(Greek Mythology: Culture and Religion Part II)
(Greek Mythology: Culture and Religion Part III)
(Greek Mythology: Culture and Religion Part IV)
Historians commonly refer to fifth century Greece as the
Golden Age of Greece as culture advanced massively. Beginning in 500 BC, art
and literature developed into something more sophisticated on the whole and its
effects were definitely long-lasting.
An element which first began in this era was tragedy. This
was a genre of theatre that developed in Athens, notably coming from the rites
of Dionysus, specifically the dithyramb. This was a hymn that was sung in
honour of Dionysus at his celebrations. Later, tragedy would be performed at
the City Dionysia, a festival in which playwrights competed with dramatic
performances of comedies and tragedies.
Tragedies, by nature, had sad endings and often provided catharsis for
the audience, an emotional cleansing. The question then is: how does this relate
to mythology? Plays, more specifically tragedies, were based
heavily on mythological tales. Some stories would retell myths, some stories
would build upon myths, some would take mythological tradition and create their
own tales. In short, myths were a foundation for this genre.
There are several plays that take inspiration from myths,
many of which have not survived in any manner. Moreover, we only have a
selection of full plays that exist such as Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus,
from the latter we have the only trilogy to survive. Within a play, there are
endless themes and features to explore and analyse, it would be impossible to
try and cover it all. Therefore, I will only be examining a selection of plays
and will only scratch the surface of topics to consider. I will mainly be
looking at themes relating to culture. In this post, I will be discussing
Euripides’ reworking of mythology and, in this particular entry, ‘Hippolytus’.
In ‘Hippolytus’, the titular protagonist is cursed by
Aphrodite because of his refusal to worship due to his choice of chastity. She
forces his step-mother to fall in love with him, which leads to her eventual
suicide. Hippolytus’ father, Theseus, is furious and exiles his son, causing
Hippolytus’ eventual death. Before his death, Artemis appears to reveal the
truth to Theseus which allows the father and son to reunite. This play is an
interesting example of how femininity and humanity were reflected in the gods
of ancient Greece. Aphrodite demonstrates how the Greeks believed that even the
divine felt emotions such as jealousy and would thus act unreasonably. Because
of her pride, Aphrodite caused the death of two people and divided a family,
actions which seem unusual for a goddess of love. In this, we can see that
playwrights portrayed the gods as no better that humans, they had imperfections
that affected humanity. It could be said that Euripides wanted his audience to
reflect on the dangers of not worshipping all of the gods equally and forsaking
natural human instincts. Alternatively, Euripides and other playwrights could
simply be describing a time where the gods interacted freely with humans and so
they mimicked the latter’s behaviour.
Moreover, the depiction of Artemis and the contrast of the
women in the play provides some insight into how women were viewed. Artemis,
the goddess of hunting and chastity, was the most morally just as she reunited
the father and son, and corrected Aphrodite’s mistakes, showing her to be more
virtuous in this case. In Ancient Greece, Artemis would have had sophrosyne, or
the virtue of having self-control and good judgement. In this way, the audience
would favour Artemis, who represented the chaste woman with good morals and
moderation, which we could interpret as Euripides’ idealisation of femininity.
Aphrodite seems vengeful and resentful, traits which would have been unbecoming
of the ideal woman, let alone a goddess. Thus, Euripides took a classic myth
and used it to show the unpleasant sides to goddesses and the model they would
provide to women. In conclusion, 'Hippolytus' demsonstrates the more humane sides to goddesses.
(Greek Mythology: Culture and Religion Part V-2)
(Greek Mythology: Culture and Religion Part V-2)
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