Pentheus
Pentheus is part two of City of Wine,
commissioned by Nightswimming in 2006.
Synopsis:
Two generations after the events of Harmonia, Pentheus (grandson of Harmonia and Cadmus) struggles to maintain their lofty ideals of civilized behaviour in the face of Thebes’ increasing allegiance to extreme religious fanaticism. A free version of The Bacchae from Pentheus’ perspective, the play introduces us to the magical characters of Tiresias and Bacchus, and brings wine into the city of Thebes for the first time.
PENTHEUS
directed by Tatiana Jennings
Humber College, Toronto
www.creativeandperformingarts.humber.ca
April 11 – 18, 2009
Favourite line: “Would pure love need to go disguised?” -Hera, Act 1
Favourite visual: “He then adressed the tiny life spark in his hand,
Which he had snatched out of the ashes in the air,
And, with some tears, I think, he called it son
And set it in the wound, which he sewed up.”-Tiresias, Act 1
favorite line : “gone like a butterfly across a candle flame” Tiresias, act 1
Favorite visual : “With me you never will grow old/ but always be this glistening vision burned forever on my heart.” Tiresias, act 1.
Fav Line
Parent: I smell some smoldering,
Oh, it is me. (Pg 42)
Fav Image
Agave: This finger used to fit my hand so perfectly that–
Oh, my baby boy,
My son.
So, this is done, and done by me? (Pg 122)
3. How do the gods interfere with the mortals in “Pentheus”?
In this play, there are more unnamed and royal characters than gods, which, in my opinion, seems to limit the interaction between the gods and the mortals. This leaves more room for the mortal characters to grow and develop individually. The gods hold the supporting roles and they become the catalysts for change or mischief. So even though the mortals are no longer slaves to the gods’ desires, the gods do take a few liberties with the mortals’ lives for their own purposes, whether it be for power or entertainment. For example, when Eris, Aphrodite, and Hera approach Semele in the form of her friends, (Glass, Parent, and Cloth), they plant the idea of Zeus’ true form in Semele’s head, which eventually gets her killed. And Bacchus (and his wine) breathes air into the female rebellion which leads to the murder of Pentheus by his mother Agave, who in turn kills herself.
5. What is or is there a central theme to this play?
One main theme present in “Pentheus” is the idea of Temptation and its Consequences. There are all kinds of tempting entities in this script such as sex, wine, political power, and love. Semele wants to see Zeus’ true form, Pentheus wants to sleep with Tiresius, the women want to party and bathe themselves, etc. As with any form of temptation there are positive and harmless effects, such as enjoyment, satisfaction, and a sense of freedom. However on the other side of the coin lies greed and the danger of temptation. Due to Bacchus’ influence, the mortals succumb to their thirst for power and the party gets ugly. In fact the struggle quickly turns into a blood bath ladden with rape, murder and suicide, leaving Cadmea rulerless and a little less populated.
What is or is there a central theme to this play?
One of the central themes the play deals with, is the idea of “limitations”. What are ones personal limitations, how far can one push limitations and what are the consequences when one steps over the limit? We catch up to Cadmus and Harmonia when they are much older and in the midst of handing over their royal status to Pentheus. Cadmus seems to deal with this decision much more easily than Harmonia does. On the one hand both of them concede that it is time to hand over the keys to the great city, but on the other hand Harmonia (once immortal) seems to be having grave difficulty coming to terms with life’s last few chapters. During this eventful afternoon (week, month) a child is conceived, Bacchus, and a sudden drunkenness pours over the city. Everybody starts to celebrate celebrating and drinking wine and gathering en masse. A party mentality sweeps over the town and party planner, Bacchus, introduces wine as Cadmeas’ newest vice. Just as in life, wine can be enjoyed up until a limit and then things can turn ugly. All the positive things that lie behind celebration and dance and public gathering are quickly dashed when gang mentality develops. Bacchus quickly becomes a very powerful man due to his endless supply of wine and as a result any one who bad mouths him gets torn to pieces- such a fate belonged to Pentheus. Achaean pulsating with jealous rage rapes his wife as if to reconfirm their marriage, shattered by this grotesque change in lifestyle. A peaceful town for quite sometime, Cadmeas’ fragility was exposed very quickly when the characters that people it have to define their personal and royal limits. It’ll be interesting to see what type of laws and order will be established. Will that pile of rock- that idea of a fence, which symbolized so beautifully the past peace, now become a wall of defense?
