that he represents the government or perhaps, the will of the people.  At the beginning of the play, his steward who has enormous influence is Paphlagon, but play-goers at the time would have understood him to be an actual person named Cleon, who was no friend of Aristophanes.

Two servants in the household of Demus, complain about Paphlagon, who is cheating Demus and abusing them and other servants.  They determine that there is a prophecy that he will be ousted and replaced by a Sausage-Seller, and conveniently one appears on the scene.  The Sausage-Seller is an uneducated and coarse fellow, who at first doesn’t believe the prophecy, but is eventually convinced of it.

The Sausage Seller (whose name is revealed in the last scene to be Agoracritus) and Paphlagon engage in all manner of argument and insult hurling.  It is clear that they are both scoundrels.  The chorus, which is comprised of Knights, side with the Sausage Seller, who wants peace, rather than with Paphlagon, who is apparently using his influence to prevent Demus from resolving the current conflict.

Eventually, the argument comes down to each of them seeing who can outdo the other in pampering, flattering and otherwise catering to Demus.  Demus chooses the Sausage-Seller, who “boils him” as he would meat or sausage and in so doing, returns him to a younger and more vigorous state.  He then presents him with two young women, whom he refers to as “peace treaties.”  Paphlagon is sent off to the market (agora) to sell sausage.

Aristophanes was clearly cynical about social conventions and government.  The biggest scoundrel seems to get the upper hand and is only unseated by someone else who is a scoundrel, although maybe a less objectionable one.  It is difficult to understand and interpret what he has written without being steeped in the cultural context, especially when he employs bizarre imagery….such as boiling Demus to make him more youthful and vigorous.

I am amazed at the proficiency of whoever translated this play from Greek into English.  The entire play is formed of rhyming couplets.  Although length and rhythm vary throughout the play, the translator has managed to rhyme in English what was written in Greek.  This must have been a huge challenge.

And the take-away….looking at the current candidates for the US presidency, will the election be won by whomever promises to pamper, flatter and cater the most to the voters?  Aristophanes thinks so.

The Acharnians by Aristophanes

This is the first play I have read by Aristophanes, and I am feeling overwhelmed.  More so than the other Greek playwrights, his work is filled with references to people, places and situations which would have been known to his contemporaries, but which are way out of my league.

I recognize that this is supposed to be a comedy, and that he employs sarcasm and ridicule and the totally bizarre in working out his humor, but I’m pretty sure I’m catching less than twenty percent of the humorous references that would have been recognized by his audience at the time.  One thing that is apparent is that there was political disagreement and bad-mouthing of the opposition back then too.  Some of it sounds like the current presidential campaign.

The main character is Dicaeopolis.  He has despaired of the Athenians being able to negotiate a peace treaty with the Spartans, so he has privately negotiated one.  Various politicians are ridiculed for being self-serving and deceitful.

                Theorus: And he, with deep libations, vowed to help us with such an host that every one would say, “Heavens! What a swarm of locusts come this way”

                Dicaeopolis:  Hang me, if I believe a single word of all that speech, except about the locusts.

Dicaeopolis seems to be a man of reason and political forbearance:  Yet I know that these our foemen, who our bitter wrath excite, were not always wrong entirely, nor ourselves entirely right.

The Acharnians (who comprise the chorus) react very negatively to this statement and accuse Dicaeopolis of being a traitor to Athens.  However, by the end of the play, they seem to be on his side.

After considerable pontificating by Dicaeopolis, the scene changes, and we find ourselves in a market place where he is doing some ridiculous buying and selling.  He buys two pigs which are really children posing as pigs.  I have no idea what this is supposed to signify.

At the end, a contrast is drawn between Dicaeopolis and Lamachus who wanted to solve problems by going to war and is injured.  Dicaeopolis is carousing with some young women.  Dicaeopolis and Lamachus speak alternate lines.

L:  O Paean, Healer!  Heal me, Paean, pray.

D: ‘Tis not the Healer’s festival today.

L:  O lift me gently round the hips, My comrades true! 

D:  O kiss me warmly on the lips, My darlings, do!

L:  My brain is dizzy with the blow of hostile stone.

D:  Mine’s dizzy too; to bed I’ll go, and not alone.

So, it seems to me that Lamachus is a “hawk” and Dicaeopolis is a “dove” and that we haven’t progressed very far over the centuries since this was written.

The Cyclops by Euripides

Silenus, a great lover of wine and servant of the god of wine (Bromius or Bacchus) has been captured by the Cyclops, along with a group of satyrs, which he refers to as his children.  The one-eyed, man-eating monster holds them in slavery to tend his flocks.  Cyclops drinks only milk, and eats cheese and goat flesh, when human flesh is not available.

 Odysseus and his crew are misfortunate, and while returning from the battle in Ilium, they are driven by the wind and up on the shore near the cave of the Cyclops.  Silenus agrees to sell them food and drink in exchange for the flask of wine which Odysseus is carrying.  He goes into great raptures over the aroma and taste, and is willing to risk the displeasure of the Cyclops for the wine.  However, when the Cyclops returns, he tries to pretend that Odysseus has beaten him and is stealing the provisions.

Cyclops is delighted to see Odysseus and his crew, because he hasn’t had human meat in some time and is looking forward to gorging himself on it.  After he has killed, cooked and eaten two of Odysseus’ crew members, Odysseus convinces him to taste the wine.  He manages to get the Cyclops thoroughly drunk, and when he falls asleep, Odysseus burns out his single eye with a brand from the fire.  The satyrs are supposed to help with this, but they are cowardly and come up with ridiculous excuses for not being helpful.

Odysseus and his crew escape while Cyclops blindly stumbles around looking for “Noman,” which is what Odysseus has given as his name.  The satyrs are happy to go off with Odysseus, hoping to be reunited with the god of wine.

This was probably an amusing play to watch being performed.  I’m not sure why people stumbling around in drunkenness is amusing, but it is not an uncommon gag in plays and movies.  The glories of wine are extolled throughout the play.  Silenus says it is a “joyless land” where there is no wine, and that wine brings the “oblivion of woe.”

