God Is The God Of Wine And Parties

God Is The God Of Wine And Parties
Dionysus is the god of wine and parties. He is the son of Semele, a mortal, and Zeus, god of the sky
and ruler of all the gods. There have been many similarities between Dionysus and Jesus made by
people throughout history yet we have to wonder why do we need Dionysus? He is not exactly the
most moral god ever. Is he actually important and necessary in Greek mythology? Does his danger
outweigh his importance and necessity? What is the play telling us about sanity and insanity?
There have been so many similarities throughout history noted between Dionysus in The Bacchae
and Jesus in The Bible. Some similarities include their births, people wanting to kill them as infants,
others disbelief that they are gods, the persecution because others do not believe in their divinity,
and their rebirths.
Both gods were born to virgins and miraculously conceived without sex. When Semele told others
about her pregnancy, she was mocked. "They said that Dionysus was no son of Zeus, but Semele
had slept beside a man in love. Cadmus lied to protect his daughter's name." (Euripides 20, 28). In
the book of Matthew, Mary conceives a child through the Holy Spirit while she was still betrothed to
Joseph (Matthew 1:18).
Both gods' lives were in danger as infants. When Dionysus was born Zeus's wife, Hera, was furious
Zeus had had another affair and tried to throw Dionysus down Mount Olympus. Zeus hid Dionysus
and gave Hera "a [baby] molded piece of the ether that encircles the Earth" (Hathaway 247)
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Analysis of the Bacchae
To this day scholars offer a number of different interpretations of Euripides' The Bacchae. This
essay will argue the centrality of 'sophia' (wisdom) and its opposite 'amathia', similar to the
interpretation offered by Arrowsmith and Dodds: that the central idea of The Bacchae is that wisdom
– possession of humility, acceptance and self–knowledge, encompassed by the Greek word 'sophia'
– is the greatest and most necessary quality humanity can possess in the face of godly power. In
particular this essay will focus on how the central idea is communicated through the convergence of
characters and dialogue in Euripides' The Bacchae.
The Bacchae explores the necessity of wisdom and acceptance, as it looks at the conflict between
the man–king ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Hence the messenger's speeches are crucial as they drive the plot forward. However the messenger
is also able to comment on scenes he describes, and in doing so exhibits a form of 'sophia'. He sees
the power of the maenads first–hand and understands the terrible greatness of Dionysus and urges
Pentheus to accept the god: "sire, welcome him to Thebes. For he is great..." He too exhibits the
wisdom of Cadmus and Teiresias, the 'sophia' of understanding the need for acceptance, and the
dangers of denying a deity.
Another essential group of characters in The Bacchae is the chorus, as within Greek plays the chorus
often operated as a popular voice in support of the play's central idea. Their songs often explain
important points, and it's clear in The Bacchae the songs of the Bacchante chorus uphold 'sophia' as
the trait most honourable in humanity. As Dionysus exits to convince Pentheus to dress is women's
clothes, the stage is left to the chorus, and they sing: "what is wisdom? What gift of the gods is held
in honour like this..." Wisdom is described as a gift from the gods sanctioned amongst men, and thus
it is most wise to honour those gods. He who fails to recognise that "humility is wise, humility is
blessed," fails to recognise the greatest quality he can possess in the face of godly power. Thus it is
clear that the characters of The Bacchae are essential in conveying the central idea, as

