Summary Greek theatre - social, political and religious themes in tragedy

Social, political and religious themes in tragedy

Ancient religious concepts, beliefs and practices

- Religion a central part of Greek life – gods’ favour to a city was believed to be essential to its
prosperity
- Lack of vision between religious and political authority
- Tragedy performed as a part of a religious festival
 Portrayed gods who audience would worship in daily lives
- Reflected what Athenians believed and provided space for them to consider theological issues
- Tragedy’s handling of religious matters – significant impact on how religion was perceived in Athenian
public life

The role of the gods

- Modern perspective – most striking feature of tragic theology is uncaring attitude of gods
- Plato’s republic – Socrates finds portrayal of gods troubling and bans it from ideal city
- Fundamental belief in Greek religion that the gods were more concerned with honour than humans
are
 Explains need for worship
- Failure of heroes to honour the gods – often responsible for their downfall
 Pentheus’ disregard for divine power would not be tolerated – Greek audience would not expect
Dionysus to be merciful when treated with contempt
- Punishments from Greek gods are not limited to the wrongdoer
 Oedipus – whole city affected by plague for harbouring murderer of Laius
 Bacchae – all women driven mad by Dionysus
 Cadmus – suffers because of Pentheus’ actions
o Says that Dionysus’ actions were excessive – Dionysus says ‘yes, for I am a god, and I was
insulted by you’
- Gods’ power and anger surpasses that of humans – will punish transgressions against them with
disproportionate violence
- Bacchae – argument whether it represents a criticism of traditional views of the gods and to what
extent we should see tragedy as an upholding or as questioning this form of theology
- Put little emphasis on whether a human has transgressed intentionally
 Oedipus has committed terrible crimes in ignorance – character assume killer of Laius was a
wicked man who acted out of viciousness
 Oedipus’ identity being unveiled is horrifying and no one doubts he must be punished – ignorance
makes his fate horrifying
- Sophocles – highlighting gulf between our instinctive feeling that our intentions make a difference and
the traditional divine focus on our actions
 Power of play derives from understanding that ant of us might act in ignorance but the
consequences will still remain

Fate and free will

- Oedipus – makes us question to what extent his actions make any difference since he is fated from
birth to kill his father and marry his mother
- Double determination as an important principle in tragic religion
 Idea that any action is simultaneously capable of two explanations – one on the human level and
one on the divine level
- Oedipus on a human level – fate seems particularly unfair since he takes steps to avoid it
 Could say that Oedipus has no free will – tries to prevent the oracle coming true
- Oedipus also made the choices that led him to kill his father and marry his mother
 Killed Laius in response to being provoked by his rude behaviour

,  Oedipus has a tendency to lose his temper when he does not get his way – rudeness to Tiresias,
aggression with Creon and threats to torture the old shepherd
- Oedipus’ intelligence and dynamism that lead to his doom – defeats sphinx led him to becoming king
of Thebes and marrying Jocasta
 See characteristics in pursuit of truth
- Names apollo and himself for who led him to blind himself – emphasises divine influence and human
will acted together
- Bacchae – Pentheus seals his fate by ignoring the warnings he is given

Prophecy and prophets

- Most Greeks probably believed in prophets – aware that they could be unreliable and that humans
could make mistakes when interpreting the gods’ message
- Oedipus’ fate foretold by two oracles – one given to his parents and one to him
 Prophecy to Jocasta and Laius comes out of nowhere
 Prophecy to Oedipus is an answer to a question he did not ask
- Not told why the gods inflicted this fate on Oedipus – unclear whether prophecy is presented as a
warning that could be avoided or simply a prediction
- Jocasta – questions truth of oracle
 Says it came from servant of apollo rather than apollo himself – mortals cannot tell which
prophecies are truly inspired by the god
- Trustworthiness of prophets explored through Tiresias
 Recognised by audience in both plays that he provides wide advise – characters discover it too
late
- Oedipus and Pentheus – accuse Tiresias of making money by prophesising a certain way
 Fears reflect anxiety about religious authorities abusing their power
- Conflict with Tiresias – reflects a clash between political and religious forms of authority

Religious rituals and acts

- Greek religion focused on action rather than belief
- Believed that the gods cared that humans paid them proper honour rather than that they were
fervent believers
 Significant that Pentheus fails to acknowledge Dionysus’ divinity and seeks to prevent his worship
- Chorus describe Dionysiac worship in their odes – emphasise joyful nature of worship, importance of
dance, music and wine
- Worship of Dionysus by maenads – practiced in real life ancient Greece
 Little known about what was involved
- Pentheus – sees rituals as pretexts for women to indulge in drinking and extra-marital sex
 First messenger corrects him – gives us an insight into true nature of Dionysiac worship
- Dionysiac worship – presented as beautiful but also in opposition with normal life
 Audience face challenge of how society can incorporate Dionysus’ rituals without losing what
makes ordered living possible
- Oedipus – idea that certain actions could cause one to become polluted
 Someone in state of pollution was unacceptable to the gods and required religious purification
- Tragedy focuses on drastic forms of pollution – in particular when caused by homicide
- Oedipus – not only polluted himself but bring pollution to the whole city

Importance of the polis

- Greek thought – human ability to live in a community was one of the most important thing that
distinguished them from animals
- Aristotle – argued that humans are designed to live in a polis
 Tragedy interested in how people should live together and should handle conflicts that arise
- Polis made up of individuals