Silenus is also a great one for changing loyalties.  At one point, he tries to convince Cyclops that if he eats Odysseus….including, his tongue…he will become “a monstrous clever talker.”

Cyclops, for his part, recognizes no god as an authority over him, declaring that his belly is “the greatest of deities.”

This is the last play by Euripides in the series I am reading, and I am glad to bid him adieu.  He simply cannot resist nasty comments about women.  In The Cyclops, he states, “Would there had never been a race of women born into the world at all, unless it were for me alone!”

Iphigenia at Aulis

This story should be before “Iphigenia among the Tauri” if the stories in the Great Book series were chronological.  It occurs when her father Agamemnon is at Aulis, apparently becalmed and unable to continue sailing towards Troy.  He and Menelaus and their army are on the way to attack Troy and attempt to retrieve Helen.  A seer has told Agamemnon that in order to continue to Troy and have success, he must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis.

Agamemnon is horrified by this and doesn’t want to do it, but is afraid of what others will think if he doesn’t show that kind of commitment to the cause.  He knows his wife Clytemnestra will never agree to this so he sends a message that he has arranged a marriage between Achilles and Iphigenia.  He later sends his servant off with a message to ignore his prior message, but the servant is stopped by Menelaus who then confronts Agamemnon.

Not having received the second message, Clytemnestra and Iphigenia and their entourage arrive expecting a wedding celebration.  Agamemnon is hoping to carry out the sacrifice without Clytemnestra catching on, but she meets Achilles and tries to talk with him about his impending marriage to her daughter.  When he indicates he has no idea what she is talking about, they are both embarrassed.

 Once the truth is known, Achilles swears he will protect Iphigenia.  He is distressed that his name has been used in this deception.  Clytemnestra and Iphigenia both plead with Agamemnon, but there doesn’t seem to be any way out.  Iphigenia decides that if it means success for the army of her father, she is willing to sacrifice herself.  Although the retrieval of Helen doesn’t seem worth her sacrifice, the protection of the army and her homeland is worth it.

At the moment when the knife is put to Iphigenia’s throat, she disappears and a hind appears in her place to be sacrificed.  Iphigenia has been saved by and spirited away by the gods.

Interesting quotes:

Agamemnon:  I envy…every man who leads a life secure, unknown and unrenowned; but little I envy those in office.

None of mortals is prosperous or happy to the last, for none was ever born to a painless life.

A hateful thing the tongue of cleverness.

Thine is the madness rather in wishing to recover a wicked wife, once thou hadst lost her—a stroke of Heaven-sent luck.  (In other words, Agamemnon wishes Menelaus would just say ‘good riddance’ to Helen.)

He who is wise should keep in his house a good and useful wife or none at all.

Menelaus:  …he is enslaved by the love of popularity, a fearful evil.

Clytemnestra:  An honourable exchange, indeed, to pay a wicked woman’s price in children’s lives!  ‘Tis buying what we most detest with what we hold most dear.

Iphigenia among the Tauri by Euripides

One of several things that caused Clytemnestra to be so angry with her husband Agamemnon that she killed him was that he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to the gods in order to attempt to win their favor in the war against Troy.  Orestes later killed his mother Clytemnestra to avenge his father resulting in his exile.  We now learn that Iphigenia was not actually killed.  Just as Agamemnon was going to slay her with a knife, she was spirited away by the goddess Artemis, and a hind was left in her place.  Iphigenia was taken to the land of the Tauri and became a priestess in the temple of Artemis.  She is charged with making a sacrifice of any person who arrives on their shores from Hellas.

In his exile wanderings Orestes (her brother) and his friend Pylades stumble on these shores and are captured by the locals.  They are brought to Iphigenia who intends to sacrifice them according to the accepted protocol.  However, when she learns they are from the country of her birth, she begins to question them.  Pylades has given her his name, but Orestes has withheld his, so she doesn’t know initially that she is questioning and preparing to kill her own brother.  Eventually it is decided that Orestes will stay and die, but that Pylades will escape death by promising to carry a message back to Ilium for Iphigenia.  When Iphigenia gives him the written message and says it is for Orestes, Pylades hands it to him immediately, and so Iphigenia learns that her captive is her brother.

The three begin to plot how Iphigenia can get out of her required duty of killing them and escape with them back to Ilium.  She says that she will convince Thoas, king of the Tauri, that they are not a proper sacrifice because they have been guilty of matricide.  They must be purified before they are sacrificed, and since they have touched the statue of the goddess, it must be purified also.  This needs to be done in seawater, and she alone may preside over these rites.  King Thoas should stay behind and see to the cleansing of the temple itself.

Of course, Orestes and Pylades have a ship waiting for them.  

The three, with Iphigenia carrying the statue, escape to their ship.  The Tauri attempt to stop them, but are unsuccessful.  They hurry back to get soldiers to assist.  King Thoas is about to give chase, when the goddess Athena appears and tells him that it is the will of the gods for them to escape.  Also, although their ship is about to be dashed on the rocks, Poseidon intervenes and calms the sea for their sake.  Orestes and Pylades are to return to Ilium.  Iphigenia is going to end up at the temple of Artemis in Brauron.

Interesting quotes:

Iphigenia:  The unfortunate, having once known prosperity themselves, bear no kind feelings towards their luckier neighbours.

                Who knows on whom such strokes of fate will fall?  For all that Heaven decrees proceeds unseen, and no man knoweth of the ills in store; for Fate misleads us into doubtful paths.

                A man’s loss from his family is felt, while a woman’s is of little moment.  (That would be Euripides’ opinion!)

Orestes:  No wise man I count him, who, when death looms near, attempts to quell its terrors by piteous laments, nor yet the man who bewails the Death-god’s arrival, when he has no hope of rescue; for he makes two evils out of one; he lets himself be called a fool and all the same he dies; he should let his fortune be.