Equus By Peter Shaffer Analysis
In both, Equus, By Peter Shaffer, and Bacchae, By Euripides, there were many differences that were
displayed. In Addition, to both having different endings and different ways of teaching a lesson to
the audience. One play being about a boy and his obsession with horses and trying to get cured and
the other play dealing with the gods to represent varies aspects of human personalities. In Equus, By
Peter Shaffer, Equus argues that normal is not always ideal, and that madness is constructed by
society. Dysart, who is Alan's psychiatrist, has dedicated his career to giving children "normal" lives,
and he attempts the same for Alan. Alan is a seventeen–year–old boy who has an intense, religious
fascination with horses. After he blinded six horses with a spike one night, he was sent to therapy
with Martin Dysart, who attempts to uncover the reasoning behind this act and his ... Show more
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To Alan, horses are his personal religion, and this unique religion is what gives Alan his sense of
self. He is fixated on the bits in the horses mouths and the reins around their necks, seeing these as
despicable means of confinement and constriction. This is primarily because Alan himself feels
confined by the life he lives and the expectations of his parents and of society, when truly all he
wants is a sense of freedom. It is clear throughout the course of the play that he does not truly
believe that something is inherently wrong with Alan, however, Dysart's duty is to relieve this child
from pain and make him in a sense "normal" again. On the other hand the play, Bacchae, by
Euripides, holds many themes and symbols that conclude to a deeper and more philosophical
meaning to the play at the end. These themes all lead to one major underlying theory being that to be
infinite, one must

Power In Antigone And The Bacchae
Greek dramas often contained a singular view on historical ideas or people. This is demonstrated in
the two Greek tragedies, Antigone by Sophocles and the Bacchae by Euripides V. The tragedy
Antigone, critiques a Kreon who rules with fear and pride and suffers a tremendous tragedy, while
the Bacchae praises Pentheus for attempting to regain control over his chaotic city yet still suffer an
undesirable fate. Both tragedies focus on different aspects of political power. The fashion, in which
both Kreon and Pentheus achieve their title as king, demonstrates the extent of power they both
believe they contain. In Antigone, Kreon manages to claim the throne, amongst the chaos from a
rebel attack. Kreon's succession of the throne through ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
With Kreon refusing to provide polyneikes with the proper burial, Kreon refused to provide Hades
of his rightful property. Antigone warns Kreon that his decision of refusing to provide the burial will
result in punishment, "Since you, a mere man, imposed them–have the force to trample on the gods'
unwritten laws" (Antigone 490–493). Antigone accuses Kreon, a "mere man," of dishonoring the
laws written by the gods. As a result of denying Hades of his rights, Kreon suffers a fate worse than
death. As a payment of withholding the body, Kreon must witness the death of his only son Haimon
and accept the death of Eurydike, his wife. Kreon attempting to protect his honor from Antigone,
results in Kreon losing everything he considers important in his heart. However, Kreon's lost results
in the humbling of his personality. At the end of Antigone, he admits, "A foolish impulsive man who
killed you, my son, mindlessly killed you as well, my wife" (Antigone 1500–1502). The gods
punishes those who prevent them of their proper rites, and those who allow their pride to blind their
moral judgment. Although Pentheus did not have to experience the death of everyone he loves, his
family ultimately paid a high price for his

The Nature Of Theatre In EuripidesBacchae
In Bacchae, Euripides explores the nature of theatre through Dionysus' confrontation with his mortal
royal family, who has denied him a place of honor as a god. Euripides employs costume and choral
narration to portray Dionysus as a director of his own play and a patron of art, illuminating the
spiritually intoxicating and transformative nature of theatre.
The prologue introduces Dionysus, setting the scene of the drama while inviting the audience to
examine the nature of theatre through metatheatrical elements of the play. Dionysus introduces
himself to the audience and declares, "I have changed from divine to human form, and here I am"
(5–6). Through Dionysus' disguise, Euripides alludes to the use of theatre costume. Furthermore, at
the close of the prologue, Dionysus directs the chorus on stage:
Now come, my sacred band of women,
That came with me from the bulwark of Lydia,
Mt. Tmolus, companions in my journey from abroad.
Take up the drums, the native drums of Phrygia, the ones I discovered, I and Mother Rhea.
(55–59)
In this moment of theatrical self–consciousness, Dionysus transcends the narrative of the story. He is
a director of the play rather than the protagonist and not only guides his religious followers, but the
actors of the performance.
While theatre allows actors to assume the psyche of another character, Dionysus, similarly, provides
his worshipers the freedom to take upon a new persona and achieve spiritual ecstasy and revelation
through theatre.

