Tag Archives: Euripides

What Would Oedipus Say?

Freud’s Totem and Taboo in a nutshell (and with nuts). Amusing, but perhaps a minute too long.

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Go with the flow? Six plausible options for dealing with change

What is the proper response to this burning, bleeding, milk secreting, honey babbling world? It seems to me that the range of responses are pretty limited, and can be boiled down to six plausible options: acceptance and celebration (go with the flow)  … Continue reading

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In Your Trance You’re Not Unfortunate: Atheism vs. Theism in Euripides’s Bakkhai

In scene 3 of Euripides’s ancient tragedy, Bakkhai, is a brief passage that overbrims with implications for the atheist vs. theist divide. Addressed to the anti-theist Pentheus, king of Thebes, a messenger calls on him to reconsider his hostility toward the divine and … Continue reading

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Would “The Last Exorcism” Have Been Better Titled “The Last Atheist”?

I saw The Last Exorcism  this past weekend and, yes, it’s really good. And scary. And it’s also a bit of an ancient Greek morality play, which makes it philosophically interesting as well: what if a good-hearted cynic, an unbeliever of the Marjoe or Bill … Continue reading

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The Apollonian Armored vs. Tarty Nude Dionysian Graces: A Lucas Cranach Painting from 1530

I think that Camille Paglia would like this painting—with its sheeny, armored Apollonian males and naughty nudie graces. These two males have paused, dangerously, in the pagan wilderness, and like Mars, are about to be relieved of their clothes by these clearly … Continue reading

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Getting Naked to the Classics: Euripides’s “Bakkhai” Performed in the Raw

The above photo is from Dionysus in 69, a stage play of Euripides’s Bakkhai, performed in New York City in 1968. The play garnered a good deal of public controversy for the display of nudity in the performance. Euripides’s Bakkhai  is, … Continue reading

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Euripides’s “Bakkhai”: Is Dionysus Jesus?

Euripides’s “Bakkhai” is an extraordinary play, and functions on many fascinating levels. At one level it can be read as an indictment of rationalism, and a warning to the audience against atheism. Toward the beginning of the play, for example, … Continue reading

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