The Thebaid Europa, Cadmus and the Birth of Dionysus

Home , Agave (mythology), Agave (Theban princess), Agenor, Aristaeus, Asterius (mythology), Athamas

The Thebaid Europa, Cadmus and the birth of Dionysus

Caesar van Everdingen. Rape of Europa. 1650 Zeus = Io

In the Danaid, we followed the descendants of Belus. The Thebaid follows the descendants of Agenor Agenor = Telephassa

Cadmus Phoenix Cylix Thasus Phineus Europa

• Agenor migrated to the Levant and founded Sidon • But see Josephus, Jewish Antiquities i.130 - 139 • “… for Syria borders on Egypt, and the Phoenicians, to whom Sidon belongs, dwell in Syria.” (Hdt. ii.116.6) The Levant Levant

• Jericho (9000 BC) • Damascus (8000) • Biblos (7000) • Sidon (4000)

Biblos

Damascus Sidon Tyre Jericho Levant

• Canaanites: • Aramaeans • Language, not race. • Moved to the Levant ca. 1400-1200 BC • Phoenician = • purple dye people Biblos

Damascus Sidon Tyre Agenor = Telephassa

Cadmus Phoenix Cylix Thasus Phineus Europa

• Zeus appeared to Europa as a bull and carried her to Crete. • Agenor sent his sons in search of Europa • Don’t come home without her! • The Rape of Europa • Maren de Vos • 1590 Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (Spain) Image courtesy of wikimedia • Rape of Europa • Caesar van Everdingen • 1650 • Image courtesy of wikimedia • Europe Group • Albert Memorial • London, 1872. • A memorial for Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. Crete Europa = Zeus

Minos Sarpedon Rhadamanthus

• Asterius, king of Crete, married Europa • Minos became king of Crete • Sarpedon king of Lycia • Rhadamanthus king of Boeotia The Brothers of Europa

• Phoenix • Remained in Phoenicia • Cylix • Founded Cilicia • Thasus • Island of Thasos • Phineus • Thrace Cadmus

• Went to Thrace • Discovered the gold of Mt. Pangaeus • His mother died there • Delphi • Told to follow a cow • Cadmeia • Founded Cadmeia were the cow stopped Travels of Cadmus Harmonia

• Ares and Aphrodite • Affair produces: • Harmonia • Phobos • Deimos • Eros The Revenge of Hephaestus Cadmus

• Founder of Thebes • Married Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares • Brought Phoenician Alphabet to Greece • Alpha = Aleph, Bull • Beta = Bet (Beth), House • Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσ Ττ Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω Cadmus = Harmonia

Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion

• Zeus lay with Semele • Trick of Hera • Semele consumed by the fire • Zeus recovers the baby Dionysus Dionysus

• Taken by Hermes to Ino and Athamas • Both driven mad by Hera and Athamas killed Ino (see Hellenic Saga) • Zeus turned Dionysus into a ram • When he grew up, Hera made him mad. • “Both the Greeks and the Egyptians have many legends about Dionysus” (Paus. 10.29.5) Dionysus

• Wandered the world: • Visited Egypt, Syria, Babylon …India • Accompanied by Pan, Satyrs and maenads • Returned to Greece as a god • God of wine and the vine • Youth, effeminacy, sexuality • Theatre Descendants of Cadmus

Cadmus = Harmonia

Aristaeus = Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion

Pentheus Dionysus at Thebes

• Originally doubted, • Dionysus drove the women of Thebes into a Bacchic frenzy in the mountains • Pentheus • Son of Agave and Echion • King of Cadmeia after Cadmus • Tried to intervene • Torn to pieces by the women Apotheosis

• Having proven himself a god, Dionysus rescued Semele from Hades and both ascended to Olympus

• Dionysus replaces Hestia in the list of the twelve gods of Olympus Nietzsche

• The Birth of Tragedy • Apollo and Dionysus represent a contrast, a struggle, between order and ecstasy. • Creative art is a negotiation, a reconciliation of opposing forces. Apollo Dionysus

Dionysian Music