Using an ancient Greek play and a Disney movie, I'm going to try to discuss how we use art as a way of dealing with the powerful human sexual drive. (This is my attempt to fulfill
the assignment about Euripides I've given to my students, though this is longer than what they need write.)
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Things don't work out for Pentheus
a peeping Tom among the Bakkhai |
In the Bakkhai by Euripides, the character Pentheus wants to have order in his city but gets frustrated by the Bakkhai, women who go outside the boundaries of the city (and of morality) to celebrate the rites of the God Dionysus (or Bacchus). Those rites tend to include a lot of wine and little clothing. Despite himself, Pentheus is drawn to spy upon the celebrants. This proves his undoing.
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The mask of Dionysus
suggests his animalistic power |
In a sense Euripides provides a very common morality lesson: if you indulge sexual passion, it will cost you dearly. But the way he structures his play gives us interesting ways of understanding and dealing with sexuality. For one thing, the god Dionysus blatantly expects to be worshiped. Essentially, he says "If you don't participate in the licentious activities that I endorse, you're going to get it." We can dismiss this as the ravings of a fictional pagan god, or a cheap excuse to get drunk. Or, we can consider that Euripides uses Dionysus to personify primal human drives. In that case, it makes me wonder whether I respect Dionysus. (I'm not going to worship him. I believe in the Christian god, but maybe Dionysus is more metaphor than being.) But on to my Disney example.