Chorus:    This that I have seen with mine eyes, not merely heard men tell may rank with miracles; ‘tis stranger than fiction.  (Truth is stranger than fiction.)

Orestes by Euripides

At the end of the Trojan War, King Agamemnon returned home having been gone 10 years.  During his absence his wife Clytemnestra had taken a lover, so when he returned, she and her lover killed him.  His son Orestes and daughter Electra then entered into a plot to kill her and avenge their father.  This play opens about six days later.  Orestes has been driven mad with guilt even though he believes he was ordered by the gods to slay his mother.  Also, the people of the kingdom are about to vote on an appropriate punishment for him.  He and Electra expect to be stoned to death for the murder.

Menelaus returns home from the war and asks to see Orestes.  The cause of the Trojan War was that Menelaus’ wife Helen had run off with Paris of Troy.  Agamemnon had agreed with Menelaus that they were bound by their honor to go retrieve her.  The ten years of war had resulted in many deaths, and the war became increasingly unpopular.  (Apparently long wars always have been unpopular.)  Menelaus has secretly gotten Helen back into the city, because he fears the anger of the populace against her.

Menelaus is uncle to Orestes.  Orestes expects him to understand why he had to kill Clytemnestra and to attempt to sway the people in his favor and spare his life.  While they are talking, Tyndareus arrives.  He was Clytemnestra’s father and so is grandfather to Orestes.  However, he has no sympathy for Orestes and argues with Orestes and Menelaus.  Menelaus is torn, and after much discussion, he does not agree to help Orestes.  He is taking a wait-and-see approach.

Pylades then arrives on the scene.  He is a young man of the same age as Orestes and is one of his good friends.  He is betrothed to Electra and was in on the whole scheme against Clytemnestra.  He is from a neighboring kingdom and has been exiled by his father for his part in the murder, but at least his life was spared.  He declares that he will not abandon Orestes and is prepared to die with him.  He assists Orestes in getting to the court where his case is being heard.  They return knowing that the death sentence has been pronounced, but that Orestes and Electra are to be given the option of suicide.

The three friends (Orestes, Electra and Pylades) then come up with another plot.  They will kill Helen and take Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, hostage.  When Menelaus learns his wife is dead and his daughter’s life is on the line, they believe he will give in and help them.  They carry out this plan, but when they think Helen is dead, she suddenly disappears…spirited away by the gods.  (Keep in mind Helen is supposedly half god and half mortal.)  Menelaus arrives at the palace and seems willing to let Hermione die.  Pylades and Electra are ready to torch the palace, and Orestes is about to kill Hermione, when the god Apollo appears in the clouds with Helen by his side.

He pronounces that:

*Helen is to become immortal and stay with the gods.

*The lives of Orestes, Pylades and Electra are to be spared.

*Orestes is to marry Hermione, at whose throat he is presently holding a sword.

*Pylades is to marry Electra.

*Menelaus is to leave Argos to be ruled by Orestes, and he is to go to Sparta and rule there.

*No one is to blame anyone for the Trojan War.  The gods set it all up to decrease the population.

*Everyone is to make peace with everyone else and play nicely.

And….just like that, all loose ends are tied up and everyone obeys Apollo.  This is just too tidy an end to suit me.  The play and the problems build for 17 pages and then POOF, Apollo appears and everything is resolved in half a page.  This is worse than some TV dramas.  At least in those you can look back and see the beginning threads of the resolution.  This ending comes out of nowhere!

Interesting quotes:

             Menelaus:  What ails thee?  What is thy deadly sickness?

             Orestes:  My conscience; I know that I am guilty of an awful crime.

Orestes:  For such friends as desert us in the hour of adversity, are friends in name but not in reality.

Chorus:  His is an enviable lot, who is blest in his children, and does not find himself brought into evil notoriety.

             Menelaus:  …how can you win a great cause by small efforts?

Orestes:  I will cease praising thee, for there is something wearisome even in being praised to excess.

Apollo:  …for the gods by means of Helen’s loveliness embroiled Troy and Hellas, causing death thereby, that they might lighten mother Earth of the outrage done her by man’s excessive population.

The Phoenician Maidens by Euripides

There is a great deal of overlap in the stories told by the Greek playwrights, so most of the characters in this play have been met before.  The play should have perhaps been named the unending grief of Oedipus.  The Phoenician maidens only serve as the chorus in the play and are not really party to the action.

After Oedipus learned that his wife Jocasta was actually his mother, he gouged out his own eyes.  He lives in blindness in isolated quarters in the castle, and the land of Thebes is ruled by his son Eteocles.  An agreement was made that Eteocles and his brother Polynices would share the throne by ruling alternate years.  Eteocles, however, has refused to surrender the throne to Polynices at the end of his year and has forced Polynices into exile.

Polynices went to a neighboring country and married well.  He has now returned to Thebes with an army, intending to take by force what was promised to him.  Jocasta, mother of the two boys, sees it as her role to try to bring about an agreement.  Both sons agree to a temporary truce in order to discuss what is to happen.  Polynices is determined to have his turn at ruling, which seems perfectly fair since it was promised.  Eteocles is absolutely defiant.  He has tasted power, and he is not about to give it up.  Shall I become his slave, when I can be his master?  He also makes accusations against Polynices for the affront of coming against his own native city with an army.

Jocasta does her best to mediate.  Art thou so set on ambition, that worst of deities?  Better far, my son, prize equality that ever linketh friend to friend…and allies to each other; for equality is man’s natural law.  Her efforts are to no avail.

Meanwhile, Creon, brother of Jocasta, has sought the counsel of the prophet Teiresias, who says that the only hope for the city is if Creon sacrifices his son Menoeceus.  Creon intends to send Menoeceus away before someone overhears this and demands his life.  Menoeceus agrees to run away, but never intends to do so.  His plan is to sacrifice himself to the gods to save the city.  He follows through with this to Creon’s grief.