What is the timeline of this play?
I think the time line is something intangible. Similar to how we felt we needed to move in 3d in order to better plot the lineage and relationships of ancient Greece. Time seems to move in all sorts of directions- Or possibly not at all. The way I’m starting to see time in these shows, is much in the way Kurt Vonnegut has his fictional characters, The Trafalmadorians (Slaughter House Five) see time. He says they see time the way we humans can see a mountain range. Time seems to be lined up in front of you and all moments past, present or future, are attainable, currently happening, relive-able, always happening. Perhaps the gods see experience time this way, while the mortal characters live as we do here on earth. And I think its exciting the way someone newborn can immediately appear full grown and perhaps in this world you’ve (Ned) created it’s not that the gods are appearing and disappearing, but rather revisiting moments that have and will continue to forever exist. All this to say, I never felt distracted by the way you’ve used time in this play, in fact its a nice question for the reader to discuss afterwards rather than to have it answered in the text.
Day Three: City of Wine – Pentheus for Concordia University Theatre Department.
Please answer two of the following questions for Friday, August 17th:
1)Do you recognize character mirroring (characters who are similar to one another) in this play? If so, give an example.
2)What role does honor play in your character(s) you read for Pentheus?
3)How do gods interfere with the mortals in this play?
4)What’s the time line of this play?
5)Is there a central theme to the play? If yes, what is it?
***Be prepared to give your definition of myth from a book source and a myth that exists in your life for Friday’s class. Thank you.
Images from Pentheus’ reading:
-seed
-sown
-women bathing
-bathing
-cleanliness
-fire (birth of Bacchus; death of Semele)
-drunken bull
-when Pentheus pulls a knife while bathing
-mud
-empty square
-liquids, fluids (wine, mud)
-wall not built
-half constructed things in town (wall, army)
-the women’s rebellion
-finger touching
-Pentheus’ finger
-how Tiresias sees prophecy and his/her transformation
-image of roots to the snakes
-the hind
-flesh (ripping of flesh, puncturing of flesh)
-grapes
-men spying on women
-family tree
-the links between the gods and mortals; the “royals” and the Unnamed
-punishment
Questions from reading:
-How does aging work for the Unnamed?
-Do the Unnamed change over time? Is there an archetype for the Unnamed?
The timeline of “Pentheus” is rather confusing at times. There are many occurrences which happen that one expects would take years (ie the birth and life of Bachus) which in the reality take place in a matter of only a couple of days for the mortals. This is conveyed through the rather unconcerned comments concerning the whereabouts of Semele. She has only been gone for one day and yet her son (Bachus) is grown and reeking havoc in Cadmea. This confusion between mortal and gods’ time allows for the audience to actively engage in suspension of disbelief. Once we understand that things can happen in the lives of the gods which do not necessarily make sense in our world we are more willing to accept the chaos and wonder of the show.
If there is to be a central theme to this play I believe it is chaos. Especially in comparison to “Harmonia”, “Pentheus” is filled with disarray and turmoil. In a sense, it felt like “Pentheus” is the wake up call following “Harmonia”. It shows that life and love is not as simple as having grand ideas and easily executing them to create a utopia. This play also conveyed the idea that every character is deeper than simply being a vehicle of comedic relief. Each character is capable of deeper and darker things than we originally thought. We are invited to explore the less attractive side of characters we originally thought innocent and naïve.
