THHS Ahalya Sanjiv
Humanities 9.17.14
Draft#1
Paper Question#1 In both Euripides’ Bacchae and Marie de France’s “Bisclavret”, humans are evaluated in comparison to animals. Both texts classify women separately from men on the human-animal spectrum. The male characters in both texts suffer as a result of the actions of women, implying the respective author’s view on the nature of women. Bacchae depicts a group of women who, under the power of Dionysos, cause chaos and become violent. “Bisclavret” on the other hand has one woman who insidiously complicates her husband’s existing dilemma. While both works agree that women share intrinsic characteristics such as vulnerability that separate them men, …show more content…
Both texts display the vulnerability that women share with animals. The women are thus dependent on others to carry out actions for them. In Bacchae, the women are only able to act violently under the control of Dionysos: “Without his power, they could not have caused the chaos that they did.” (Euripides 876) The women have essentially become puppets of Dionysos, carrying out the punishments to those he deems deserving of them. This vulnerability is seen in the animals as well who are targeted for sacrifice by the Ancient Greeks. The animals are victims of human rituals when the women mutilate them and ironically the same women are victims of Dionysos rage. They are both chosen for a reason; for their susceptibility. Thus we see this pattern of control of one group over another, humans over animals, and gods over humans. Essentially, Euripides shows us that women share their place among living things with animals. Animals are incapable of speaking the human language, therefore their thoughts and ideas are ignored. Some are taken as pets and admired for their aesthetics but because of the language