Polynices attacks the city gates with his army.  Eteocles has stationed men at each gate and they repel the army of Polynices even though it is larger.  Both sons survive this initial onslaught.  They then agree to avoid further bloodshed by meeting in individual combat.  One of them must die.

Jocasta calls Antigone, her daughter, to go with her to try and stop the duel between her sons, but she arrives too late.  They are both dead.  Jocasta grabs one of the swords and kills herself.

 

The bodies of Eteocles, Polynices and Jocasta are brought into the palace.  Creon now declares that Oedipus will be banished to remove the curse from Thebes and that Eteocles will be given proper burial, but Polynices will be thrown outside the city for the dogs and birds.  Antigone swears that she will bury her brother Polynices.  Creon declares she will be killed if she does, and that she must on the next day marry his son Haemon.  Antigone declares that if forced to do so, she will murder Haemon on the wedding night.  She plans to leave the city with her father Oedipus and help him in his blindness and exile.  Oedipus and Antigone leave as Oedipus declares, Weak mortal as I am, I must endure the fate that God decrees.

Interesting quotes:

Euripides seems to need to get in at least one nasty jab toward women in all of his plays.  The Old Retainer says, Now the race of women by nature loves scandal; and if they get some slight handle for their gossip they exaggerate it, for they seem to take a pleasure in saying everything bad of one another. 

Jocasta:  This is a slave’s lot that thou describest, to refrain from uttering what one thinks.

                Stay a moment; haste never carries justice with it.

                …lay aside your violence; two men’s follies, once they meet, result in very deadly mischief.

Menoeceus:  …if each were to take and expend all the good within his power, contributing it to his country’s weal, our states would experience fewer troubles and would for the future prosper.

Heracles Mad

This play is a real “downer.”  I can imagine what it would feel like to leave the theater after watching this performed!

Heracles has gone to Hades on one of his assigned tasks and has not returned for a lengthy period of time.  While he has been gone, his wife’s father Creon has been killed by Lycus, who has taken over the kingdom of Thebes.  Lycus plans to kill Megara, the wife of Heracles, and their three sons, as well as Amphitryon, who is Heracles’ father….well, at least, sort of his father.  Heracles was born after Amphitryon shared his wife with Zeus, so it is believed that Heracles is actually son of Zeus, and therefore, half god.  This, of course, means that Hera, wife of Zeus, is no fan of Heracles.

Amphitryon, Megara, and the three young sons plead before the altar of Zeus for help and rescue.  When it does not appear to be forthcoming, they decide to die with dignity.  They don burial clothes with the intent of surrendering themselves to Lycus.  However, in the nick of time, Heracles returns.  He surprises Lycus and kills him saving his family from death at the hand of Lycus.

But….at this point Madness arrives on an errand for Hera.  She does not really want to do what has been asked of her, but she gives in to the will of the goddess.  Madness possesses Heracles, and he himself kills his wife and three sons.  He falls and hits his head and is knocked unconscious.  While he is out cold, his father has him bound, lest he inflict more carnage if he awakes still in a mad state.

When he awakens, he is again rationale and distraught over what he has done.  He believes life to no longer be worth living.  At this point, Theseus arrives.  Heracles has, in the past, done an enormous favor for Theseus, so Theseus now is willing to stand by his friend in spite of what he had done.  After some discussion, he convinces Heracles to come home with him, and Amphitryon is left to bury his daughter-in-law and grandsons.

Commentary throughout the play comes from a chorus of elderly men, who bemoan the frailty of age, and the fact that they can no longer defend the weak and stand up for what is right.

Interesting quotes:

Megara:  …how uncertain are God’s dealing with man…

                …the man who wrestles with necessity, I esteem a fool.

                …what must be, no one will ever avail to alter.

Amphitryon:  The bravest man is he who relieth ever on his hopes, but despair is the mark of a coward.

                O Zeus….either thou art a god of little sense, or else naturally unjust

Chorus:  Had the gods shown discernment and wisdom, as mortals count these things, men would have gotten youth twice over, a visible mark of worth amongst whomsoever found….the mean man would have had but a single portion of life; and thus would it have been possible to distinguish the good and the bad….

Heracles:  For the deity, if he be really such, has no wants; these are miserable fictions of the poets.

I find this last quote particularly interesting.  Euripides apparently had some understanding that a true “God” would be complete in Himself.  He would not be dependent on man for anything.  He would not have had to create man.  He would not have needed adoration.  He would be the “I Am” that is described in the Bible.  This is the God I believe in…..eternally existent, all-powerful, who created man by His choice knowing He would also have to redeem man.  He does not “need” our adoration, but He is worthy of it.

The Bacchantes by Euripides

Dionysus (also known by the names Bacchus and Bromius) opens this play by describing his origin.  He is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Semele.  Semele was struck by lightning and gave birth prematurely.  (I am unsure from this account whether it was Zeus or his jealous wife Hera who struck Semele.)  Zeus concealed Dionysus from Hera by sewing Dionysus up in his thigh until he was full term.  Some of Semele’s family members do not believe that Dionysus was the son of Zeus.  They assume he was fathered by a mortal, and so, do not worship him.  Dionysus is angry about this.  He shows up at Thebes in mortal form to confront Pentheus, who is the son of one of Semele’s sisters. 

Dionysus is the god of wine and revelry.  He has influenced the women of Thebes to go off in the woods celebrating him with dancing and lots of wine.  They are in ecstasy and not in full control of their faculties.  Pentheus is concerned about their behavior and afraid this will lead to impropriety and lustful encounters.  Cadmus is Pentheus’ grandfather and was king of Thebes until he put Pentheus on the throne in his stead.  Cadmus and his friend Teiresias have decided to worship Dionysus and are heading off to dance and drink in spite of their age and instability.