The timeline of “Pentheus” is rather confusing at times. There are many occurrences which happen that one expects would take years (ie the birth and life of Bachus) which in the reality take place in a matter of only a couple of days for the mortals. This is conveyed through the rather unconcerned comments concerning the whereabouts of Semele. She has only been gone for one day and yet her son (Bachus) is grown and reeking havoc in Cadmea. This confusion between mortal and gods’ time allows for the audience to actively engage in suspension of disbelief. Once we understand that things can happen in the lives of the gods which do not necessarily make sense in our world we are more willing to accept the chaos and wonder of the show.
If there is to be a central theme to this play I believe it is chaos. Especially in comparison to “Harmonia”, “Pentheus” is filled with disarray and turmoil. In a sense, it felt like “Pentheus” is the wake up call following “Harmonia”. It shows that life and love is not as simple as having grand ideas and easily executing them to create a utopia. This play also conveyed the idea that every character is deeper than simply being a vehicle of comedic relief. Each character is capable of deeper and darker things than we originally thought. We are invited to explore the less attractive side of characters we originally thought innocent and naïve
Is there a central theme in Pentheus?
On a first read-through, my initial feeling is one of consequence and responsibility. Having now created a city of their own, the un-named are now faced with the grey area of consequence. Where at Olympus, it was live or die and as a slave you had little say in the matter, the Gods would do whatever they desired regardless of fairness. But now, ‘seemingly’ left alone by the Gods, these newly freed slaves are discovering new levels of both joy and despair, passion and grief. Allowed to indulge in the ‘juice’ of existence, they not only get to experience all the good and great that can emerge, but also the pain, suffering, and guilt that can emerge if you go a little too far. These are hard lessons to learn, but through them, might the un-named learn about the responsibility that freedom demands. The simplicity of Olympus, the black-white, live-die simplicity is now a complex labyrinth of many shades of grey, where pleasure can turn to pain and living could be much worse then dying.
What role does honor have in the characters I’ve read?
I’ve read BLOOD twice now, and I think he believes he is honorable. Honor is tricky though, because if it’s self described, it could be externally viewed as arrogance, superiority even weakness. I think Blood has a code of conduct, he works hard, respectfully and doesn’t seem to fall so quickly into the world of debauchery. Even in his attempts to woo, they are polite, if sometimes feeling, not misguided but, baseless in any possibility of reciprocation. I look forward to seeing how this arc continues. I also read ACTAEON, whom I imagined as a fierce warrior who “likes to kill too much”. I understood this as he’s not so much a thinker as a doer, but even after he has been past over for the crown, and even after his own grizzly death at the hands of his own dogs, he returns as a ghost to warn his cousin to “flee the fire”. You can’t get much more honorable that that.
I think the central theme in this play it’s REALITY. Cadmus, Harmonia and the other Unnamed have to face the consequence of their decisions and actions. They have to face REAL LIFE! Because they have left the Olympus and the have lost many things pursuing their dream of freedom. Now, they are aging because they are mortals, they can be anger,they can me moved by the ambition for power, etc. They can commit excess, as well: the can be drunk, they can participate in orgies, they can kill, etc. At the same time they feel satisfaction and shame for all of that. Everything they have chosen to do, brings consequences to all of them.
About the time line, I think the events in “Pentheus” the can occur in 2 or three days. Since “Theresias” is punished until the birth of Bacchus, must be 2 days in between. I think they regret about their actions after they “wake up” the next morning after the party. So probably, one more day.
