Dionysus (also known by the names Bacchus and Bromius) opens
this play by describing his origin. He
is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Semele. Semele was struck by lightning and gave birth
prematurely. (I am unsure from this
account whether it was Zeus or his jealous wife Hera who struck Semele.) Zeus concealed Dionysus from Hera by sewing
Dionysus up in his thigh until he was full term. Some of Semele’s family members do not
believe that Dionysus was the son of Zeus.
They assume he was fathered by a mortal, and so, do not worship
him. Dionysus is angry about this. He shows up at Thebes in mortal form to
confront Pentheus, who is the son of one of Semele’s sisters.
Dionysus is the god of wine and revelry. He has influenced the women of Thebes to go
off in the woods celebrating him with dancing and lots of wine. They are in ecstasy and not in full control
of their faculties. Pentheus is
concerned about their behavior and afraid this will lead to impropriety and lustful
encounters. Cadmus is Pentheus’
grandfather and was king of Thebes until he put Pentheus on the throne in his
stead. Cadmus and his friend Teiresias
have decided to worship Dionysus and are heading off to dance and drink in
spite of their age and instability.
Dionysus appears to Pentheus in human form…apparently very
attractive male form, but doesn’t tell Pentheus who he is. He encourages Pentheus to give in to worship
of Dionysus, but he is unsuccessful. So,
he wants to extract a horrible revenge.
He manages to convince Pentheus to dress up like a woman to go spy on
the women who are reveling off in the woods.
However, Pentheus falls into the hands of the women, who are in a
drunken frenzy and don’t recognize him.
The women literally tear him to pieces with no weapons but their own
hands. His own mother Agave carries his
severed head into the city of Thebes convinced they have vanquished a horrible
beast, and that it is the beast’s head she is carrying.
She encounters Cadmus who helps her to understand what she
has done. She is grief stricken. At this point there are apparently some
missing lines in the manuscript from which the play was translated, but it
seems that Agave is sent into exile, and Cadmus also must leave Thebes.
Interesting quotes:
Pentheus: …where the
gladsome grape is found at women’s feasts, I deny that their rites have any
longer good results.
Teiresias: …came this
god, the son of Semele, who discovered the juice of the grape and introduced it
to mankind, stilling thereby each grief that mortals suffer from, soon as e’er
they are filled with the juice of the vine; and sleep also he giveth, sleep
that brings forgetfulness of daily ills, the sovereign charm for all our woe.
Chorus: …Both to rich
and poor alike hath he granted the delight of wine, that makes all pain to
cease; hateful to him is everyone who careth not to live the life of bliss,
that lasts through days and nights of joy. True wisdom is to keep the heart and
soul aloof from over-subtle wits. That
which the less enlightened crowd approves and practices, will I accept.
Pentheus talking to Dionysus: …thou
art not ill-favoured from a woman’s point of view, which was thy real object in
coming to Thebes…,.
Messenger speaking of Agave’s attack on her own son: But
she, the while, with foaming mouth and wildly rolling eyes, bereft of reason as
she was, heeded him not; for the god possessed her.
Agave protesting to Dionysus concerning what he caused her
to do to her son: Gods should not let their passion sink to man’s level.
Ah…but that is the problem with the Greek gods. They routinely behave no better than we
humans.
And…
That is the problem with drinking to excess. People become “bereft of reason.”
And…
That is the problem with Euripides….once again he has made
women look bad.
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