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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A paper which looks at the different ways in which Euripides and Plato view human nature, in terms of Apollonian and Dionysian cultures and the relationship between physical desires and the attainment of wisdom.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: JL5_JLbach.rtf
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opposite extremes of human behaviour. Pentheus, for example, is logical and rational to the extent that he almost appears inhuman: his objective perspective and his superior, controlling attitude are more
reminiscent of a machine than a human being. In his criticisms of others he shows no emotion or sympathy for what might be regarded as human failings, and it is
clear that he identifies himself completely with the structured, ordered Theban society over which he exercises control and dominance. His orders are obeyed unquestioningly by others, even by Cadmus who
might be considered his superior and Tiresias, whose position as a seer might have been thought to give him at least equality with Pentheus due to his esotericism and mystical
attributes. Both Cadmus and Tiresias attempt to challenge Pentheuss attitude and methods, but neither succeeds. The cold-heartedness and materialism which Pentheus espouses could be seen as exemplifying the clinical, objective,
Apollonian view of society: the opposite, in other words, of the Dionysian. Dionysius and
his followers represent the other side of human nature, namely, that which is organic, sexual and unrepressed. The followers of Dionysius are the revellers, the hedonists and the uninhibited, worshipping
wine and pleasure, and rejecting the cold and structured nature of Apollonian society. For them, to be human is to follow ones basic instincts. This is not necessarily something which
is a mere rejection of conventional morality and social structure, however, since part of their revels consists of ripping animals apart barehanded for the sheer pleasure of destroying life. It
is thought that the original Dionysian rituals were connected with the death of the year-king, when the Maenads led by the Queen killed the old king to make way for
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