The central theme of the play could be loss of innocence. The Garden of Eden creation myth as played out with an ensemble cast of mythological heavyweights. The theme is effective in that the loss of innocence often works to break the established archetypes and move the characters and action forward. One of the early and pronounced examples of this is the conflict of Tiresias’ affection for Semele, and how quickly it turns disastrous for both of them. In contrast to Harmonia and Cadmus, and the trajectory of their relationship in the previous play, this relationship takes a swerve early on and looks ugly very quickly. The gods are not as apathetic and are quick to spring to life with grotesque (and rightfully so!) punishments. The darker, less innocent light is also cast upon Bacchus, who is typically portrayed in literature as an almost simplistic reveler who holds great affection for the red stuff. The Bacchian celebration depicted in Pentheus is a well-rounded portrait of the sexual as well as criminal depravity that caused the Roman Senate to outlaw these celebrations. The god who brings knowledge through wine and ecstasy is introduced in the play as a well known dramatic archetype—the trickster, one who is innocent enough at the outset but who grows more and more hateful and even violent as the play progresses, once again going against archetype.
The way in which the gods interfere with the mortals is in their typical, knee-jerk, violent fashion, as in when Tiresias is blinded by Athena, as well as in a more seductive fashion. Zeus and his literal seduction of Semele still leads to her destruction, but she has gained pleasure and knowledge in the process, and the decision was made of her own free will. The same can be said for Bacchus. He did not rain down the punishments upon his revelers, but instead provided them with wine, sexual liberation and the choice to partake thereof. Thus, these latter mortals succumb to the gods but they are in no way victims. They have paid a price for the choices they made.
3. How do the gods interfere with the mortals in Pantheus?
Though many of the gods interact with mortals in different ways in this play (mainly for entertainment (zeus and Semele) but also including typical godly wrath (Tiresias and Athena)) I feel that the most important thing to delve into is the Athena-Bacchus-Mortals influence.
In a sense all this destruction is Athena’s fault. In her discussion with Bacchus at the beginning of the play she acknowledges his half-mortal parentage. Through her interest in mortals Athena brings Bacchus’ attentions onto them and gives him a way to hurt Athena for her comment. By saying she has an understanding with the gods about leaving them alone she prompts Bacchus, in his unacknowledged state, to deliberately toy with them. This gives Bacchus the opportunity to display his godly influence and garner a following among the mortals (justifying his godly status) while getting petty revenge on Athena for her comment.
4. What is the timeline? How does it work?
Quite frankly I do not know…
It seems quite some time has passed since HARMONIA, and yet the unnamed appear just as they were, even though Harmonia and Cadmus have aged significantly. Two generations have been born.
The Gods appear outside the time line, so I have no great problem with Bacchus’ birth and immediate adulthood – though my brain swims with all of the logical fallacies inherent with any kind of ‘time travel’ which he is, in a sense, doing.
But Semele falls in love with Zeus in a moment, and dies almost immediately afterwards. And Tiresias goes from ignoring a naked goddess in favour of looking upon his love (Semele) to begging his true love (Pantheus) to stay alive in just a day or two. Bacchus seems to hold the female population totally in thrall within a few days.
Because of these ‘sped-up’ events I can’t help but feel that time has no real meaning anymore – that there is no progression, nor the usual accumulation of evidence or events before a paradigm shift or explosive event.
It seems almost necessary in order to get through so many events in so little time… but my brain balks at all of the juicy writing, emotional upheavals and character development that is being denied.
And I really don’t know how I feel about that just yet.
