Ancient Greek Maenads: Comparing Mythological Worshippers of Dionysos to Reality

Abstract

Euripides' Bacchae is an excellent example of a mythological story with incorporated historical elements. The ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides examines the introduction of a new deity, Dionysos, to the well-established religion of the ancient Greek world. In this world, Dionysos leads and commands a group of female devotees—the maenads. These women make up both the chorus in the play and the rest of the female Theban population who have been put under Dionysos' manic influence. At the time of the original performance, the Dionysian beliefs and mystery cults of ancient Greece were already a religious practice for some and familiar actions to others within the play's audience. Something can be learned from comparisons between the extreme dramatics of the play and the reality of what Euripides wrote about. With Euripides' presumably slim knowledge of female activities in the mysteries of Dionysos, this thesis asks to what extent Euripides' portrayal of maenads in the Bacchae reflects the behaviors of mortal women in the cult of Dionysos. By looking at contemporary visual images, textual sources, and archaeological evidence, is it possible to draw connections between the extreme worlds of Euripides (and mythology) and the mortal women who were devotees of the god? This thesis (Ancient Greek Maenads: Comparing Mythological Worshippers if Dionysos to Reality) by me, Mikaela Henning will work on discovering this.