Binary Oppisition Essay
Binary Opposition
In Greek tragedy there are many themes that are contrasted with each other. This is known as binary
opposition, which s defined as a contrast of themes that are the opposite poles of each other. There
are many conflicts in Euripides' Medea and Bacchae: perhaps the three most conspicuous
oppositions are rational versus irrational, foreigner versus natives, and stereotypical dichotomy of
female and male. The first binary opposite in Euripides plays are rational versus irrational thinking,
his characters are changing constantly within the plays; there are a couple of characters that stays in
a rational thinking which they do not favor any side of the conflict. In Medea, Euripides showed
rational thinking through the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As they were on their way to worship Dionysus they see Pentheus and stopped to talk with him
(212). Pentheus started to speak about how he was out of the city and heard rumors of the women
leaving their homes and rather engage in "cult gathering and each lady is slinks off in a different
direction" (216–225). He speaks about how "[Semele] lied about her union with Zeus" and that he is
not a god (244). But Tiresias replies back to Pentheus that "[w]henever a wise man sets out to argue
an honest case it's no great undertaking to argue well" (266–67). Tiresias also states that Pentheus
"rejoice whenever crowds gather at the palace gates and the city glorifies [your] name... Dionysus
too, ... takes delight in receiving [the same] honor" (319–21). In the mean time Cadmus also
explains that "[e]ven if the god does not exist, as you claim, let him be considered a god in your
eyes. Lies for good cause... In this way [Semele] might seem to have given birth to a god and honor
might accrue to our entire family" (332–36). Equally important, that Pentheus and Dionysus
constantly change from rational to irrational thinking throughout the play. Pentheus thinks
irrationally about what the women behavior is while they are in the mountains (354). He believes
that the women are in acts of lust with "Aphrodite's pleasure" (225). As for Dionysus irrational
thinking is when he punishes his family for their hybris acts towards him (1347). Although there is a
rational and irrational

Dionysus in Grecian Myth Essay
Dionysus in Grecian Myth
The god, Dionysus, fills an integral role in Grecian Myth. According to Euripides' Bacchae,
Dionysus represents the animalistic and mystic life force that connects humanity to its innate earthy
roots—roots that are illogical, chaotic, and instinctual. In this paper I will be discussing this
aforementioned mystic life force and its existence in ancient Greece's supremely logical society.
Being as completely logical as the ancient Greeks tended to be, they needed some sort of release
valve that kept them from all going crazy in their otherwise rigid existence. The god, Dionysus,
provided this release in their world through the manifestations of "wine, women, and song." Without
these simple earthy ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The women were reported as performing "weird fantastic things, what miracles and more than
miracles" while under Dionysus' influence (665–66). Each one of those different mystical acts they
performed represented a different aspect of Dionysus' divinity. The women struck the ground and
wine sprang forth for them to drink, they tore live cattle limb from limb, and flew among other
things. The wine was representative of Dionysus' gift of wine to mortals. The animals were a
reminder of Dionysus' love for raw animal flesh. The women flying were simply examples of
Dionysus' awesome powers and the things mortals can do when under the mystical "high" you
experience under Dionysus' control. These awesome acts were spread far and wide by the shepherds
who witnessed them first hand. The stories they told of the miracles performed instigated a powerful
and destructive curiosity in Pentheus. His curiosity was born out of his attempts to suppress his
human side that was all Dionysus represented. Pentheus became so focused on denying his irrational
and animalistic values that they eventually became his obsession. What should have been a natural
human "high" turned into a perversion of the normal mortal experience with Dionysus. Pentheus'
manic desire to view the acts of the women on the mountain was the manifestation of his perverted
sense of pleasure. This voyeuristic desire could only be satisfied through experiencing another
perversion set up by