2) The role that honour plays after reading the part of Agave in “Pentheus” is poignant as she uncovers the truth affecting her life. It seems that every decision Agave makes is in honour of what she believes to be important, for her family, or for herself. There are many examples of the different ways Agave shows honour. At the beginning of the story she honours Athena to the point of almost licking her ass; “And we love you.” (Agave to Athena p. 25) and kisses up again “In truth you do.” (p.27) Moreover, she also tells Athena that she is so important that she will sacrifice a newborn lamb for Athena in her honour (p.37).Agave also honours her son by saying “Come here…hold my hand…come with me now…” (p.36), when she finds out that he is to be king and she wants him to be honourable and respected and grow up to be a strong man. Agave wants her son to honour her in this position of power and to look to her for guidance as she believes is older and wiser as his mother. In another way Agave honour the truth when she is seeking answers as to knowing if Bacchus is a god or not (p.62/63). Knowing that he is Demi-god is not enough for Agave and she refuses to honour him as a God but will honour him as family; “This child deserves my love as family, but still, I cannot call him God.”(p.68) She displays these emotions again when she refuses to honour her nephew as a god; “…That is about life honouring itself…”(p.102/103) Furthermore, she honours herself when she states; “My heart is still my own and I am free to give or hold devotions, am I not?”(p.68) Agave feels honoured when her son Pentheus is to be king, but when she begins to go mad she turns against him and dishonours him when she says “…He is no more my son…”(p.100) Another man that Agave will not honour is her husband Achaeon. There is evidence of this dishonour on p.101, 124, & 125 when Achaeon has had enough of her words and rapes her, dishounoring his wife. At a certain point Agave makes it clear that she does not want to honour men at all anymore (p.104) she wants to honour her city (p.101 & 143). While she is trying to honour the city she goes into a fire to try and save a girl but is unsuccessful and she kills Bacchus in honour of the city and be to “free from the gods.”(all p.143) However, when her mother tells her that she has done this she says; “Death is my only hope.” (p.145), falls on a sharpened stick in hope to honour his death by performing her own. Thus honour is a huge factor for Agave in all her situations within the play and seems to have some control over her life resulting in her death.
5) I believe the central theme to “Pentheus” is control resulting in chaos (great disorder- Oxford English Dictionary). Control- the power to direct, influence, regulate, or restrain something (Oxford English Dictionary) is evidently on each characters agenda, although some much more than others. This power struggle to achieve control is what creates the chaos that results from “too many cooks in the kitchen”. Thus the desire to control the physical world results in chaos because the power to control does not belong to any one named or unnamed character or any one god. The power is continuously changing as characters develop through their relationships; ie: Pentheus and Tirestias’ wrestling, friendship, and romance. Another influence on self-control is the nectar/ drink/wine that causes lack of control when ingested. Furthermore, this script seems to be fairly sexually driven and it is only natural that there are many issues of control when it comes to sexual matters. In particular when a virgin is mentioned (a woman’s control over herself) or when force is used in the case of Agave and Achaeon (p.125)(some say fucking and fighting aren’t that far apart) All of these elements of control (influence, regulation, restrain, etc.) make an exhibition of the intense desire each character carries as they discover what they actually can’t control, almost everything around them. For example, deaths can’t be controlled (ie: Agave’s suicide can’t be controlled by anyone), what is seen or heard by others (ie; when Bowl is overheard talking to the wine and spills it on the ground), aging for some (ie; Harmonia & Cadmus), or the amount of power one holds (ie: Pentheus or Bacchus as king). It seems that in truth, no character can control the fate of another character nor their own for that matter, thus in turn creating chaos because no one character can answer all the questions that exist to hold all the power.
Question #3: How do the gods intervene with the mortals in this play?
Overall, I think that, in Pentheus, the intervention of the gods in the lives of the mortals is done in a not immediately obvious way. There’s a behind-the-shadows feel to the gods this time, where their physical presence is not felt but their metaphysical presence is. The gods are less present, many times they appear because their names are called and instead of making their presence known they stay in the background and watch. Several times they do make an appearance and, consequently, the results are more severe. For example, the brief interaction of Athena in the beginning where she blinds Tiresias for not looking upon her naked body leads to the interaction between Zeus and Semele, and from which a chain reaction of good, but mostly bad, events begin that irrevocably change the lives of the mortals. Following these two events, the gods are generally content in simply allowing the human beings to cause their own misery, which Eris states they have a gift for. Therefore, leaving me to wonder if the gods had realized before the destructive nature of mortals and the fun in watching mortals cause their own suffering. I found it interesting that the only god who took great liberties in intervening with the mortals was Bacchus, who is the child of Zeus and Semele, and possible not a full god at all.
Question #1: Do you recognize character mirroring in this play? Give an example.
