From Persia, Dionysus Poem by gershon hepner

Dionysus, born in Greece,
in Persia first was recognized;
in Greece the god had been despised
until they learned that wine brings peace
of mind, and worshipped him. From Persia
he brought what helped them all to think
more clearly––not a demon drink,
but antidote to their inertia.

Control of rigid logic and
articulacy doesn’t cancel
the power Gretel has on Hansel,
for leading Hansel by the hand,
like Pentheus led by Dionysus,
they yield to power of the scream,
and in an epiphanic dream
both overcome their inward crisis.


David Greig, whose 2007 version of The Bacchae swept the Edinburgh festival, explains why we need to listen to the words of Euripides now more than ever:

I hadn't been working on my new version of The Bacchae for long when I came across some lines that resonated very strongly with me. In the chorus, the Bacchae sing a hymn to the good things that come of accepting Dionysus and warn of what happens to those who don't. In the middle of this song, they sing: 'To sophon d'ou sophia.' It's a piece of Euripidean wordplay that Ian Ruffell, in the literal translation I adapted for the National Theatre of Scotland production, rendered as: “Wisdom is not cleverness.' Throughout The Bacchae, Euripides contrasts the two different ways of experiencing knowledge. One is the intellectual, rational, linguistic knowledge we might call 'cleverness'; the other is a more organic knowledge born of physicality, instinct and custom, which we might call 'wisdom'. So wisdom is not cleverness. In fact, though, even the terms 'cleverness' and 'wisdom' seem too simplistic for the opposition that forms the spine of this great play. It is best brought out in the long, witty scenes between Pentheus and Dionysus. Pentheus is 'a clever and persuasive man', but he is not 'wise'. He comes to embody a cluster of attributes that are held in opposition to Dionysus, the god, hero of the play. Pentheus is wholly male. Dionysus is both male and female. Pentheus is Greek. Dionysus is foreign. Pentheus is 'rational'. Dionysus is 'playful'. Dionysus was the last god to arrive in the Greek pantheon. It has been suggested that his assimilation to Olympus came with the arrival of wine in Greece. Wine originated from Persia, and the Greeks felt unsatisfied that a substance central to their culture should be foreign. So they devised their own god of wine, Dionysus, who, although born in Greece, was not recognised by his family and hence was exiled to Persia. There he converted the foreign barbarians to his religion. Finally, he returned to Greece at the head of a band of foreign women worshippers - the Bacchae - and claimed his rightful place among the gods….This moment, for me, holds the key to the contemporary meaning of The Bacchae. It is a play by a man, about men, for men. Throughout, Euripides shows that the values associated with masculinity - rationality, logic, control and articulacy - do not cancel out the 'female' Dionysian forces of emotion, instinct and physicality. Pentheus constantly associates Dionysian attributes with women and foreigners. 'Greek men know better, ' he says. He believes real men can and must defeat these Dionysian forces. But Pentheus is wrong. The chorus warn him: 'Intellect must always submit to the power of the scream.' Pentheus cannot defeat the Dionysian because it is already within him. Euripides shows that if you do not recognise the Dionysian spirit within yourself, or in your society, then it will surely return and destroy you in ways more horrible than you can imagine.

6/27/08