The Bacchae

I would first like to point out that this entry is dedicated to Betsy, and all the other Tufts Drama grad students who are about to take, or are studying for, their comprehensive exams. Best of luck to you all!!

Now then. The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides during his final years in Macedon. The play is based on the mythological story of King Pentheus of Thebes, and he and his family’s punishment by the god Dionysus for their refusal to worship him. The play differs from other Greek tragedies in that it does not end with the restoration of order through the appointment of a new ruler. Rather, the play ends with a vengeful god completely destroying Thebes, and the future of the city is unresolved.

The play starts with Dionysus onstage acting as a narrator to let the audience know what has happened previously. Dionysus tells us of his origin and why he has come to Thebes: his mother Semele was impregnated by Zeus, but is killed before giving birth because she asks Zeus to appear to her in his true form (a lightning bolt). Zeus rescues the unborn Dionysus, and hides him in his thigh until he is born. However, Semele’s family believe that she lied about who impregnated her, and begin to spread lies about Semele and her child, and deny that Dionysus is the son of Zeus. Dionysus comes to Thebes to get revenge on his family for denying him, and to prove that he is a great god. To exact his revenge, Dionysus starts by gathering women followers from all over Asia, called the Bacchantes or Bacchae, and then sends them and all the women in Thebes (including the sisters of Semele) into a crazy frenzy. These women dance and hunt and worship him on a nearby mountain to the horror of their families in Thebes. Dionysus himself has taken the form of a young man and leader of the Bacchae. He will use this disguise to get to Pentheus, Dionysus’ cousin and the current king, who has banned worship of Dionysus in Thebes.

The previous king Cadmus and the blind prophet Tiresias, although not under the same spell as the women of Thebes, are planning to go worship Dionysus, until Pentheus enters and tries to stop them. It is obvious that he is morally and mentally opposed to the rituals and worship, and refuses to accept Dionysus as a god. He orders his soldiers to find the Bacchae’s leader and bring him to the palace. The soldiers bring Dionysus in disguise to the king and we quickly see that Dionysus is fully in control of the situation. The king continues to insult and defile Dionysus, without realizing that he is further humiliating himself and blaspheming against a god. Dionysus wants this to occur; he wants Pentheus and the house of Cadmus to fall even farther, to make his revenge even sweeter. He even discovers that deep down Pentheus is actually intrigued by the rituals, and uses this to his advantage. Pentheus, frustrated by the answers he gets from Dionysus, throws him into jail; however, no walls can hold back a god, and Dionysus releases himself and his other followers in jail, and burns the palace to the ground.

When a herdsman comes and tells Pentheus of the strange and exotic rites of the Bacchae that he has witnessed on the mountain, the king decides once and for all that they need to be destroyed. However, using Pentheus’ desire to see the rituals, Dionysus tricks the king into coming with him in disguise to the mountain. He dresses Pentheus in women’s clothes and humiliates him by parading him through the streets. Once they arrive on the mountain, Dionysus places Pentheus on top of a large tree to view the rites; however, once the king is unprotected, he calls out to his followers to destroy and kill Pentheus. The women (lead by Pentheus’ mother Agave) pull Pentheus down from the tree and tear his body apart. Agave brings his head back to the palace; in her possessed state she thinks that it is the head of a lion. When she shows the head to her father Cadmus, he is horrified and as Dionysus’ control over her subsides, Agave realizes the sin she has executed. Finally, Dionysus banishes the people of Thebes from their home, to be slaves and in exile for the rest of their lives.

I saw The Bacchae at Brandeis University about five years ago. I only remember vague parts about it, mostly the Suzuki techniques that the director incorporated into the show. I’m not crazy about the translation that I read (by Robert Bagg), it seemed too casual, and I think he tossed off some important points. For instance, Pentheus’ change from being opposed to the Bacchae to wanting to see them seemed too abrupt, too sudden, without any real persuading on Dionysus’ part. Maybe his character is supposed to be that way, but it just seemed that the phrasing was off. Still, it is a pretty powerful play, and the last scene with Agave realizing what she has done is intense! It makes you wonder if Dionysus only wanted revenge on his family for denying him, or if he really just wanted to show off his power and abilities as a god.