I do find that there is some character mirroring going on in the play. However, I find it difficult to pin point after only one read where most of the mirroring happens and if it is between all the different levels of characters, such as the Gods and the unnamed, the royals and the unnamed, the Gods and the royals, and so on. Nevertheless, there is one example of mirroring, which I find stands out and is very interesting, and that is between Pentheus and Bacchus. Pentheus and Bacchus both have lineage that ties them to both the gods and the mortals. They are both introduced in this play as young, playful, in need of entertainment, and both determined to get what they want. They both take on leader roles within Cadmea; Pentheus as the King and Bacchus as a rogue stranger that introduces wine to the mortals and leads the women of Cadmea into a state of revelry. As the play progresses, they both end up full of pride and drunk on power. They both feel they need to prove to others that they deserve to be King or a god. They, interestingly, end up fighting each other to keep power, which at this point is keeping the attention of the people of Cadmea. They both lead their followers into a bloody bacchic frenzy, which climaxes when Agave kills Pentheus, her son. With Pentheus dead, this is where the mirroring ends and Bacchus becomes Cadmea’s one true god.
One of the central themes which I did notice in the play was “sexism”.
Penthues on page: 107 says “First, we have seen, are seeing now, how weak all women are. Poor silly Semele is gone, my mother, lost in suffering, and even great Harmonia could not last. They cannot rule themselves and therefore, logically, they cannot rule at all. They have their values and their charms, But strength is masculine. Do you agree?” I found this extremely interesting to explore because the way this theme is presented in the play it is almost as though the author is suggesting that this place in time is the origin or sexism. It is an issue that every female has to deal with at some point in her life and it is unknown where it began historically and it is intriguing to explore this.
Honor plays a hudge role for the character I read for which is Harmonia. For the duration of the story Harmonia and Cadmus are searching for the next king of Cadmea because they have both out grown the position. They are basically searching for the family member who could represent and “honor” their family legacy which is what Pentheus’ law directly states (the throne must be passed from father to son).
What is (if any) the central theme of the play?
To me, “Harmonia” was the wedding and “Pentheus” is the marriage. It is here that the mortals begin to face truly difficult questions and situations beyond the naïve idealism of “Harmonia”. Chaos and complexity come to town one day, and the Cadmeans are ill-equipped to deal with it. They are swept up into the storm and find themselves broken and battered at the end. They face the future governed by a boy-king., an unlikely candidate to meet these new threats and challenges with any wisdom. To encapsulate that in a few words, I would describe the central theme as a humbling human confusion in the face of chaos.
How do the gods interfere with the mortals?
Bacchus (only half god anyway) disguises his identity when he first arrives, only revealing himself when his status as a demigod is questioned. His is the greatest interference, introducing wine – a source of great pleasure until the party gets out of hand. Bacchus himself is a result of godly interference in Zeus’ coupling (and consummation) of Semele. Athena punishes Tiresius for spying on her by blinding him and turning him into a woman and Zeus gives him/her the power of prophesy, which we know is a lasting legacy for Thebes (for better or for worse). Aphrodite, Eris and Hera appear as mortals to get information from Semele about her tryst with Zeus, but this interference is pretty innocuous in the scheme of things. The most gruesome way that the gods interfere with the mortals is at the final Bacchanal of the play where Blood describes the gods (disguised as animals) who arrive at the festivities and escalate the atmosphere to one of violence. In a previous scene, it did not seem that these gods had any malicious intentions, but perhaps this is the result of gods and mortals mixing.
1) How do gods interfere with the mortals in this play?
Throughout most of the play, Bacchus provides the townspeople of Cadmea with wine and convinces some of them (mostly women) to worship him. There are other who doubt him (such as Harmonia, Pentheus, and Tiresias, and these ones eventually suffer a tragic end in part, due to their offense to Bacchus).
The other gods also interfere with the mortals in the play, however. For example, at one point, Zeus sees Semele and decides to have his way with her. When she asks him to reveal his true self to her, he consumes her in a flash of light and fire. The result is Semele’s death, and the birth of Bacchus.
