Heimarmene:

in Greek mythology goddess of fate, in particular, the orderly succession of cause & effect, the fate of the universe as a whole (as opposed to the destinies of individual people).  She belongs to a family of similar beings of destiny & fate (e.g. Aesa, Moira, Moros, Ananke, Adrasteia & Pepromene).

 

indeformable:

that which can not be deformed or distorted

 

quand mime:

French, a pantomime or comedy performed in a mime

 

ναύαρχον  σώμα  βασίλειον:

Greek, the body in command of the palace; a description of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, leader of the Greek forces attacking Troy

 

σώμα:

Greek, body, the corporal body as opposed to spirit or soul; here a reference to Oedipus when he consults the oracle concerning his ancestry

 

the Oracle:

this is a reference to the Oracle at Delphi.   As he grows to manhood, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not truly the son of Polybus, king of Corinth who has adopted him.  He goes to Delphi & asks the Oracle who his true parents are.  The Oracle ignores this question, telling him that he is destined to marry his own mother & kill his own father.  Desperate to avoid this fate, Oedipus, still believing that Polybus is his father leaves Corinth for the city of Thebes.

 

Luther (transformation):

1483- 1546, German monk considered responsible for the start of the Reformation; his conversion probably happened in 1519.  By his own testimony he states his “breakthrough” came while he was lecturing on St. Paul’s epistles (Romans, Galatians, Hebrews), lectures given in early 1519.  In studying Romans 1:17, "the righteous shall live by faith." he came to the doctrine of justification by Faith alone, his personal breakthrough & the foundation for subsequent Protestant theology.

 

Loyola (transformation):

aka Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish Basque Catholic priest & theologian, 1491-1556; co-founded Jesuits, appointed first Superior General in 1541.  At the Battle of Pamplona (1521) he was gravely injured when a cannonball shattered his right leg.  While recovering he underwent a spiritual conversion which led to his religious life.  Hospitals were run by religious orders; the reading material was scripture or devotional literature. He came to read a series of religious texts on the life of Jesus & on the lives of the saints (in particular the De Vita Christi of Ludolph of Saxony).

 

ήθοζ:

ethos -the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion

 

The Mysteries:

aka the Rites of Eleusis, the mystery school of Eleusis whose secret rituals were observed from 1600 392 BC, annually at Eleusis, Greece, 14 miles NW of Athens; the rituals were based on a symbolic reading of the celebrated Demeter & Persephone story & provided initiates with a vision of the afterlife.  Participants were freed from a fear of death by recognizing that their immortal souls were temporarily in mortal bodies.  Just as Persephone entered the land of the dead & returned to the living each year, so they would (as every human being) die only to live again on another plane or in another body.

 

δράματα:

Greek, plural of δράμα, dramas

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δρώμενα:

Greek, acting

 

peripeteia:

a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative

 

Aeschylus (an Eleusinian):

as he was born in Eleusis it is not surprising he was inducted into the Mysteries; initiates gained secret knowledge through these rites but were sworn never to reveal such to non-initiates.

 

Aeschylus (“profanation" of the mysteries):

525-455 BC, the father of Greek theatre; Aristotle claims he repeatedly revealed secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries in his dramas ‘Toxotides’, ‘Priestesses’, ‘Sisyphus Petrocylistes', ‘Iphigeneia' and ‘Oedipus’.  A fragment attributed to ‘Sisyphus Petrocylistes' contains a scene which illustrates pig sacrificing, a practice possibly associated with the Mysteries.  It was contrived to be shown in a highly comical fashion (i.e. burlesque).  This explains why the audience reacted in such an aggressive manner.  They tried to stone him, he fled for his life, taking refuge at the altar in the orchestra of the Theatre of Dionysus.  He was tried & pleaded ignorance.  He was acquitted, the jury sympathetic to his military service during the Persian Wars.

 

Aeschylus (Eleusinian priesthood vestments as costume of Attic stage):

costumes used in the Theatre of Dionysus consisted of a full-length or short tunic, a cloak & soft leather boots, possibly derived from the robes of the Dionysian priests (or invented by Aeschylus).

 

δράμα:

Greek, drama but also synonymous with service to the Gods, divine worship

 

non-Homeric early religion:

The Homeric religion consisted of the 12 Olympian gods; the earliest reference to these is Pindar, who in 480 BC in an ode refers to Heracles sacrificing to the 12 at Olympia; thus the Eleusinian Mysteries & other such cults pre-date the Olympians;

 

phallic:

The Dionysia was originally an ancient rural festival in Eleutherae (a border town between Attica & Boeotia,), celebrating the cultivation of vines & held around the winter solstice.  The central event was a procession in which the phalloi (phallus, made of wood or bronze, held aloft on poles) was carried by procession, with a cart pulling a much larger phallus.  The City Dionysia was established after Eleutherae chose to become part of Attica.  They brought a statue of Dionysus to Athens but it was rejected.  Dionysus punished the Athenians with a plague affecting the male genitalia.  This disease was however cured when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus.  This was recalled each year by a procession of citizens carrying phalloi who marched to the Theatre of Dionysus.

 

dithyrambic:

Greek hymn sung and danced in honour of Dionysus, god of wine & fertility; Aristotle claimed it was the origin of Athenian tragedy.  Dithyrambs were sung by choirs at Delos; surviving literary fragments are Athenian.  In Athens, they were sung by a Greek chorus of up to 50 men or boys dancing in circular formation, who may have been dressed as Satyrs, probably accompanied by the aulos.  They would normally relate some incident in the life of Dionysus.

 

Demeter (festivals):

Greek religious festival held annually, the Thesmophoria, in honour of Demeter & Persephone; usually late autumn, celebrated human & agricultural fertility; one of the most widely-celebrated festivals in the Greek world with origins before Greek settlement of Ionia in 11th century BC; restricted to adult women, the rites practised during the festival were kept secret.

 

Dionysus (festivals):

2 large festivals (the older Rural Dionysia & the City Dionysia) in Athens in honour of Dionysus; essential parts of the Dionysian Mysteries.  They were the 2nd-most important festival after the Panathenaia.  The theatrical performances were the central events of these festivals.  The City Dionysia took place in cities like Athens & Eleusis, around the spring equinox; they began in the 6th century BC.  Its procession was similar to the rural celebrations, but more elaborate, led by participants carrying a wooden statue of Dionysus, including sacrificial bulls and ornately dressed choruses.

 

beast dances:

reference to the Satyr plays in which the chorus consisted of satyrs led by Silenus, their "father".  They can be traced to ancient rural celebrations in honour of the god Dionysus.  They were composed of fantastic plots & mythological burlesque moments & scenes.  Their costumes consisted of the skin of a goat, deer, or panther, thrown over the naked body, and besides this a hideous mask and bristling hair.  The choruses usually involved the use of musically-inclined animals (such as monkeys).  Such animals were a form of mockery for the on-going issues in society.  Later in the City Dionysia, each playwright was required to submit 3 tragedies & a satyr play, functioning as the last piece performed at the festival.