In my last post, I brought up the idea of ecstasy in the lives of human beings. For this post, I will focus more on ecstasy within literature. Ecstasy has a few definitions, one of which I talked about in my last post is a level of happiness, but another definition focuses on the sexual connotations of ecstasy. Where I noticed this the most was in The Bachhae, and specifically in the women under Dionysus’ control. However, the more I thought about how these women were being controlled, the more I began to think that maybe if they knew what was going on they wouldn’t mind it.
From the history and the story itself, it seemed that women were being controlled anyway. They were controlled by their husbands and bound to their homes. To go back again to Durkheim’s theories of integration, these women were not very well integrated into the rest of society due to their seemingly forced duties and gender roles. Dionysus, when he came to Thebes and took the women from their homes and husbands, in a way shifted this integration, possibly for the better. I know from past classes that I have taken that women were not, and in some countries are still not, able to or allowed to enjoy the pleasures of sex. Although they are under Dionysus’ spell, the women in The Bacchae are able to experience this form of ecstasy.
From here I can relate back to my last blog post about the use of drugs and alcohol which people use as a form of escape. The majority of the students who are drinking are underage, or those who are using drugs are using those which are illegal; ultimately whatever they are doing is something that they are not supposed to. I find this to be similar to how women were not allowed to enjoy sexual ecstasy, but when they were able to through Dionysus, it was like their kind of drug, and they were hungry for it all the time. To me, these women did not seem to mind the state that they were in, they were free from domestic duties and sexually satisfied. Being under the control of Dionysus was their escape from reality, and although the women did some strange things like eat the raw flesh of deer, I believe that they were happier in this state of ecstasy than they would be in their previous ones. Again as the parallel, they are similar to someone who is not very well integrated into society and is happier through the escape of finding and accomplishing ecstasy.
The Bacchae is a play, and above is a short documentary of a group of people who have performed it. I like what Brooke Wooldridge has to say about being a Bacchant in the performance, and I think it really goes along with my point about what these women think their lives under Dionysus’ control really is like. Of course keep in mind that she is not a legitimate Bacchant, however she does support my claims.
References:
Euripides. “The Bacchae.” The Bacchae and Other Plays. Translated by John Dave, introduction by Richard Rutherford. New York, Penguin Group, 2005.