Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

Soyinka's dramatization of two wedding scenes in masks and mime makesa
vital connection between ancien t Greek and western rites in preparation for the display
of a more significant African ritual . Penthcus ' vicarious sacrifi ce. As Uranus and Ge
and Cronus and Rhea fonn a sacred union in Greek mytho logy . so are marriages
amo ng the gods and Ogun and his wife relevant in Yoro ba mythology. Whil e marriage
and the chil dren that ensue from it establish the continuity of the population, sacrificial
rites ensure the survival of the community as a whole. According to So yinka 's
Introduction, through such rituals . "man re-affirms his indebtednes s to earth , dedica tes
himself to the demands of continuity and invokes the energies of productivity " {n) .
The first wedding scene portrays the ceremony of Hippoclides , who under lhe
influence of wine, demonstrates the freedom and liberty of Dionysiac worshi p.44
The bridegroo m. Hippoclidestransforms himselfby ripping apart his mask and formal
wedding attire to reveal his Dionysian costume. the fawn-skin . He dances vigorousl y
and ends up on the bridal table up side down to the horror and fury of the bride's
father . Ear lier . the beautifully veiled bride had removed her veil [0 reveal a "picture
of horren do us, irredeemab le ugliness" (67). There is a reversal in the ho rror; first the
groo m and bestman expres s their horror at the bride's revealed ugliness and later the
bridal party demonstrate their horror at the groo m's association with the Diony sian
ecstatic cult. Soyinka disp lays both the horror and beauty inherent in nature in the bust
of Aphrodite whose face peelsoff to expose the mocking face of Dionysos who
assum es pre-exi stence and associati on with the fertility goddess . 45
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