The Gods Must Be Crazy

How important it is to prove that you are a god. Dionysis is worshipped many places, but he is not worshipped where he was born. In fact he is insulted, mocked; his mother is considered an unscrupulous whore, feigning pregnancy by Zeus. What a stark contrast to our Christian Mary; somehow everyone believed her, or at least she had a husband to cover up her pregnancy. However, Semele did not; is this why she was so castigated?
Did the citizens of Thebes not wonder where her son had gone? Obviously Semele had a supportive father; Cadmus worshipped Dionysis, and did not blame his daughters for his punishment, when clearly it was their actions, not his, that brought it about. Of course, she did not have a supportive family, her sisters had started the rumors that Semele lied about the father.
They were in the wrong mindset; they were feigning sanity, as Dionysis explains. So he made them extra crazy. Dionysis thrives on insanity; he thrives on drunk devotees. He takes such pleasure in calm insanity; in fact, that’s how I would describe him- remarkably cool, wreaking havoc. As Pentheus is tying him up, his lack of reaction illuminates his stature; nothing can touch him; it is a wise man who practices patience. What a foreboding image. For the rest of the play I saw him with the same unaffected demeanor, yet his actions and decisions proved him to be a bit of a tyrant (please don’t smite me Dionysis). This combination is so deadly and terrifying.
He and Pentheus incredibly make juxtaposition; Pentheus is uncontrollable with rage. He actually reminded me of the prohibitionists in America- too much sanity. But he was so sane that he was insane; he dressed up in a dress. I would say that is clear evidence. I felt sorry for him though. He was just trying to be a good king, he was a young king; the only thing he could do was take care of his grandfather. What I think is interesting is the blood ties he has with Dionysis. He is Bacchus’ cousin; their mothers are sisters. Bacchus detaches himself from this family; he is only the son of Zeus, and some lone noble woman with a heart (or something like that). Only Cadmus really even approaches the subject of family; he speaks of the honor a God brings to the family. Cadmus seems to be the only one who sees, just as Tiresisas says in the beginning: “Only we can see. The rest of them are mad.” I wonder if he perhaps included Dionysis in that group, even though he worshipped him. I certainly consider him mad; for revenge he sets a mother upon a son. This brings about unspeakable tragedy. Was he so enraged for being rejected-because that is why he needs revenge, lack of recognition- that he needed to unspeakable tragedy? Has he no compassion, not even enough to prevent a woman from unwittingly slaughtering her own babe? What a vision of motherhood he has! However, he is also a young God. He and Pentheus are quite similar. They are both struggling to gain recognition for their authority. Unfortunately they are placed against each other, and so one must win. And who can outsmart a God, especially a God of wits? Dionysis clearly loves reminding Pentheus that he is a mere man. Well, whatever makes him feel better (just kidding Dionysis, please don’t kill me). Somehow I feel like this was a bit of a tragicomedy. The noble citizens of Thebes were puppets, moved about according to Dionysis’ will. Isn’t this low status somewhat satirical, especially since they are precisely high status individuals in society? And the one with truly high status, Dionysis, has no unspeakable tragedies happen to him; therefore, the high status character, who we usually see fall in tragedy, does not. Unless you consider the family of nobility to be the characters of tragedy, but it’s so funny how they’re strung along according to the whim of a God. Also, Iacchus is the God who brought wine, that which alleviates the suffering of man; so it is ironic that these people are suffering by that very same God- the alleviator of pain! I would definitely say that this play was just hilarious; yet I was quite moved by the moment of Agave’s revelation. That was just terribly sad. Even though she was quite blind to her son’s head- that was pretty funny.