Beneath The Sword
In 1839 Edward George Bulwer Lytton wrote, "Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is
mightier than the sword". Overtime the saying has been shortened to "the pen is mightier than the
sword". The pen represents peace and writing, but the pen also represents not using the sword. When
others are fighting and using the sword, the person who stands back and has control over their
emotions uses the pen best. Shirley Chisholm and Terry Tempest Williams exhibit the proverb "The
pen is mightier than the sword". Shirley Chisholm demonstrates it in her speech, "People and Peace,
not Profits and War" while Terry Tempest Williams displays it in the chapter of her book "The Clan
of One–Breasted Women Epilogue".
Shirley Chisholm uses ethos, pathos,

Comparing Pentheus And Dionysus The King Of The Bacchae
Greek drama was performed in the late 6th century BCE in ancient Greece. Tragedians like
Euripides wrote very influential and popular plays such as the Bacchae. Greek tragedies lead to
Greek comedies such as Aristophanes' Lysistrata. Many of the Greek dramas have similar concepts,
one of being duality. Without duality, the nature of our lives and the environment around us remains
unbalanced.
Pentheus and Dionysus represent a factor of duality. For example, they both battle against each other
to prove their point as leaders. Pentheus has just become the new king of Thebes and would like to
gain power of his people. He seeks to rule over with rationality and social order. Whereas Dionysus
is the youngest of all Olympians and wishes to prove to the world that he is an all–powerful god.
However, he is also known as the god of wine and believes that everyone should wind down once in
a while and celebrate with self–intoxication. His irrational ideas and objectives are the opposite of
Pentheus. The ultimate conflict between the two characters is that Pentheus is in denial of Dionysus'
existence because he refuses to believe in irrationality. For example in lines 471–480 in the
Bacchae, Pentheus is speaking to Dionysus about Dionysus and is in denial of his existence.
Pentheus is so oblivious that he does not even recognize his presence. This relates to duality because
Dionysus is the opposite force working against Pentheus or vice versa. Pentheus is devoted to living
with

Otherness in Euripides' Bacchae and Soyinka's The Bacchae...
Otherness in Euripides'Bacchae and Soyinka's The Bacchae of Euripides
Both Euripides and Wole Soyinka are focused on a fundamental ethical imperative in their plays:
welcome the stranger into your midst. Acceptance of Dionysus as a god, as "an essence that will not
exclude or be excluded", is stressed (Soyinka 1). Pentheus is punished severely for excluding, for
refusing to acknowledge or submit to, Dionysus' divine authority. In order to carve out a place for
himself (in the pantheon, in the minds of the people), Dionysus' divinity manifests itself in an
overtly political manner: its effect on those who worship him. This struggle for acceptance is first
given voice in the confrontation between Pentheus and Teiresias in each play. ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Dionysus' mother being a mortal woman, both Pentheuses also question Dionysus' ascension to the
divine. Ironically, Dionysus' lineage is also intimately connected to Pentheus; they are, in fact,
cousins. Nevertheless, Pentheus invokes images of bastardy and usurpation to undercut any
legitimate divine authority claimed by Dionysus.
It is Teiresias, along with Cadmus, Pentheus' father, who first stands as an emissary of Dionysus to
refute Pentheus' claims and to warn him of the dangers that await him. Both Teiresiases understand
that Dionysus' divinity is not derived from simple genealogy. Divine authority cannot be described
in solely rational, orderly terms. Dionysus represents the ascendance of "another sound, a new
order" (Soyinka 13). Though both blind prophets urge Pentheus to accept Dionysus, the underlying
method of persuasion used by each playwright is distinctly different.
Euripedes' Teiresias advocates worship of Dionysus as a method of self abandonment, while
Soyinka's seer espouses acceptance as a fundamental step toward self knowledge. Joining in the
dance is an act of rejuvenation and renewal to the original Teiresias because he is able to lose
himself in the Bacchae. "his [Dionysus'] intention is that all should honor him/ Collectively, not
numbered off in dancing groups" (ln 208–9). He is intoxicated with Dionysus literally and
symbolically. To Euripedes' Teiresias, Dionysus' greatest gift is that "he