Even though throughout most of the play Athena advocates against meddling with the mortals, and often convinces the other gods to stop themselves from interfering, she too interferes at one point with Tiresias. When Tiresias was caught spying on Athena and her servants bathing, Athena asks Tiresias if he saw her. Tiresias tells her that he was only watching his “love” Semele, and did not notice Athena. Athena takes this to mean that she is not as pretty as Semele, and is insulted. She decides to punish Tiresias by blinding him. Later on, Semele asks Zeus to help Tiresias see, so he gives Tiresias the gift of prophecy. And finally, when Tiresias goes back to the cypress root where he carved his name and Semele’s in the wood, he is bitten by snakes and falls down a hill and wakes up as a woman.
In another scene, the ghost of Pentheus’ cousin Actaeon appears to Pentheus and explains to him that he was out in the woods hunting when he fell upon a recently killed stag with a golden arrow in its side. He then saw the naked goddess Diana. For some reason, Diana decides to transform Actaeon into a stag, at which point Actaeon’s own hunting dogs jump on him and kill him.
Finally, near the end of the play, Bacchus swears to Athena that he would not interfere with Agave or her son (Pentheus), but does not mention the “father” (Achaeon). So in order to satisfy his entertainment needs, Bacchus decides to interfere with the mortals one last time by appearing as a soldier to Achaeon and mocking him and his manhood and raising doubts about Achaeon’s wife (Harmonia) and how she treats him as less than a man. Then Bacchus disappears just as Harmonia comes in. Achaeon grabs her and rapes her.
2) Is there a central theme to the play? If yes, what is it?
One of the central themes in this play is Punishment. Throughout the play, the gods like to interfere in the lives of the denizens of Cadmea (Thebes) but when the mortals question them, or do not behave as the gods would like, they punish them: in some instances they are blinded (as Tiresias is by Athena), or burned to death in a flash of light and fire by Zeus, or are sent into a frenzy and perform sparagmos (death by dismemberment) on King Pentheus, and even transfered into a stag and killed by hunting dogs, etc. In spite of Athena’s constant beseeching to the gods that they do not interfere with the mortals, they always find a way to do so and when the god’s little playthings do not play as the gods would please, they suffer. The theme is well summed up in Bacchus’ words “I will distract myself with other things. Like trapping bugs and tearing off their wings.”
What role does honour play in the character(s) you read?
Labdacus: This young boy, who has about five lines at the very end of the play is the most honourable single-digit human being I think I have ever read about. After being told that his whole family is dead, either because of murder, stupidity, suicide, or “intervention” by the gods, Labdacus is then told that he has to become Kind of Cadmea. He is also told to reject the Gods of Olympus so in reality, he is entirely alone in ruling the town before the age of ten. He consents to his responsibilities willingly and at the end of it all suggests that they all drink.
How do the Gods interfere with the mortals in the play?
For a civilization of people who emancipated themselves from the slavery of the Gods, the people of Cadmea seem to be quite enthralled with them still. Of course they were going to have temples to Athena, Aphrodite, and a few others, but who would have been able to foresee God sponge-baths in water warmed by human bodies? If you ask me, they seem to have wanted disaster. In Pentheus, the greatest interference by a God (or demigod as he seems to be) was from Bacchus. After arriving in Cadmea, be began to rile the town up, introducing them to wine. Once familiar with alcohol, he instigated the town’s collective alcoholism and created some out-of-control parties which ended in deaths, suicides, and almost brought the entire city to a grinding halt in terms of is royalty. I’d call that interfering.
Responses to Pentheus:
Q#3) How do the gods interfere with the humans in the play?