Dionysus appears to Pentheus in human form…apparently very attractive male form, but doesn’t tell Pentheus who he is.  He encourages Pentheus to give in to worship of Dionysus, but he is unsuccessful.  So, he wants to extract a horrible revenge.  He manages to convince Pentheus to dress up like a woman to go spy on the women who are reveling off in the woods.  However, Pentheus falls into the hands of the women, who are in a drunken frenzy and don’t recognize him.   The women literally tear him to pieces with no weapons but their own hands.  His own mother Agave carries his severed head into the city of Thebes convinced they have vanquished a horrible beast, and that it is the beast’s head she is carrying.

She encounters Cadmus who helps her to understand what she has done.  She is grief stricken.  At this point there are apparently some missing lines in the manuscript from which the play was translated, but it seems that Agave is sent into exile, and Cadmus also must leave Thebes.

Interesting quotes:

Pentheus: …where the gladsome grape is found at women’s feasts, I deny that their rites have any longer good results.

Teiresias: …came this god, the son of Semele, who discovered the juice of the grape and introduced it to mankind, stilling thereby each grief that mortals suffer from, soon as e’er they are filled with the juice of the vine; and sleep also he giveth, sleep that brings forgetfulness of daily ills, the sovereign charm for all our woe.

Chorus: …Both to rich and poor alike hath he granted the delight of wine, that makes all pain to cease; hateful to him is everyone who careth not to live the life of bliss, that lasts through days and nights of joy. True wisdom is to keep the heart and soul aloof from over-subtle wits.  That which the less enlightened crowd approves and practices, will I accept.

Pentheus talking to Dionysus:  …thou art not ill-favoured from a woman’s point of view, which was thy real object in coming to Thebes…,.

Messenger speaking of Agave’s attack on her own son:   But she, the while, with foaming mouth and wildly rolling eyes, bereft of reason as she was, heeded him not; for the god possessed her.

Agave protesting to Dionysus concerning what he caused her to do to her son:  Gods should not let their passion sink to man’s level.

Ah…but that is the problem with the Greek gods.  They routinely behave no better than we humans.

And…

That is the problem with drinking to excess.  People become “bereft of reason.”

And…

That is the problem with Euripides….once again he has made women look bad.

Electra by Euripides

Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.  When Agamemnon returned from the Trojan War, he was murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, who then took over the throne.  Electra and her brother Orestes were small children at the time.  Because of fear that Aegisthus would kill Orestes, who might grow up to avenge his father, Orestes was spirited away to be raised in another country where he would be safe.  When Electra grew to adulthood, she had many suitors of noble birth, but Aegisthus married her off to a peasant.  His reasoning was that if she married someone of nobility, she might have a son who would grow up to avenge his grandfather Agamemnon.

The play begins with Electra living in squalor in the peasant’s hut, having to carrying her own water from the well, and make her own clothes.  However, the peasant, although impoverished, is a man of noble character.  He has not consummated the marriage, because he knows he is unworthy of Electra and understands why she was given in marriage to him.

Meanwhile, Orestes has grown to manhood and has returned to Argos to avenge his father’s murder.  He meets Electra, but does not immediately identify himself to her saying the he is a friend of Orestes.  Since they were parted as children, she does not recognize him.  After some conversation during which Electra tells Orestes her sad tale, the peasant comes home.  When he finds out that this man is a “friend” of Orestes, he invites him into his humble home.  Electra sends her peasant husband to her former caregiver, who is now an old man, for some provisions to entertain the guests.  When the old man arrives, he recognizes Orestes.  The old man was the one who saved Orestes’ life.  Orestes is now revealed to Electra as her brother.

Electra and Orestes plot together as to how they will kill Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.  The old man knows that Aegisthus is currently at his stables without armed guards.  Orestes goes off to kill him.  Electra sends word to her mother that she has just had a baby, knowing this will cause her mother to come visit her.  Although there is some stricken conscience popping up, Orestes, with encouragement from Electra, also dispatches their mother.

Electra and Orestes are now pretty horrified with what they have done.  But the Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces, who are gods and brothers of Clytemnestra) show up and basically say that this was fated and all will be well in the end.

Interesting quotes:

Peasant:  …whoso counts me but a fool for leaving a tender maid untouched when I have her in my house, to him I say, he measures purity by the vicious standard of his own soul, a standard like himself.

Electra’s response to the peasant:…tis rare fortune when mortals find such healing balm for their cruel wounds as ‘tis my lot to find in thee.

There is a touching mutual respect and affection portrayed in these characters.  The peasant is not nobility but is noble.

Orestes later expounds on the concept of nobility.  Saying that a noble sire may produce a worthless child, and evil parents may produce virtuous children.  By what standard then shall we rightly judge these things?  …learn to judge men by their converse, and by their habits decide who are noble.

Orestes: …else must we cease to believe in gods, if wrong is to triumph o’er right.  This is, of course, one of the arguments for believing there is no God.  A loving god would not allow the evil that occurs in the world.  We, however, are mortal and do not see the big picture or the future.

An interesting comment about the law and justice:  And this shall be the law for all posterity; in every trial the accused shall win his case if the votes are equal.  (spoken by the Dioscuri) I suppose this is a precursor of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

The play ends with an assurance from the Dioscuri that the gods are on the side of the just.  Yet as we fly through heaven’s expanse, we help not the wicked; but whoso in his life loves piety and justice, all such we free from troublous toils and save.  If one were to believe this, then he would constantly be shunning those who have difficulty in life believing they were being punished for some hidden wrong doing.  That would be the viewpoint of Job’s miserable friends.

There is a whole lot in life we don’t understand!

Andromache by Euripides

Andromache was the wife of Hector, but when Troy fell to the Spartans following Hector’s death, she was taken as a slave and mistress to Hector’s murderer, Neoptolemus.  She bore a child, Molossus to him.  Neoptolemus also took a legitimate wife, Hermione, who is the daughter of Menalaus and Helen.  Hermione is childless and blames Andromache for causing this by some strange powers.  Andromache is innocent of this charge and is in great misery as the mistress of her beloved Hector’s killer.

