The Mystery Religions
The Mystery Religions
Eleusinian Mysteries* - are supposedly established by Demeter* in a small Attic town (Eleusis*) on the west coast where she had stayed during her search for her kidnaped daughter, Persephone*. After this stay she went forth to spread the knowledge of agriculture over the world.
The mysteries are famous through the Greek (and later Graeco-Roman) world. They are a very well-kept secret and so we know very little about them. They certainly involved long training, and some kind of revelation which probably included a dramatization. It dealt with the death and resurrection theme. It may have exerted some influence on the rise of theatre. Orphic Religion*- concerned the poet-musician Orpheus* and became attached to the Dionysus* cult. It involved a combination of poetry and ritual. Dionysian Mysteries* - These are established in relation to the worship of Dionysus and are widespread. They involve exclusively women. SIXTH CENTURY - The period that establishes the character of Athens includes the worship of the Eleusinian Mysteries at great temple at Eleusis, a small town near Athens and countryside festivals in honor of Dionysus.
THE GOD DIONYSUS* - is known for bringing the cult of the vine (and therefore, the gift od wine) to all the ancient world. The cult of Dionysus* reportedly comes to the Greeks from the east. He is said to have traveled through India, the Red Sea, Lydia, the land of the Amazons, across Thrace and into Greece. When he arrives, there is, everywhere in Greece, supposedly, strong opposition. This opposition is followed by divinely inspired madness and the destruction of his enemies. After this his divinity is acknowledged everywhere. He is reluctantly accepted by the Olympian gods and he is permitted to join them on Mount Olympus. This acceptance includes a myth in which he is the son of Zeus and a mortal, Semele*, the daughter of Cadmus*, a Phonecian prince who founded Thebes*. The whole story of his parentage seems to be tacked on after the fact to legitimize his important place in Greek worship.
The vital facts about this strange god, which interest us here, are those which relate to his place as patron of the theatre. Unfortunately some of them are not facts, but suppositions, assumptions and mostly intelligent guess work. The best source of Dionysus*' story is Euripides*' play The Bacchae*, where we are shown Dionysus*' return to the city of his mother, the opposition against him, and the way in which the women of the town are inspired to run to the hilltops for worship and revel. Men are prohibited from even watching this and peeping Toms are torn apart. The women, in a divine state of ecstasy and madness don't even know what they have done. DIONYSUS* is associated with a number of attendants and symbols. His main symbol is:
Thyrsus* a staff wound with vine leaves, ivy, and a pine cone on top. Silenus* a horse demon of the Ionian woodlands, the leader of the satyrs and foster father of
Dionysus*. He is shown as a fat, old, snub-nosed, big-bellied drunkard riding a donkey Satyrs* demons of the woodlands with horses' tails, legs. Maenads* (literally "madwomen") female followers of Dionysus, possessed by the spirit of
the god, inspired by music of tambourine and flute. They always danced with great abandon, loose and flowing hair, wore ivy wreaths and carried the thyrsus*.
Parts
» Euripides* And The Crumbling State
» Aristophanes* - He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best
» Take The Frogs* for instance -
» Alexander And Logical Thinking
» Rome While all this is going on in the Greek-dominated Hellenistic world, the Romans* are busy
» Roman Writers c.275 BCE - c.110 BCE During The Era Of Senate Supremacy
» From Classical Light Into The Dark Ages The Fifth Century
» The End of the Western Empire in Italy
» Why Europe Isn't Very Interesting In The Sixth Century
» Islam* Enters Europe As We Enter The Eighth Century
» Vikings Move On As Does Islamic Culture
» Theatre Reappears In Bits And Pieces As We Move Onward Into The Tenth Century
» Europe Moves On Into The Eleventh Century
» As The Twelfth Century Begins Economic And Intellectual Profits
» The Third Crusade The One We All Remember
» More Crusades And A Small Renaissance As We Go Into The Thirteenth Century
» The Small Renaissance Part of the Century
» THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE SPACE IN CHURCH DRAMA -
» The Fourteenth Century And We Come To The Down Part Of The Late Middle Ages
» The Black Death* Comes To Europe
» Everything Takes Off In All Directions At Once
» The Renaissance Officially Begins
» Italian Theatrical Renaissance Gets Going
» Brief Consideration of the Range of Plays
» The Winds Of Reformation* Begin In Germany -
» Theatrical Scenery Takes Off
» Background for Spanish Theatre -
» Other Current Spanish Playwrights
» The English Renaissance 1588-1629
» Sources Of English Playwrighting
» William Shakespeare* -(1564-1616)
» English Settlements Begin In America
» Spanish Court Theatre Flourishes
» The French Theatre Finally Gets Up and Running Introduction
» Back in France Richelieu* Pushes Theatre Development
» English Religious Opposition Increases
» England Falls into Civil War
» English Restoration Theatre Begins
» Middle Class and Sentimental English Theatre
» Europe and America in Social Ferment
» Germany and the Beginnings of Romanticism
» American Revolutionary Times Begin
» Melodrama,* Popular Theatre, and Napoleon MELODRAMA*
» Realistic Elements In Production
» Political Philosophy Moves On
» The Mexican War* and Nationalism
» The 1848 Revolutions and Nationalism
» Some of his best known plays:
» 1908 - Theatre Theorists Publish
» New Connections, New Starts - 1911 -
» And After 1914-1925 Introduction
» The Russian Revolution - 1917
» America Draws Back Into Its Shell -
» Second World War and Its Aftermath
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