Aphrodite And Dionysus: A Comparative Analysis

The stories of Greek mythology have had many interpretations and many meanings throughout the years. There are also many similarities and differences between stories from the past; Just like in the plays Bacchae and Hippolytus. Both Aphrodite and Dionysus' motivation and behaviors in the plays Bacchae (Dionysus) and Hippolytus (Aphrodite) were similar, in that, they both wanted to restore honor to their names and they used the family to teach the one who disrespected them to show respect to a god/goddess. But on the other hand, the human perceptions of these gods were far different from each other.
First off, the motivation for both gods is very similar, they both wanted to make sure they were well respected among the mortals and that the …show more content…
In both plays, the god/goddess had killed part of the family that had disrespected their honor. In Bacchae, Dionysus mad Semele's sisters go into madness and kill Pentheus, the son of Agave (Bacchae 1100-1129). Pentheus did not believe in the power of Dionysus either. Pentheus thought that Dionysus was a fake god that a seer had manifested to bring disorder to Thebes and seeks out the priest who is responsible (Bacchae 349-350). In my opinion, this was all part of Dionysus' plan to lure Pentheus into his trap. Dionysus, later on, tempts Pentheus to go see the women worshipping Dionysus (Bacchae 810-813). The behavior shown in these excerpts is all pointing towards deception within the family. Dionysus is using madness and temptation for the downfall of Semele's sisters. In comparison, Aphrodite, at first, used Hippolytus' stepmother and make her fall in love with him, and when he rejected her she killed herself and left a note proclaiming rape (Hippolytus 780). This lead to Theseus, Hippolytus' father, finding the note and cursing Hippolytus for ruining his marriage (Hippolytus 887-890; 894-899). These continuous punishments show Aphrodite's true behavior as a very vengeful goddess and how she can turn families against each other. She demands respect and punishes those who do not show it. She will not allow favoritism to be shown to other gods. And, she will do whatever necessary to have her honor …show more content…
Both Dionysus and Aphrodite's motivation were one in the same because they wanted to show their power and show how much respect they truly deserved. But when it comes to the human perception of Aphrodite and Dionysus; Aphrodite was well respected among all except for Hippolytus, and Dionysus was respected by few except for the chorus, Teiresias, and