That you might believe the gods -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 09:55:05 02/06/08 Wed
Author: Betsy Peters
Subject: That you might believe the gods

Pentheus is torn into 100 pieces. The mother has done this to her own child unknowingly. Cadmus reflects on the events that have transpired. In the character of Girard's chapter 7 refections in The Scapegoat, "The Crimes of the Gods," the gods likewise bear the blame for the end of the tragedy of the Bacchae's actions. Cadmus concludes at the end of the mess: "If there is any mortal man who despises or defies the gods, let him look on this boy's death and believe in the gods" (1325). The community does not want to remember Cadmus as an arbitrary victim. He must be guilty of impiety. Likewise, the community must not be held responsible for the murder; the gods have intervened and they are therefore culpable. Poor Cadmus, Girard cites his dragon teeth story as another example of this same structure.

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