Aristophanes and the Eleusinian Mysteries: Religion, Drama, and Politics April 24, 2008

Co-sponsored by Humanities West

With Professor Lois Spatz
The Athenian democracy produced two unique annual festivals: The Eleusinian Mysteries with its public processions, rituals, and secret rites in honor of the grain goddess Demeter and the dramatic festivals of tragedies, satyr plays, and comedies in honor of Dionysus. Both spectacles became synonymous with the power, culture, and ingenuity of Athens. In the Frogs, Aristophanes combines the myths of the two patron deities with the facts about drama in Athens to create a comic fantasy. As Dionysus goes down to Hades to bring back Euripides and returns instead with Aeschylus, Aristophanes examines both the state of the drama and the state of the democracy.
This program precedes the Humanities West symposium, Athens in the Time of Pericles, May 2-3, 2008, Herbst Theatre, San Francisco.

Members of Mechanics’ Institute and Humanities West- FREE;
Public $10

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or email at [email protected]

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