SASA Mini Reading Group: The Bacchae of Euripides: On Priestesses, Orgasmic Dancers, and Other Decadent Women

Previous participation and previous knowledge not required.

Ancient Greek Tragedies: before reading the text, right from the cover, they seem to tell us

something special, as if they emanate a sacred and misty energy. Indeed, a terrible charm is theirs.

In this group on Euripides’ play Bachhae, as we closely read the text together, we will enter the world of the sublime, reflecting on some of the most extraordinary and bewitching characters from the ancient world. The Bacchae – followers of Dionysus, that ‘other’ god, the god of subliminal drives, of the unbridled fecundity of life – are mostly symbols of a wounded and grieving as well as ecstatic and overjoyed feminine. As mythic images of earthly goddesses stained with madness, they disturb us with their mere existence – bitches, female wolves, panthers. The Bacchae constantly orgasms for being part of zoe, life that knows no end – an impossible…