While Neoptolemus is away, Hermione and Menalaus conspire to kill both Andromache and her son.  Andromache hides Molossus at a friend’s house and takes refuge herself in a temple believing she will be safe there.  Hermione comes to the temple and there is quite an argument.  Later Menalaus comes and tricks Andromache into leaving.  He has found her son, but he says he will spare him, if she agrees to be killed herself.  His actual plan is to kill both of them.

Before Menalaus can carry out his intentions, Peleus, who is father of Achilles and grandfather of Neoptolemus arrives on the scene.  He believes in Andromache’s innocence and demands that Menalaus release her.  They argue.  Menalaus insults Peleus saying he is old and feeble and couldn’t possibly stand up to him in battle.  Peleus insults Menalaus, implying that he thinks of himself highly because he was a general in the Trojan War, but it was really his men who did all the work.  Menalaus finally retreats.

Hermione is now distraught.  She feels abandoned by Menalaus, and is fearful that when Neoptolemus returns he will kill her because of her plot against Andromache and Molossus, for although Molossus is a bastard, he is still Neoptolemus’ son.  She wants to kill herself and is prevented from doing so by her nurse.  About this time, Orestes arrives on the scene.  Hermione was once betrothed to him, and he still wants her.  Besides, he knows that Neoptolemus is dead.  He arranged for this by spreading false rumors about Neoptolemus while he was at a temple offering sacrifices.  Hermione runs off with Orestes.

Messengers arrive and tell Peleus that Neoptolemus, his grandson is dead.  Since his only son Achilles is also dead, he is distraught.  He says that he now has no offspring and no reason for living.  His wife Thetis, who is a goddess, appears.  She reminds him that Molossus is his offspring and promises that a line of kings will come from him.  She further promises that after he buries Neoptolemus, she will arrange for Peleus to become a god, and they will be together forever.

Euripides ideas on women permeate this work.  Some make me angry:

*’tis woman’s way to delight in present misfortunes even to keeping them always on her tongue and lips.

*though some god hath devised cures for mortals against the venom of reptiles, no man ever yet hath discovered aught to cure a woman’s venom, which is far worse than viper’s sting…

*never, never….should men of sense, who have wives, allow women-folk to visit them in their homes, for they teach them mischief…

But, some of Euripides' thoughts on male-female relationships  are wise:

*’tis not beauty, but virtuous acts that win our husband’s hearts.

*I would have a husband content with one wife whose rights he shareth with no other.

*…every prudent man will seek to marry a wife of noble stock and give his daughter to a husband good and true, never setting his heart on a worthless woman, not even though she bring a sumptuous dowry to his house.

Other interesting quotes:

*We ought not on trifling grounds to promote serious mischief.

*…wilt thou slay me, passing by the cause and hurrying to the inevitable result?

*Thinkest thou God’s hand is shortened and that thou wilt not be punished?

*One word upon your lips, another in your heart, this is what men always find with you.

*The race of old men practices no restraint; and their testiness makes it hard to check them.

(I guess old men have always been grumpy.)

*Better is it not to win a discreditable victory, than to make justice miscarry by an invidious exercise of power.

*Women ought to smooth over their sisters’ weaknesses.

Helen by Euripides

Soooooooo…..after reading all of these plays in which the Trojan war is described, and Helen is blamed for it, we are now supposed to believe that she was actually in Egypt the whole time, and it was a phantom Helen that ran off to Troy with Paris.

Helen opens this play with a monologue about her woes.  She was a good and true wife to Menelaus, but Zeus was looking for a way to decrease the population of mankind, and Cypris was looking to make trouble, so Paris was enticed by Helen’s beauty into coming to Sparta to try and win her.  He believed he was carrying her off to Troy, but it was really only a pretend Helen… "an image out of the breath of heaven.”  The real Helen was whisked off to the home of Proteus in Egypt, because he was the most virtuous of all men and would keep and protect her until she could be reunited with Menelaus.  

Menelaus and the hosts from Sparta pursued Paris and many years of war ensued in the attempt to retrieve Helen.  Many men died on both sides, so Zeus accomplished his purpose of population control.  When the war was over, Menelaus thought he had won Helen back and set sail for home, only to wander about having trouble for many more years….and of course, he only had the phantom Helen.

Meantime, Proteus died and his son Theoclymenus, instead of protecting Helen decided that he wanted her for himself.  But, Menelaus and his men are shipwrecked on the shores of Theoclymenus’ kingdom.  Theoclymenus will kill him if he figures this out.  Helen and Menelaus meet and hatch a plan for their escape, but it requires enlisting the help of Theoclymenus’ sister Theonoe, who is a prophetess.  They convince her that helping them is in keeping with the gods’ wishes, so she agrees not to tip Theoclymenus off as to what is really happening.

Menelaus pretends that he is arriving with news of the death of Menelaus.  Helen convinces Theoclymenus that she will be a true wife to him once she has been allowed to bury her previous husband Menelaus at sea.  Theoclymenus is talked into giving her a ship and the other things she needs for the proper burial rituals.  But, Menalaus’ men, who have been hiding in a nearby cave, join him on the ship and overpower the crew.  Helen and Menelaus and the Spartans make good their escape.  Theoclymenus is talked out of pursuing them by the appearance above him of Castor and Pollux, who are brothers of Helen, and who tell him that it is the will of the gods for Helen and Menelaus to be reunited.

Interesting quotes:

*Helen bemoans her beauty as a curse.  Would God I could rub my beauty out as a picture, and assume hereafter in its stead a form less comely…”

*She ponders suicide rather than an unhappy marriage.  …when a husband she loathes is mated with a woman, even life is loathly to her.  Best for her to die; but how shall I die a noble death?

When Menelaus arrives shipwrecked and in rags…This is the crowning woe in all my misery, to beg the means of life from other princes, prince though I be myself; still needs must I.  Yea, this is no saying of mine, but a word of wisdom, “Naught in might exceedeth dread necessity.”

Helen tries to get Theoclymenus to behave as nobly as his father Proteus would have….reflect thy father’s justice; for this is the fairest ornament of children, when the child of a virtuous sire resembles its parents in character.