R#3) Throughout Pentheus, the second play in Ned Dickens’ City of Wine series, the gods interfere several times in the lives of the humans and often are the cause of their distress. The first portion of the play unfolds innocently enough and does not concern the gods directly, but later when the ladies meet at Athena’s bathing pool the gods appear and begin to instigate the conflict in the play. During this scene, Athena blinds the young Tiresias for ignoring her beauty while Zeus escorts Tiresias’ love, Semele, away from her admirer to enjoy her company in private; it is supposedly this offstage juncture when Zeus impregnates Semele with his seed which brings forth the birth of his demi-god son, Bacchus. The gods continue to interfere with the mortals’ lives in Pentheus, such as when Eris, Hera, and Aphrodite disguise themselves as the Unnamed so as to interrogate Semele about her relationship with Zeus and tempt her into challenging Zeus’ affection, which ultimately causes her death. As well, the majority of the play’s action is created through Bacchus, as the young god introduces wine to the city of Cadmea, leads the city’s women astray, and antagonizes Pentheus. Even after Athena warns Bacchus to leave the humans alone, Bacchus openly acknowledges his manipulation when he says, “I will not harm them [but] I may encourage them to harm themselves” (70). Overall, the second play in the series relies heavily upon the gods’ interference for its main source of action and conflict.
Q#5) What is the central theme(s) in this play?
R#5) One of the central themes in Pentheus is the power of wine or intoxication. In this play, the birth of Bacchus also ushers in the birth of wine for the city, so its initial effects on the town can be seen as a powerful catalyst throughout. The play opens to Tiresias offering a taste of what “once was grapes” (6) to Pentheus and it follows with Semele discovering the glass of wine and finding “Something… almost emotion” within the potent liquid. The new emotions and freedoms found through the wine are later expressed by the Unnamed some time later:
GLASS
He is well.
Well, more than well.
He is himself, and yet transformed.
FIREWOOD
By what?
GLASS
By this? (Wine) (21)
Here the wine transforms the citizens of Cadmea and allows them to experience a heightened form of life, whether for good or worse. As the drinking and festivities continue under Bacchus mischievous hand, the citizens are also exposed to the horrors the drink can summon, such as when their wild partying enthrals them and leads Agave to rip apart her son, Pentheus, limb from limb. The theme of wine and its power are evident throughout the play, and Valerie mentioned in class, the presence of wine becomes almost its own character in the play.
We’ve completed our first week of rehearsals for ‘Pentheus’ at Humber, and have just begun our second week of working on the show. The above discussion is of particular interest to me as we work away within our own ideas of the play and thoughts about the various characters and contexts in the play. Exploring the themes of the entire play as well as aspects of each of the individual characters has occupied much of our first week of work, as we also physically discover the world of the play.
We had the pleasure of having Marie, Naomi, and Brian visit us in the studio on Saturday, and will look forward to future visits from them. We’ve also worked in a few minor edits to the script that Ned has written. Many people are double cast, as most gods are also playing one of the unnamed characters. We’re three weeks away from tech week now, and eagerly anticipate a lot of discovery in the weeks to come!
Week two is over, and I am having a great time in rehearsal. It is a very exciting story.
A.D.R.
Yes, week two has come to an end, and we have one more week of rehearsal before we head into tech week. Speaking of tech, we at Humber are blessed by the absolutely amazing technical production program, with whom we work hand-in-hand. Our designers work directly with the production students, and together they are creating gorgeous costumes, lights, props, and a set! The concept for the show has really come together, and our production students are making it happen right before our eyes. What a treat it is to be able to visit the wardrobe crew right across the hallway from our rehearsal hall – we are truly lucky to have such a well-rounded experience with this show.
Brian has made a second visit during our process, and Marie continues to keep an eye on us:) We’re hoping that our fellow Torontonians, George Brown and York, can join us to see ‘Pentheus’ during our run at Humber. We’ll also work on getting up a picture or two on the Facebook page, although some details are being kept quite quiet – secrets secrets!
Today we worked to re-blocked our show to fit into the space at TPM. It went very smoothly, but I am a little nervous. The audience sitting on two levels changes how a lot of the work we do is seen, and this must be thought through.
I am very confident and excited for the two shows! I am also thrilled to be a part of a festival that is so interesting.