Selfish Desires In Everyman And The Bacchae By Euripides
The two plays Everyman by an Anonymous play write and The Bacchae by Euripides both have
main characters that have selfish desires that involve the public joining them in their own journey to
fulfill their own greed. In The Bacchae Dionysus is the protagonist, a selfish demigod who wishes to
enact his revenge for the slandering of his and his Mother's name. In Everyman the play revolves
around a character named Everyman, who represents the everyday men and women, and his or her
selfish wish for someone to follow him or her to speak in front of God. These characters selfish
desires are the focus of their plays and at the end of their respective plays truly define their character
for either better or for worse. Dionysus, while being a selfish demigod throughout his play, is
characterized solely this way because he was denied his birth title and this lead his mother to being
ridiculed and laughed at for truths that people claimed were lies. His main goal was to "refute that
slander spoken by [his] mother's sister" which expresses he wanted to clear the name his mother's
name that was misguided (line 32). Being a demigod who has used his power to make the women of
Thebes "crazed of mind" as well as being "compelled to wear [his] orgies livery" which shows how
he abuses his power (Euripides 41–42). While his goal was positive for his character his actions
were villainous and destroyed the Kingdom of Thebes solely because he wanted revenge for his
mother and the lies that were

The Ancient Greek Of Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks highly valued the strength and power in a spoken word. Political, economic,
cultural, and social life of the Ancient Greeks can be seen in their plays. They thus relied on words
to communicating. Their desire to communicate and pass crucial information led to the creation of
numerous plays across the region. The ancient Greek plays were both entertaining and educative
thus reflecting on the kind of life that this person lived (Hogan 11). Their settings can suggest a lot
about the circumstances and conditions under which this play was performed. The dramatic
presentations were crucial to Athenians, a fact that can be seen from the numerous and well– spread
theatres across the city. The paper will focus on how the ancient ... Show more content on
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The effects of violence were so disastrous and they were punished by god. The play is a significant
description of the lifestyle in Greek at that particular time. God punishing those who do not obey
him was a common belief among the ancient Greeks. The fact that he was a king implied that he had
to set a good example by leading the people so that they can fear gods. The Antigone, is an example
of an ancient play where a lot of elements that can be seen on stage can be used to interpret and
analyze the Greek culture. Like in other Greek plays, masks were used in the Antigone to convey
emotions and capture themes in the play. An example is that masks worn by different people
signaled political power. The voice of the actor was greatly amplified by the shape of the masks. The
audiences were able to hear the actors when they were in masks. Moreover, the types of clothing in
both The Bacchae and The Antigone were a representation of the Greek culture. Stage in most
ancient Greek plays was composed of four main areas. The first was around place in which plays
and acts were done. The audience sat on the 'theatron', then there was the building behind the 'state'
which was decorated as a temple or a palace called the 'skene', the last place was the passageways

The Theme Of Dirality In The Bacchae
The classic Greek play "The Bacchae" by Euripides, explores the concepts of the restraint of human
convention as opposed to the liberty of nature.
From the beginning, Dionysus and Pentheus personalities clash. Pentheus refuses to acknowledge
that Dionysus is a god, which is made clear in the first passage "he's dead, burnt to cinder by
lighting". This passage also shows the audience what Pentheus thinks about people who express
their natural desires openly through Bacchae worship "Sir I am ashamed to see two men or your age
with so little sense of decency". By using language such as "ashamed" and "decency" he is showing
his distaste for such behavior. Pentheus sees Dionysus epicurean disposition as a threat and therefore
ridicules him for it "Is his arrogance not an outrage?" but by saying this he is unintentionally ...
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He asks Pentheus if he would like to see the Bacchae rather than attack them to which Pentheus
replies that he would, even though "it would cause me distress to see them drunk with wine". Even
then Pentheus continues the charade of self–control and decency when the audience can clearly see
that he is long gone. It is now clear that Pentheus has these natural desires that he hypocritically
condemns the Bacchae for. Dionysus then degrades Pentheus in one of the most ghastly ways
possible, he convinces Pentheus to dress in women's clothes. By this point Pentheus' mind has
become so distorted by Dionysus' power that he is compliant with the idea, even parsing Dionysus
for it "how you think of everything!". Dionysus replies with what can be argued is the most telling
line of the play "It was Dionysus who inspired me with that thought". By having Dionysus refers to
himself in the third person Euripides is showing the audience that Dionysus has tricked him and
draws the audience into the story and become a part of the