Conclusion of the chorus:  Many are the forms the heavenly will assumes; and many a thing God brings to pass contrary to expectation; that which was looked for is not accomplished, while Heaven finds out a way for what we never hoped; e’en such has been the issue here.

My conclusion…..All that Trojan War fuss over a phantom Helen?!?!?!?!?

Ion by Euripides

Phoebus (aka Apollo) forces himself on a young mortal woman named Creusa.  She finds herself pregnant and manages to hide this from her family.  She delivers the baby alone in a cave and decides that she must abandon him.  Unknown to her, Phoebus is watching out for the baby, and he is transported to a shrine for Phoebus where he grows up in service to the god.

Many years pass.  Creusa has been married to Xuthus for some time, but they have not been able to have children.  They travel together to the temple of Phoebus to plead their case for a child.  Creusa meets her lost child, but of course, does not recognize him.  While she talks with him, Xuthus has gone into the temple.  He comes out saying that he was promised that the first person he saw on leaving the temple would be his son.  Ion, who is actually Creusa’s son, is the first person he sees.

When Creusa learns that Xuthus now has a “son” and that he plans to take him back to Athens with them, she is upset.  She feels that he has a son, but she doesn’t, and that this young man will now ascend to the prominent place that her own offspring should have had.  On the advice of an old servant, she decides to kill Ion.  She possesses vials of the blood of a Gorgon, and one of these is a death potion.

Creusa arranges for the death potion to be placed in the goblet of Ion which will be used in the celebration Xuthus is giving in honor of Ion becoming his son.  Fortunately, the first round of drinks is spilled out as an offering to the gods.  A bird laps up some of Ion’s drink and dies.

Ion now decides that he must kill Creusa, who he thinks is his step-mother, because she intended to kill him.  In the nick of time an old prophetess arrives with a chest containing items found with Ion when he was a baby.  Creusa realizes that Ion must be her son and is able to describe in detail the contents of the chest.  Ion now believes she is his mother.  The two are ecstatic to find one another after all these years, and the fact that they just recently were intending to kill one another is forgiven and forgotten.

This is a pretty tangled and convoluted plot.  Lies and misunderstandings abound.  I suppose if one were to have actually seen this performed as a play there would have been great suspense wondering if either the mother or son would kill the other before figuring out their relationship.  Tragedy seems inevitable until the very end.

As the goddess Athena comments in conclusion:  ‘Tis ever thus; Heaven’s justice may tarry awhile, yet comes it at the last in no wise weakened.

And the chorus responds:  It is only right that he, whose house is sore beset with trouble, should reverence God and keep good heart; for at the last the righteous find their just reward, but the wicked, as their nature is, will never prosper.

I’m a bit surprised to hear this from the Greeks whose gods seem so capricious and flawed.  In fact, earlier in the play Ion comments to Phoebus:  How, then, can it be just that you should enact your laws for men, and yourselves incur the charge of breaking them?.....For when ye pursue pleasure in preference to the claims of prudence, ye act unjustly; no longer is it fair to call men wicked, if we are imitating the evil deed of gods, but rather those who give us such examples.

Thankfully, as Christians we have a God who is a good example.  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet was without sin.  Hebrews 4:14, 15

The Trojan Women by Euripides

This play takes place outside the city of Troy which has just fallen due to the Trojan horse.  Poseidon appears at the beginning of the play and has a discussion with Athena.  Athena is requesting that although she has assisted Agamemnon and the Argives in defeating the Trojans, Poseidon will see to it that they suffer hardship while sailing home…yet another example of the fickleness of the Greek gods.  Following this agreement, they disappear for the rest of the play, and the focus is on the women of Troy, who have been taken captive by the Argives.

Hecuba, who was married to the now dead Priam and as such was queen of Troy, is bemoaning her fate.  Although she is old and gray, she along with the other women will be given as spoils of war to the Argive army.  Because she is elderly, she will become nothing more than a slave.  The younger women will become, against their wills, the wives of the conquerors.  Particularly grievous is the fact that Cassandra, who is a virgin prophetess and Hecuba’s daughter, will become the wife of Agamemnon himself.  Hecuba is distraught, but Cassandra is delighted, because she sees it as a way to bring about Agamemnon’s ruin, and so avenge the deaths of her father Priam, brother Hector, and the other Trojans.  (It will turn out that she is right about this.  Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, kills him when he returns, in part, over the fact that he has taken Cassandra as his wife and intends to replace her.  See “Agamemnon” by Aeschylus)

Hecuba’s son Hector and his wife Andromache have a son named Astyanax who is a small child.  Talthybius arrives with the message that Andromache must surrender her child to be thrown off the wall of Troy.  The Argives are apparently afraid that if he lives to adulthood, he will avenge the deaths of his father, grandfather and other Trojans.  Both Hecuba and Andromache are in great grief over this, but realize they are powerless to stop it.

Menelaus enters and has a discussion with Hecuba about Helen.  Helen, wife of Menelaus, was the cause of the war, because she ran off with Paris, Hecuba’s son.  Whether Helen should live or die is discussed in detail with Helen pleading for her life.  Menelaus intends to take her back to Argos to be killed in front of those who have suffered the deprivation of so many years at war because of her.  Hecuba cautions that Menelaus should not travel on the same ship with Helen, because she fears Helen will again win his heart.

Talthybius returns with the dead body of Astyanax which is being carried on the shield of his father Hector.  He is prepared for burial on the shield.

The women, including Hecuba, are herded off to the ships as they see Troy being burned to the ground behind them.

Observations:

*Once again the Greek gods are fickle.  Poseidon even makes this accusation against Athena.  Why leap’st thou thus from mood to mood?  Thy love and hate both go too far, on whomsoever centred.

*Sometimes death brings more honor to a person than life would have.  As for Hector…he is dead and gone, but still his fame remains as bravest of the brave, and this was a result of the Achaeans’ coming; for had they remained at home, his worth would have gone unnoticed. ….whoso is wise should fly from making war, but if he be brought to this pass, a noble death will crown his city with glory…”

*Hecuba and Andromache discuss whether there is more hope in life or in death.

