Mark McClay is a professor of classics.
Courtesy | Hillsdale

 

The Greek gods Dionysus and Hera embody the roles of worshiper and worshiped in a theological framework, said Mark McClay, professor of classics, in a lecture Nov. 14.

McClay’s research, drawing inspiration from the work of scholar Kimberly Patton, challenges the conventional divide between deities and ritual participants, he said.

Patton’s book “Religion of the Gods: Ritual, Paradox, and Reflexivity” catalogs more than 200 examples of divine reflexivity, a complex Greek worldview in which gods are active participants in their own rites — able to both embody and direct the rituals meant to honor them.

McClay said in Greek religion, gods were not simply revered figures — they actively participated in sacred worship at times. This idea of divine reflexivity is where the gods simultaneously embody the roles of the worshiper and the worshiped, he said. 

The first play he examined was “The Bacchae,” and the second, though only fragments, he believed to be “Aeschylus.”

“These are the only known tragedies in which a god appeared on the stage in disguise,” McClay said. “Both gods curiously disguise themselves as religious officials, and both scenarios involve really or potentially, a reflexive performance of rituals.”

Dionysus serves as one of the clearest examples of divine reflexivity, according to McClay.

“In the play, he appears as both a disguised foreigner and a revered god, luring Theban women into worship in the wilderness,” he said.

McClay referenced older clay pots with depictions of the gods on them for further evidence of divine reflexivity. 

“Dionysus has his own type of handles. See the little stream of wine pouring down?” McClay said, referencing a picture of a pot. “Greek tragic theater, with its potentially porous fictional barrier between the mythical and quotidian, enables powerful, creative variations on this theme. Dionysus reflexively performs rituals both as deity and participant.”

According to McClay, the focus on Dionysus in “The Bacchae” reveals the god’s paradoxical nature. In the play, he is shown both as a passive sufferer and as a director of events, controlling the narrative while remaining a central object of worship. 

Initially argued in Patton’s work, this portrayal sheds light on a deeper layer of Greek theology: the gods, while not forsaking their divine power, actively partake in the world they shape. McClay explained how the gods’ autonomy is portrayed in both Greek tragedy and memorabilia, particularly vase paintings that depict gods like Dionysus in dynamic, often contradictory roles. 

Carl Young, chair of the classics department, said McClay’s work connected Greek art, vase paintings, and ritual to the tragedies that have shaped Western thought. 

“He really brought out an important relationship between material culture, Greek art, vase paintings, Greek ritual, and what we see on the tragic stage,” Young said. 

Senior Maya Toman expanded on this idea by focusing on Dionysus. 

“I really liked the idea that by being present in tragedy in disguise, Dionysus is able to be seen at once as a passive sufferer but also as the acting god who’s controlling things behind the scenes,” Toman said. “We get to see him as both the actor and director at the same time.”