Laura Parker (2024)

Laura Parker

11/16/06

Greek Tragedy

Document 2

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The Role of theGods in Greek Tragedies

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Introduction

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Thegods play interesting and varied roles in many of the classical Greek tragedieswritten by Greek tragedians. Thegods can sometimes come to solve the problems, but sometimes they also createthem. Dramatically, they are oftenincorporated with the story, but it can be done in drastically different ways.

Hippolytos

Insome cases, the gods (or goddesses) make problems for the characters in thetragedies, making the gods the main obstacles against them. In other cases, they come and solve theproblems for the characters. Inthe play Hippolytos, by Euripides, theydo both.

Aphroditebecomes jealous of Artemis and so she sets up problems for Hippolytos. Because Hippolytos worships Artemis toomuch and does not worship Aphrodite, Aphrodite formulates a plan in order tospite Hippolytos and his family. Shesays in her opening speech, ÒItÕs purely his/ offenses against me which Iresent/ and will punish-todayÓ (lines 37-39). Aphrodite makes Phaidra, HippolytosÕ mother in law, fall inlove with Hippolytos. Phaidra thenhangs herself and leaves a note for her husband, Theseus, telling him thatHippolytos raped her. Theseus thenbanishes Hippolytos, who then gets hit by his chariot and almost dies. Theseus, when he hears this, asks tosee Hippolytos because, ÒI want to see him face/ the unanswerable argument thegods/ and I use against him-his own deathÓ (lines 1930-1933). Hippolytos then dies, leaving Theseuswith the guilt of having asked Poseidon to kill his innocent son.

Theseusonly learns of HippolytosÕ innocence because another goddess, Artemis,intervenes. Artemis tells Theseus,ÒYou are a killer, / and the one you killed was your own sonÓ (lines1953-1954). She explains to himthat all of the events that occurred were the doings of Aphrodite because ofher jealousy, and thus clearing HippolytosÕ name in the eyes of everyone,including Theseus, the one who condemned him.

Therefore,the gods play very important roles throughout the play, Hippolytos, by Euripides.One goddess is jealous and thus causes all of the action to occur, a godis called upon to punish an innocent man, and another goddess comes to explainthe entire fiasco and prove this manÕs innocence.

Alcestis

Godsdo not always appear to solve all the problems had by the characters. In the tragedy, Alcestis, by Euripides, the god Apollo appears only in thebeginning of the play in order to persuade Death to let Alcestis live. He asks, ÒLet Alcestis grow old. Let her live, / I adjure you, DeathÓ(lines 77-78). When Death refuses,Apollo states that a man will come and, ÒHe will fight with you and break you,Death, / and by brute strength bring Alcestis backÓ (lines 105-106). This is not an empty prediction, asDeath suspects when he says, ÒWords will get you nowhere/ This woman must gobeneath the earth. / She is mineÓ (lines 111-113). Death later learns the truth to ApolloÕs words when Heraklescomes to the home of Admetos and then later decides to bring Alcestisback. He says, ÒMake no mistake: /IÕll force my way below and bring Alcestis home, / and consign her to AdmetosÕcareÓ (lines 1101-1103). He doesjust this and brings her back at the end of the play. It is unknown at the beginning of the play whether or notApollo is truly sending a strong man to fight Death and bring Alcestis backfrom his grasp or if he is saying this just to try to convince Death to letAlcestis live freely. Apparently,though, Apollo was not just predicting Herakles would enter, but he was sendinghim there. This is an example ofindirect intervention of the gods, as, Apollo does not re-enter the play afterhis first exit within the first few pages. So, in the play Alcestis by Euripides, there is an interesting example ofintervention of the gods to solve the problems occurring in the life of acharacter.

Eumenides

Inthe play, Eumenides, the thirdinstallment to The Oresteia, byAeschylus, Apollo helps a character in a much more direct way than he does in Alcestis.Orestes is put on trial by Athena for the murder of his mother, his ownflesh and blood. Apollo testifieson his behalf in order to get him acquitted. He comes to the courtroom and says, ÒÉwhen this man/ came insupplication to my house/ and hearth, as is the custom, I purged him/ of theblood he shed. And I am also here/to represent himÉÓ (lines 671-675).Apollo wins his case by proving, using Athena as an example, thatmothers are not related to their offspring by blood. The jury is then split half and half in the decision ofwhether to acquit Orestes or not, so Athena sides with Orestes, causing him towalk away guilt free. This is anexample of how the gods can more directly help solve problems for a character.

Bacchae

Theplay Bacchae, by Euripides, contains avery extreme example of a godÕs intervention. In this play, the god Dionysus, in human form, decides toteach the city of Thebes a lesson while also defending the honor of his mother,Semele. Semele had been ridiculedbecause she said she had a child fathered by Zeus and no one would believe thatshe slept with Zeus, nor would they believe that her son is some sort of agod. So, Dionysus decides topunish the city and show his power.He drives all the women of the city into madness so that they practice acult-like religion devoted to him.The men do not worship Dionysus, but Pentheus, the king of Thebes wageswar on the Maenads, the women who worship Dionysus. Dionysus, in human form, is arrested as a prophet for thegod Dionysus but states that he can get out whenever he wishes because Dionysuswill help him. Then he gets out ofthe ties and there is a bull imprisoned in his place. He then convinces Pentheus to dress as a woman so he canobserve the women doing their cult-like rituals. PentheusÕ mother sees him, and possessed to thinking heÕs alion she kills him with her bare hands.This is all done by Dionysus in order to punish the city and the royalfamily for their lack of reverence and recognition of him as a god. This is another example of a god comingfor the sole purpose of making a mess of things for the characters in themortal world. Dionysus is a veryextreme example of this god as a character in the play, Bacchae, by Euripides.

Conclusion

Inconclusion, in Greek tragedies, the gods can play many different and variedroles with regard to how they affect the lives of the mortal characters. This has been shown with the examplesof Hippolytos by Euripides, Alcestis by Euripides, Eumenides by Aeschylus, and Bacchae by Euripides.

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http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/lombardiaphrodite/aphrodite.html

This is an image ofAphrodite, thought to be dated from about 440 BCE. She is often portrayed with or while riding animals, asshown above. There were many statuescreated of her, as well as paintings and <![if !vml]><![endif]>vase paintings like the one shown above.

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Laura Parker (2024)

References