Hecuba:  Death and life are not the same, my child; the one is annihilation, the other keeps a place for hope.

Andromache:  ‘Tis all one, I say, ne’er to have been born and to be dead, and better far is death than life with misery.  For the dead feel no sorrow any more and know no grief…

*Hecuba makes an interesting prayer, indicating that she doesn’t know who the supreme power is.  O thou that dost support the earth and restest thereupon, whosoe’er thou art, a riddle past our ken! Be thou Zeus, or natural necessity, or man’s intellect, to thee I pray; for, though thou treadest o’er a noiseless path, all thy dealings with mankind are by justice guided.  This is a bit surprising considering the vacillating nature of the Greek gods’ dealings with men.  But, I suppose that she believed that justice was being done, even though she didn’t understand it.  This is, of course, what I believe about my God…that what seems like an injustice is lack of infinite understanding on my part.

*Apparently the cost and ritual involved in funerals was being discussed long ago.  …yet I deem it makes but little difference to the dead, although they get a gorgeous funeral; for this is but a cause of idle pride to the living.

The Suppliants by Euripides

I had thought about giving up on Euripides, because some of the first plays I read seemed to be hateful of women.  However, I’m glad I persisted, because this one has some interesting themes.

The play is set at the Temple of Demeter At Eleusis.  (The temple of some god or goddess seems to be a common setting for Greek plays.)  Aethra, an older woman of Eleusis, arrives at the temple and is approached by a chorus of elderly women who are in mourning.  Aethra’s son Theseus is currently ruler of the land, which is a democracy.  The chorus entreats Aethra to intervene with her son on their behalf.  The sons of the elderly women, who are from Argos, have been killed in a battle against King Creon and the city of Thebes, which is not a democracy.  Contrary to what is considered right and proper, the Thebians are refusing to allow the elderly women to retrieve the bodies of their seven slain sons and bury them.  Also present and begging for help is Adrastus, who led the men into the slaughter.

Theseus arrives and inquires about the commotion.  After questioning Adrastus, he decides that this misfortunate is Adrastus’ fault, and there is no reason for him to risk war with Thebes in order to recover the bodies.  However, his mother persuades him that it is his responsibility to stand up for what is right.  He agrees to go to the council and have a vote taken, so that the will of the people decides the matter.

The council votes to try and retrieve the bodies through diplomacy first, but if necessary, to go to war.  Before there is opportunity to send a messenger to Thebes, a herald arrives from Thebes.  Initially, instead of delivering his message, he and Theseus get into an argument over whether democracy or monarchy is the best form of government.  Eventually, he gets around to delivering his message that Creon has no intent of giving up the bodies, and that the only solution will be war.

Theseus and his army attack Thebes and are victorious.  He graciously does not sack the city.  He only wants the bodies.  These are brought back to Eleusis and burned on a funeral pyre before the ashes are returned to their mothers.

A bit of a side story to this is that Evadne, daughter of Iphis and widow of Capaneus, throws herself on the funeral pyre of Capaneus, in spite of her father’s pleadings.  Also each of the seven men is eulogized and some interesting characteristics emerge in the eulogies.

The play concludes with the appearance of the goddess Athena, who gives specific instructions regarding the need to have the Argives swear that in exchange for the kindness of Theseus and the people of Eleusis, they will never attack Eleusis.

Observations:

*Although Euripides does not speak so negatively of women in this play, his compliments are back-handed.  Yea, for oft even from women’s lips issue wise counsels.

*The question of whether basic human nature is good or evil is raised.  For there are who say, there is more bad than good in human nature, to the which I hold a contrary view, that good o’er bad predominates in man, for if it were not so, we should not exist.  Logically, there are other options, but this is the view of Theseus.

*The notion of naturally occurring classes in society is discussed.  For, there are three ranks of citizens; the rich, a useless set, that ever crave for more; the poor and destitute, fearful folk, that cherish envy more than is right, and shoot out grievous stings against the men who have aught, beguiled as they are by the eloquence of vicious leaders; while the class that is mid-most of the three preserveth cities, observing such order as the state ordains.  So the concept that a stable society must have a strong middle class is apparently an old one.

*I am beginning to think that one could make a decent term paper out of the topic:  The Concept of Democracy as Seen in the Play of Euripides. 

Against:  Democracy is described as “rule by a mob.”

                A person who doesn’t rule for his lifetime has more opportunity to hide his failures

Whenso the city has to vote on the question of war, no man ever takes his own death into account, but shifts the misfortune to his neighbor.

For:        When laws are written down, rich and poor alike have equal justice.

                People are free to decide whose counsel is best.

In a democracy the young are encouraged.  A despot sees them as a threat and may kill them off or use them ill.

*The finality of death is described.  For this one thing, when once ‘tis spent, man cannot recover, the breath of life, though he knoweth ways to get his wealth again.  Bankruptcy can be survived.  Death is irretrievable.

*A preference for daughters over sons in old age is mentioned.  For naught is there more sweet unto an aged sire than a daughter’s love; our sons are made of sterner stuff, but less winning are their caresses.   I heard a story once about a man who was disappointed when his wife gave birth to a daughter.  The doctor said to him, “If you had had a son, when you are old he would be gone and off living his own life.  Your daughter will still be there to kiss your old bald head.”

*The Greek gods were fickle.  I see many a contradiction in their dealings with men.  As I have mentioned in prior blogs, I see the Greek gods as useless.  I believe in a better one.

*Parents hope that the good they do for their parents will be returned to them by their children.  For a wretched son is he who rewards not his parents by service;  for, when he hath conferred on them the best he hath, he in turn from his own sons receives all such service as he gave to them.  That is, of course, as it ought to be, but in this broken world, it doesn’t always work out that way.  Sadly, there are some wretched sons and daughters around.