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Euripides, The Bacchae
(Powell, Classical Myth, pp. 272-283.)
PREMIERE: 405 B.C.
(after Euripides died in exile in Macedonia, the news of which event had reached Athens before the Dionysia of 406,
in Elaphabolion, the 9th Athenian month, ca. March 406.)
CHARACTERS:
- AGAVE, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and mother of Pentheus
- CADMUS, former king of Thebes in Boeotia
- CHORUS, of women, `Bacchantes' (Maenads), from Lydia in Asia Minor
- DIONYSUS the god, leader of the Chorus of Bacchae, the `Stranger'
- PENTHEUS his first-cousin, present King of Thebes, son of Echion and Agave; another first-cousin was apparently Labdacus, the grandfather of Oedipus; his (putative) grandchildren were Creon and Jocasta.
- TEIRESIAS the famous seer of Thebes (also a character in Oedipus Tyrannos and the Odyssey)
PROLOGUE |
DIONYSUS (the Protagonist) |
1-63 |
PARODOS |
ENTRY OF THE CHORUS:
(a) Prelude 64-71
(b) Hymn 72-134 (`ode' 2 strophes)
(c) Epode 135-169 |
64-169 |
FIRST EPISODE
(Scene I) |
TIRESIAS, CADMUS & PENTHEUS. Tiresias' (more philosophical)
view of Dionysus; the character of Pentheus revealed. |
170-369 |
FIRST STASIMON
(Choral Interlude I) |
CHORUS, commenting on Scene I: the denunciation of Pentheus'
hybris; desire of the Chorus to escape to some land where their
religion is acceptable to people (as it is not to Pentheus). |
370-433 |
SECOND EPISODE
(Scene II) |
SERVANT AND PENTHEUS: description of strange happenings;
the arrest of the `Stranger'
PENTHEUS AND `THE STRANGER' (Dionysus): first of 3 encounters:
here, the weak man appears strong (masculine)and the strong
god weak (effeminate) |
434-518 |
SECOND STASIMON (Interlude II) |
CHORUS reproaches Thebes for its rejection of Dionysus
The epode calls for the punishment of Pentheus and his followers. |
519-575 |
THIRD EPISODE
(Scene III) |
(a) Palace miracles, seen from outside, then inside 576-861
(b) Report of the messenger about rituals on Mount Cithaeron 660-774
(c) Second confrontation between PENTHEUS AND DIONYSUS 775-861
Dionysus, more in control than before, persuades Pentheus
to dress as a woman to spy on the Bacchantes. |
576-861 |
THIRD STASIMON (Interlude III) |
CHORUS, aware that Pentheus is falling under Dionysus' control, expresses growing relief and rejoices in the god's vengeance.
The power of the gods is inescapable, the inviolability of law
ESCAPE AND RELIEF contrasted with JOY AND VENGEANCE. |
862-911 |
FOURTH EPISODE (Scene IV) |
DIONYSUS and PENTHEUS confront one another again: the god is in
complete control, and no longer tries to persuade; but instead he
humiliates Pentheus. Pentheus exhibits his twisted psychology:
VANITY, VOYEURISM, ARROGANCE |
912-976 |
FOURTH STASIMON (Interlude IV) |
Chorus invokes the `Swift hounds of Frenzy' to bring vengeance
on Pentheus; recollection of Pentheus' impiety and warning against
failing to honor the gods. Hatred, and desire for Pentheus' blood. |
977-1023 |
FIFTH EPISODE (Scene V) |
Messenger II (a slave) & Chorus: Report of the death of Pentheus at the hands of the Bacchantes (Maenads) led by his mother Agave.
Agave's enthusiasm |
1024-1152 |
FIFTH STASIMON (Interlude V) |
Chorus is triumphant over Pentheus' death, but the mood turns to
horror at the realization of what has actually happened |
1153-1164 |
EXODOS |
CHORUS AND AGAVE:
rapid conversation: Agave is still possessed by the god
and triumphant over the destruction of her son
CADMUS AND AGAVE: (1216-1329), in which there is a piece of the
play missing and lost) Grief of the grandfather slowly brings
the realization to the mother of the events and the enormity of
what has happened.
DIONYSUS (as The God) CADMUS & AGAVE: recriminations and justifications
predictions of the future of Cadmus, his wife, and Agave.
Farewells of Cadmus and Agave
CODA: Chorus chants a standard `moral' (Euripides used the same
verses in three other plays) (1388-1392) |
1165-1392 |
G.S. Kirk:
"Dionysus has allowed himself to be hunted down and insulted; he uses his divine powers to escape and gradually makes his captor into a ready victim for his instruments, the `deadly herd', Agave's `coursing hounds'. Pentheus' temporal authority is progressively revealed as impotence in relation to the unfolding power of the god; and since king and god are in direct conflict it
follows that the victim will become the aggressor, the hunted the hunter, and vice versa."
( The Bacchae of Euripides [1970], p. 14).
E.R. Dodds:
"These considerations suggest that Pentheus may be a figure compounded (like Guy Fawkes) of historical and ritual elements--at once the god's historical adversary and his ritual victim.....If Pentheus is to be the god's victim, he must become the god's vehicle (that is the Dionysiac theory of sacrifice): Dionysus must enter into him and madden him, not by drink or drugs or
hypnotism, as modern rationalism too glibly suggests, but by a supernatural invasion of the man's personality....Also, before the victim is torn, it must be consecrated by a rite of investiture: as the calf on Tenedos wore the god's buskin, so Pentheus must wear the god's mitra (831-3, 854-5)...."
(Euripides, Bacchae (1960), xxvii-xxviii)
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