The Bacchae
The Bacchae ( Greek Βάκχαι Bakchai , Latin Bacchae ) is a drama of the classic Greek poet Euripides (* 480 v. Chr .; † 406 v. Chr.). He wrote it shortly before his death in 406 BC. As the third part of a tetralogy and thus won 405 BC. Posthumously first prize at the tragedy competitions in Athens.
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Bakchen (German mostly Bacchantes, see Maenad and Bacchants ) are the worshipers of the god Dionysus (Latinized Bacchus).
Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele , the god of wine and intoxication, has returned - in human form - to his native town Thebes to take revenge on its inhabitants who do not recognize his divinity. He makes all the women of the city go mad and leads them out to Mount Kithairon - including Agaue , the mother of the ruler Pentheus . Messengers report that the women lived with wild animals and beat the rocks with thyrsos , so that wine gushed out. When they were disturbed, they used superhuman strength to destroy everything that came in their way.
The main goal of Dionysus' anger is Pentheus, who, contrary to the advice of the seer Teiresias and his grandfather Kadmos, decides to use force of arms against Dionysus and the women. That fails: both Dionysus and his Bacchae escape captivity and Dionysus and Pentheus meet each other. Finally, Pentheus, blinded by the god, can be persuaded to watch the orgies even disguised as a woman. Again the messengers report how the two made their way to the Kithairon, where Dionysus Pentheus sat on a treetop. This observation post becomes Pentheus' undoing: the women discover him and throw him down. He desperately tries to identify himself, but his mother does not recognize him either, and together the women tear him apart. Agaue returns to Thebes with the head of her son, whom she still takes to be the head of a hunted mountain lion, and only realizes what she has done with the help of her father Kadmos. Now Dionysus appears for the first time in divine form and announces the fate of the Thebans.
interpretation
The orgiastic cult of Dionysus is depicted in Euripides as an extreme form of trance in mythical clothing. The maenads run into the mountains at night, indulge in the hunt, and kill game that is torn alive and eaten raw. According to some accounts, the description of the maenad's behavior reveals perversion and reversal of the regular victim and its function. Instead of the polis, the cult takes place in the wilderness, it is hunted and killed in unusual ways and divided (i.e. sacrificed) and the meat is also eaten raw. In this sacrifice, which was primarily attributed to the maenads, the implicit rejection of state sacrificial practice and state values in general is seen as an alternative form of experiencing human existence.
Edits
Pieces of music
- Agawe . Cantata for voice, choir and orchestra. Libretto : Zofia Szymanowska. Music (1917; op. 38: Karol Szymanowski , not performed)
Opera versions
- Egon Wellesz : The Bakchantinnen (1928–1930). Opera in 2 acts. Libretto and music by Wellesz (op.44). Premiere June 20, 1931 Vienna
- Giorgio Federico Ghedini : Le Baccanti (1941-1944). Opera in a prologue and 3 acts (5 pictures). Libretto: Tullio Pinelli. Premiere February 21, 1948 Milan ( Teatro alla Scala )
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Hans Werner Henze : The Bassarids ( The Bassarids ) (1964/65). Opera seria in one act with an interlude. Libretto: Wystan Hugh Auden and Chester Kallman . German version: Helmut Reinold and Maria Bosse-Sporleder. Premiere August 6th, 1966 Salzburg ( Großes Festspielhaus ; director: Gustav Rudolf Sellner ; stage design and costumes: Filippo Sanjust ; conductor: Christoph von Dohnányi ). New versions:
- The Judgment of Calliope ( The judgment of Kalliope ; 1991). A satyr play (= intermezzo detached from the bassarids ). Premiere October 29, 1997 Gießen (Stadttheater; director: Guy Montavon ; set: Mark Väisänen; conductor: Michael Hofstetter )
- The Bassarids (1992). Musical drama in one act (without intermezzo)
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Daniel Börtz : Bacchanterna . Opera in 2 acts. Libretto: Ingmar Bergman (based on the Swedish translation of Bakchen by Jan Stolpe (born 1940) and Göran O. Eriksson (1929–1993)). Premiere November 2, 1991 Stockholm ( Royal Opera ; Direction: Ingmar Bergman)
- Film adaptation for television (1993; Director: Ingmar Bergman)
- John Buller : Bakxai (The Bacchae). Premiere 1992 English National Opera , conductor: Martin André .
filming
- The Bacchantes (1960). Movie. Script: Giorgio Stegani , Giorgio Ferroni . Director: Giorgio Ferroni. Music: Mario Nascimbene
Performance, new translation
- Dionysus in 69 . Theater performance. Director: Richard Schechner . Premiere 1969 New York City (Performance Group)
- Raoul Schrott : Bakchen . Book edition: Hanser, Munich 1999. World premiere 2000 Vienna ( Burgtheater ; director: Silviu Purcărete)
See also
literature
expenditure
- Robert Yelverton Tyrrell (Ed.): Euripidou Bakchai. The Bacchae of Euripides. With a revision of the text and a commentary. Macmillan, London 1892.
- August Nauck (Ed.): Euripidis Tragoediae. Vol. 1, Teubner, Leipzig 1854, 3rd edition 1871 digitized
Translations
- Bacchae. Translated by Kurt Steinmann . Insel Taschenbuch, Frankfurt a. M. & Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-458-34237-0
- The Bacchae / Hippolytos. Translated by Hans von Arnim . Fischer library, Frankfurt a. M. 1960 ( Exempla Classica 14)
- The Bacchae. Translated by Oskar Werner . Reclam, Ditzingen 1998. ISBN 978-3-15-000940-6
- Bacchae. Bilingual edition, English-Greek. Translated and commented by Richard Seaford . Aris & Phillips, Warminster 1996, ISBN 0-85668-608-5 (best annotated translation available)
Secondary literature
- Bernhard Gallistl: Teiresias in the Bacchae of Euripides. Dissertation Zurich 1979
Web links
- Text for the Gutenberg project (in the translation by JA Hartung, 1848, no versification)
- EURIPIDÊS: BAKCHAI on the side of Hans Zimmermann (text in Greek and German in the translation by Dietrich Ebener, 1979, no versification)
- Euripides, Bacchae in the Perseus Project by Gilbert Murray
- English translation by TA Buckley in the Perseus Project
supporting documents
- ↑ Louise Bruit Zaidman / Pauline Schmitt Pantel: The religion of the Greeks. Cult and Myth. Beck Verlag, Munich 1994. p. 178.