Euripides' Bacchae vs. HBO's True Blood
In Greek mythology, there are several gods and goddesses that pertain to certain aspects of life and have abilities that are beyond a mortal’s reach. Dionysus is most commonly known as the god of wine and fertility. Where he goes, chaos follows. The Bacchae by Euripides is a play featuring Dionysus. Dionysiac cults were somewhat secretive and the tragedy provides some insight for scholars to learn how maenads (female followers of Dionysus) and bacchaes may have behaved. Dionysus’ nostos wreaks havoc as he contagiously spreads his Bacchic influences among the citizens of Thebes, namely the women. In the play, Agave takes on the role of a maenad. Her actions demonstrate the immense power that Dionysus has over those who worship him. Season two of HBO’s True Blood serves as a modern rendition of the Bacchae, displaying recognizably Bacchic traits such as enthusiasmos, ekstasis, sparagmos, and homophagia.
enthusiasmos
Physical changes due to enthusiasmos.
The term enthusiasmos means, “to have the god inside of you … altering and freeing them” (“Dionysus” Brown University). In this case, a human being is possessed by Dionysus’s supernatural energy making him or her feel free as though they are breaking free of social constraints. Breaking free of societal constructs means that what others perceive as right and wrong is no longer of concern. When these boundaries are broken, chaos ensues. The character of Agave from Euripides’ Bacchae experiences enthusiasmos, along with several women of Thebes. She was described as “foaming at the mouth / eyes rolling in their sockets, her mind not set / on what she ought to think – she didn’t listen - / she was possessed, in a Bacchic frenzy” (Bacchae l. 1391 – 1394). Physically, she experiences seizure-like symptoms that one would consider abnormal. The power of Dionysus inside her overpowers her own conscience and she loses the ability to think clearly, as she is driven by her primitive needs. This is also manifested in True Blood when the maenad spreads her power over the town of Bon Temps. Those under her influence believe that “a god is coming into [their] midst” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”). The citizens that become bacchae are distinguishable the same way Agave and other bacchae are distinguished from someone such as Cadmus. It is not only one’s mentality that changes, but their physical appearance is altered as well. While the symptoms in True Blood are less like seizures, it is clear when one is in a state of enthusiasmos as their eyes widen and darken completely, and movements are very animalistic.
ekstasis
A maenad in her ekstasis state reuniting with Dionysus.
In relation, the English word ecstasy derives from the Greek word ekstasis, which means the “experience of emotion to the extreme … feeling something so strong that you are outside yourself” (“Dionysus” Brown University). When this occurs, one is most likely to be in a state of trance, unaware and unreliable for their actions. Dionysus has most of the population of Thebes under his influence in Bacchae. Agave experiences pride to the extreme. After Pentheus had been ripped apart, Agave’s “hands picked [his head] up, / then stuck it on a thyrsus, at the tip. / Now she carries it around Cithaeron, / as though it were some wild lion’s head … showing off with pride her ill-fated prey, / calling out to her fellow hunter, Bacchus (Bacchae l. 1415 – 1422). Cadmus is not under the spell; therefore, he is one of the few characters in the play can still think rationally. When Agave presents what she believes to be a lion’s head, Cadmus demands her to “inspect it carefully. You can do that / without much effort” (Bacchae l. 1580 – 1581). Agave, still in her ekstasis phase, does not understand. Once more, Cadmus orders her to “look at it. You’ll understand more clearly” (Bacchae l. 1584). Cadmus’ rationality helps Agave escape the state of trance she is in and bring her back to reality, making her realize that it was not a lion’s head that she was holding, but that it was her son, Pentheus’ head. In True Blood, the maenad, Mary-Ann, experiences extreme love towards Dionysus, convinced that “her husband is a god” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”). Blinded by this extreme love, she believes that the only method in which he can appear to her is if she gave herself to him in marriage, and providing a sacrifice, which she refers to as “the ideal wedding gift” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”). Like Agave’s extreme pride, Mary-Ann is taken over by love and lust for Dionysus while in her state of ekstasis that she cannot fathom that what she plans on doing is morally unacceptable. Mary-Ann sees only what she wants to see. In this case, Dionysus holds the most value to her. When any bull-horned animal appears, she immediately believes that it is a manifestation of him and feels extreme love and accomplishment. Unfortunately for both Agave and Mary-Ann, their state of ekstasis leads to their ultimate downfall as Agave butchered her own son and Mary-Ann is killed by what she believes to be Dionysus in animal form.
sparagomos
Vase painting of sparagomos.
The ancient Greek culture was very ritualistic in several manners whether it may be honouring the gods or in terms of funerary rights. In the worship of Dionysus, sparagomos refers to “tearing a sacrificial animal from limb to limb” (Suksi “Bacchae Drama”). This is clearly conveyed in Euripides’ Bacchae when the messenger recounts, “those Bacchic women, all unarmed, / went at the heifers browsing on the turf, / using their bare hands. You should have seen one / ripping a fat, young, lowing calf apart - / others tearing cows in pieces with their hands” (Bacchae l. 906 – 910). Sparagomos occurs when the victims are in their enthusiasmos and ekstasis state. Pentheus becomes the sacrificial animal because Agave and the others did not recognize him in their state of mind, and perceived him as a wild lion. As a result, they were more than happy to use him as a sacrificial animal.
A victim of sparagomos.
Mary-Ann from True Blood wants to reunite herself with Dionysus as she believes that he is her husband. In order to do so, she must perform a marriage ritual in which sparagomos is required. She needs to perform a sacrifice in order to show her god that she is a dedicated and loyal follower. She takes a shape-shifter in his human form and plans to “[cut] out his heart … My husband will love it. It’s the very thing that gives him life” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”). She is not performing the sparagomos for herself, but as a gift for Dionysus. The sparagomos in True Blood also involves bleeding the victim out in order to collect and drink the blood prior to the tearing up.
homophagia
In relation to sparagomos is homophagia, which is defined as “the eating of the raw flesh, often thought of as the eating of the god” (Johnson “Greek Tragedy”). However, one is not devouring the god in a negative manner. Instead, homophagia is seen as a celebratory event. Pentheus had his flesh ripped off by the bacchae, and Euripides’ descriptive imagery provides the audience with an idea of just how unknowingly cruel and gruesome the bacchae were. “The whole crowd of them, attacked as well, / all of them howling out together … the women’s nails / tore [Pentheus’] ribs apart. Their hands grew bloody, / tossing bits of [Pentheus’] flesh back and forth, for fun. / [Pentheus’] body parts lie scattered everywhere” (Bacchae l. 1403 – 1411). During this occurrence, the bacchae are experiencing nothing but joy because “by eating the bloody flesh of these animals, the worshippers became one with the god and with the wild natural forces that he represented” (McManus, “Background and Images for the Bacchae”). Reunification with Dionysus is the ultimate goal and homophagia pushes one closer to that goal. This becomes Mary-Ann’s fundamental reason for her cannibalistic qualities. Human flesh, particularly an organ such as the heart, is seen as “the food of the gods” (“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”).
Like Agave “calling out to her fellow hunter, Bacchus,” Mary-Ann bakes a heart into a soufflé and calls it a Hunter’s Soufflé (Bacchae l. 1422). She experiences pleasure while preparing the dish and serves it to others who then go on to experience enthusiasmos and sparagomos.
Like Agave “calling out to her fellow hunter, Bacchus,” Mary-Ann bakes a heart into a soufflé and calls it a Hunter’s Soufflé (Bacchae l. 1422). She experiences pleasure while preparing the dish and serves it to others who then go on to experience enthusiasmos and sparagomos.