MYTHS IN WOLE SOYINKA’S THE BACCHAE OF EURIPIDES AND TOM OMARA’S THE EXODUS

Abstract

This paper explores the role of myths in both Yoruba and Acholi cultures, and their repercussions in contemporary Nigerian and Ugandan societies. Data drive from The Bacchae of Euripides and The Exodus, and fall in the Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism, New Historicism framework and Post-colonial approach. Soyinka reflects on the impact of the colonial process and on the role of modern day dictatorship in many Third-World countries. His play takes the effects of intertextuality to the extreme, not only by taking the Greek tragedy as hypotext, but by relating Euripides’ subversive criticism of Greek imperialism to his own denunciation of colonization and tyranny. Tom Omara portrays the struggles and conflicts of the Acholi people in their quest for unity and self-determination, as well as the challenges they face in dealing with the colonial powers that seek to control and exploit their land and resources. Specifically, myths in the plays feature themes of migration, conflict, leadership, identity, and resistance to imperialism. Myths are seen as important elements that explain the significance of human existence.