Dionysus In Euripides The Bacchae
THE BACCHAE TODAY: MAENADS OF CHANGE
The ancient Greek gods are known for being human-like in their jealousy and anger, yet beyond human compassion, and Dionysus in Euripides' The Bacchae is no exception. Accompanied by his followers, liberated, frenzied women known as the Maenads or Bacchae, Dionysus comes to Thebes, Greece from Asia, as a new god. They are rejected by the Thebans and the god plans to retaliate.
“...Here I plead the cause of my own mother, Semele, appearing as a god to mortal men, the one she bore to Zeus. Now Cadmus, the old king, has just transferred his power, his royal authority, to Pentheus, his daughter’s son, who, in my case at least, fights against the gods, prohibiting me all sacrificial offerings. When he prays, he chooses to ignore me. For this neglect
I’ll demonstrate to him, to all in Thebes, that I was born a god. Once these things here have been made right, I’ll move on somewhere else, to some other land, revealing who I am.
But if Thebans in this city, in their anger, try to make those Bacchic women leave, to drive them from the mountains forcibly, then I, commander of these Maenads, will fight them.” (lines 52-70) …show more content…
Agave returns to Thebes with her son's head, convinced in her madness that they have triumphed over some beast, but soon her father, Cadmus, reveals the devastating truth to her. Together, they mourn, distraught, while Dionysus reveals himself as a god and curses them into living in exile as serpents, saying that they deserve this punishment in their refusal to recognize his
The ancient Greek gods are known for being human-like in their jealousy and anger, yet beyond human compassion, and Dionysus in Euripides' The Bacchae is no exception. Accompanied by his followers, liberated, frenzied women known as the Maenads or Bacchae, Dionysus comes to Thebes, Greece from Asia, as a new god. They are rejected by the Thebans and the god plans to retaliate.
“...Here I plead the cause of my own mother, Semele, appearing as a god to mortal men, the one she bore to Zeus. Now Cadmus, the old king, has just transferred his power, his royal authority, to Pentheus, his daughter’s son, who, in my case at least, fights against the gods, prohibiting me all sacrificial offerings. When he prays, he chooses to ignore me. For this neglect
I’ll demonstrate to him, to all in Thebes, that I was born a god. Once these things here have been made right, I’ll move on somewhere else, to some other land, revealing who I am.
But if Thebans in this city, in their anger, try to make those Bacchic women leave, to drive them from the mountains forcibly, then I, commander of these Maenads, will fight them.” (lines 52-70) …show more content…
Agave returns to Thebes with her son's head, convinced in her madness that they have triumphed over some beast, but soon her father, Cadmus, reveals the devastating truth to her. Together, they mourn, distraught, while Dionysus reveals himself as a god and curses them into living in exile as serpents, saying that they deserve this punishment in their refusal to recognize his