But the heart of this story seems to an exploration of truth and how to deal with its uncertainty. Creusa's are told as if they are the tragic story of her close friend. The play has many comic elements, such as when Ion and Creusa first meet and, not knowing who each other are, tell their parallel stories. In the ritual process, her husband, Xuthus, is told that Ion is his own son and Creusa and Xuthus take him home to Athens to be their heir. Years later Creusa comes to Delphi to ask Apollo about her son.
Ion is raised in Delphi by Apollo worshipers and becomes and attendant at the temple. Fathered by Apollo, his mother, Creusa, abandons him, then later becomes wife of the ruler of Athens, and barren. I can't recall how I know the story of Ion, but it must be somewhat common knowledge. Euripides left Athens late in life, retiring in Macedonia. Athenian citizens would struggle during the long wars with Sparta, especially during the last tens years, and Athens eventually lost in 404 bce. This meant he lived through Athens 50 years of Greek dominance that lasted from roughly the battle of Salamis in 480 to the beginning of the Peloponnesian war in 431. They are also largely anti-war statements, a reflection of his times.Įuripides lived from c. In sum, these are complex and interesting works that deserve multiple readings.but I have only read them once so far. They are more dynamic, they keep the reader/viewer entertained, and still, there is so much going on behind the words that is completely counter to what is overtly being said.
His play structure no longer feels like a selection of long dull monologues that only affect in sum, and that are entirely disturbing. His understated satire is still prominent, but has become much more sophisticated and not entirely negative. They show a lot of developed complexity compared to the collection of earlier plays I read previously. Translated by Philip Vellacott, 1954, revised 1973įormat: 249 page Penguin Classics paperback The Bacchae and Other Plays : Ion, The Women of Troy, Helen, The Bacchae by Euripides This production includes simulated violence.49. Gender, sexuality, and identity become transgressive, visceral expressions of protest among Dionysus and his followers, the Bacchantes, linking a mythical past to the art and creativity that power revolutionary change today. When autocratic King Pentheus of Thebes imprisons Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, and theater, he unleashes a frenzied revolt among the women of the city, driving them to the mountains and to madness. Ecstatic dance and music fuel political uprising in Soyinka’s adaptation of Euripides’ classic play about a god and the despot who attempts to control him.
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