Yellowjackets season 2 takes a bite out of Greek mythology with cannibalistic bacchanalia in new episode

Yellowjackets Season 2 takes us on a ride with its Greek feast fantasy in the second episode, ‘Edible Complex.’ The episode unpacks cannibalism’s origin and who the first person was to be consumed. It’s none other than former team captain Jackie’s two-month-old frozen body, played by Ella Purnell. The Greek feast imagery in the episode serves as a thematic parallel to the cannibalism that will come to mean for the Yellowjackets.

The Greek feast imagery functions as a major contrast to the Yellowjackets’ lived experience. The divine Yellowjackets behold a sumptuous feast of wine and delicacies, while their real-life counterparts devour the barbecued corpse of their late friend, though the characters in both scenes relish their food with the same amounts of zeal. The Yellowjackets’ feast itself recalls bacchanalia: frenzied celebrations of the Greek god Dionysus or his Roman counterpart Bacchus.

Cannibalism plays a significant role in Greek mythology. For example, the titan Kronos eats his children, and in two separate myths, the kings Tantalus and Lycaon try to trick the gods into eating human flesh, with disastrous consequences. The Yellowjackets’ cannibalism is drawing parallels between its characters and participants in ancient Dionysian bacchanalia, but why? These comparisons serve to complicate the Yellowjackets’ cannibalism beyond a gross taboo, weaving it into a greater look at their belief system while stranded in the wilderness.

The show adds a layer of religion to the Yellowjackets’ ritual of cannibalism. The references to Greek myth and ritual sacrifice come through loud and clear in this initial cannibalism sequence, yet they are at odds with the rest of the show. Yellowjackets traffics in departures from reality, and all those departures are anchored in one character’s point of view. When adult Shauna kills Adam in Season 1, we understand that this is adult Shauna’s perception.

While the Greek feast imagery does add a new layer of mythology to the show, it may not be entirely successful in the context of the series. However, it does provide an intriguing perspective to the cannibalism that the Yellowjackets engage in. It becomes more than a gross taboo but instead an act of faith for the team to appease the strange forces at work in the wild.

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Yellowjackets Season 2 has kicked off with a bang, and with the Greek feast imagery, the show has added another layer of complexity and intrigue to an already fascinating story. It will be interesting to see how the showrunners continue to incorporate mythology into the story as the season progresses.