The Bacchae highlights the mutability of Dionysian power and the aspect of godhood that we spoke of before. Namely that "God" encompasses all opposites and makes them one. This is demonstrated in Pentheus' acting out of an effeminate role. Dionysus wakes whatever is suppressed or hidden and brings it to the fore of your consciousness. Pentheus' death represents his own inability to come to terms with his "anima" or opposite in God and he suffered a crack-up because of it.
What most people find interesting about this story is it's parallel with the story of Christ. It seems pretty intriguing that the story of Dionysus written by Euripides, about the time of the Buddha, possesses many common elements of the story of Christ.
Both of them are regenerative gods who die and are reborn. Both gods are the son of an ultimate male power, both are also represent a gospel of sorts and have very dedicated followers. Both of them also follow the typical hero cycle in their rise to power. They are "virgin births" who later were called to adventure, wen tout into the wilderness and returned to share life renewing message.
This is a good transition into the last two weeks of the class where we will examine the hero deed in detail; using Campbell's monomyth as the model. Campbell s basic premise was based on a departure, an initiation and a return. This model is used often to describe the hero journey and crosses cultural barriers. It describes all kinds of hero acts, from the personal to the cosmological and everything in between. This is where mythology gets really personal. Take a look at the video i posted as well as the webpage link i posted. We will cover these in more detail later.
This link will take you to a page that describes each stage of the hero's journey briefly. This will be important for the next two weeks. The author of that page also decided to outline the Harry Potter story according to Campbell's Hero Cycle. Its Quite interesting.What most people find interesting about this story is it's parallel with the story of Christ. It seems pretty intriguing that the story of Dionysus written by Euripides, about the time of the Buddha, possesses many common elements of the story of Christ.
Both of them are regenerative gods who die and are reborn. Both gods are the son of an ultimate male power, both are also represent a gospel of sorts and have very dedicated followers. Both of them also follow the typical hero cycle in their rise to power. They are "virgin births" who later were called to adventure, wen tout into the wilderness and returned to share life renewing message.
This is a good transition into the last two weeks of the class where we will examine the hero deed in detail; using Campbell's monomyth as the model. Campbell s basic premise was based on a departure, an initiation and a return. This model is used often to describe the hero journey and crosses cultural barriers. It describes all kinds of hero acts, from the personal to the cosmological and everything in between. This is where mythology gets really personal. Take a look at the video i posted as well as the webpage link i posted. We will cover these in more detail later.
After reading the links, it came to my mind that all hero stories follow Campbells idea. The Harry Potter using Campbell's ideas is shocking because I have never thought that ideas from Greek Mythology could carry out to present day movies. The princess bride, Vanhesing, Shrek, Even the disney movies such as Snow White and of course Hercules all have the similar patterns.The heroes have a quest and all the various stages Campbell describes play out.Christ has the same situation. He has a quest and needs to attain his goal---salvation for us all. As I have said before I am amazed at the similar comparisons of Christ and Dionysus. They are almost exacting stories. Although some may say these myths are not real we all can learn a lot from these tales---love, compassion unity, as Campbell says, we can all take something out of it.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting in the initiation section of the link shown above where it stated that "In myth, a parental figure is responsible for guiding the hero through the journey. This representation echoes the need for each person to break free from childhood into adulthood."Campbell
ReplyDeleteI found this statement very true and how important it is to have parental figures for guidance, but knowing there will be a point where you will have to stand on your own two feet.
I also found it interesting that Harry Potter used Campbell's ideas, but it makes sense, because the Harry Potter series seems to be filled with mythology if you really think about it.
I am very aware of the journey of heroes and how they are assigned a "parental figure" or figure of wisdom of their guidance through their journey. It is much like our own journey to adulthood. Our parents can only guide us so much before they become overbearing. Parents may be able to teach us morals and proper etiquette, but as we reach adulthood it is our duty to decide to put them into practice or not. During this reading, it reminded me of a talk my father and I had when I graduated high school. He made it quite clear to me that it was going to be a rough ride, and that life isn't always fair. He said he would always be there to help me and support me, but any decisions I made were my own , and I would have to deal with them.
ReplyDeleteI find that the readings dont only relate to Harry Potter, however they also relate to many modern cinema today such as Lord of the Rings. Frodo, a hobbit on a journey to save the world was guided by a wizard filled with wisdom, Gandelf. However, when it came to the end... Frodo was the one who would decide the fate of the world.