The ThebaidEuropa, Cadmus and the birth of Dionysus

Caesar van Everdingen. Rape of Europa. 1650

Zeus = Io

Memphis = Epaphus

Poseidon = Libya Lysianassa

Belus Agenor = Telephassa

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

Agenor = Telephassa

• 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)

Cadmus Phoenix Cylix Thasus Phineus Europa

The Levant

Levant

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

Biblos

TyreSidon

Damascus

Jericho

Levant

• Canaanites:• Aramaean• Language, not race.• Moved to the Levant ca.

1400-1200 BC• Phoenician = • purple dye people Biblos

TyreSidon

Damascus

• 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!

Agenor = Telephassa

Cadmus Phoenix Cylix Thasus Phineus Europa

• The Rape of Europa• Maren de Vos• 1590Bilbao 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

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

Minos Sarpedon Rhadamanthus

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

• Cadmea• Founded Cadmea 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

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

Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion

George Frideric HandelSemele, 1743

Dionysus

Dionysus

• Taken by Hermes to Ino and Athamas• Both driven mad by Hera: 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

Dionysus

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)• St John the Baptist?• No, Bacchus

• The leopard, or panther, skin• The Thyrsis (staff)• The crown of vine leaves• Grapes in his hand• All sure signs of Bacchus.

• Caravaggio, Bacchus• 1596-97

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