Analysis Of Dirtwork In EuripidesThe Bacchae
3218
Dirtwork in Euripides' "The Bacchae"
The Bacchae represent the irrational aspects of religion, and this is neither simply reverent or
irreverent toward religion. The play, "The Bacchae" can easily be interpreted as a cautionary tale
about the dangers of neglecting worship or as a cautionary tale about the dangers of placing too
much trust in human rationality. If the play's main intent was to describe the dangers of neglecting
worship or to describe the dangers of relying heavily of human rationality, then Bacchae would not
be portrayed negatively. I will argue that these interpretations, while true to some degree, are
oversimplifications of the message that Euripides conveys, and that a stronger interpretation is that
the play is commentary on the human struggle to harmonize our desire to individuate and our desire
to unify. The play describes the conflict between Pentheus' need to define boundaries and the
Bacchae's desire to eliminate boundaries. Pentheus and the
Bacchae show what occurs when one desire overpowers the other. The conflict between
Pentheus and the Bacchae is an external representation of the internal conflict between the two
needs, that we observe in characters like Pentheus.
The Bacchae represent an irrational aspect of religion because they are portrayed as victims of
groupthink. The Bacchae do not think for themselves, and reject the idea of thinking for themselves.
This is shown here when the Bacchae chorus sings, " A tongue

Comparing The Eumenides And The Bacchae
The conflict between the rational and the irrational is present in every person or situation. In Greek
tragedies, this conflict is constantly present within the characters' actions and decisions. Usually,
there is always one character that will act rationally compared to the others and would try to fix the
conflict. Both The Eumenides and The Bacchae depict the conflict between the rational and the
irrational, yet the act and solution are presented differently. Whereas The Eumenides portrays it
through killing the family by committing matricide and homicide, The Bacchae portrays it through
killing the family by committing unconscious homicide driven by the desire of the forbidden.
The most powerful characters in The Eumenides, starting ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
She also brings order and peace for the whole civilization when she calms the Furies and shows
them another way to think that would favor them; she brought peace, reason and order to the empire.
In The Bacchae, the most important characters are not only the gods but also the humans
themselves. Starting off with the story behind the problem, irrationality is demonstrated by the
characters of Hera, Semele and her family. Hera symbolizes irrationality through her emotions,
violence and chaos. She is jealous and revengeful of Zeus, who is unfaithful and had a child with
another woman. She makes Semele, the mistress of Zeus, desire Zeus in his true form, ultimately
leading to her death because no mortal could stand being exposed to so much power. Although Zeus
is able to save their baby, this violence and chaos causes Dionysus' family to hate him. Semele
symbolizes irrationality through her emotions and disaster to the natural world. She may be lead by
Hera to desire to see Zeus in his true form, but she knew there were going to be consequences. She
also symbolizes disaster to the natural world by getting involved with the god of all gods and she
brings chaos and hatred upon her family towards her son through her desires. Semele's family also
demonstrates irrationality by their discord and emotions towards Dionysus. They malign their own
daughter and reject Dionysus. When the story unfolds, the two main characters, Dionysus and

Bacchae Theatre Experience
The Bacchae was really interesting to see, especially after taking the spectacle theatre class. It
actually reminded me more of exercises that we did in spectacle theater than in this class but it did
remind me of the sound project, particularly when the Bacchae go into the crowd and start yelling
from the sidelines during the "Walls Work" scene because it was a really great way of creating a sort
of soundscape atmosphere that came from more than one direction on the stage. Those are the kind
of concepts that we were playing with in the sound exercise. Some of the lines, like some of the
more abstract Bacchae lines reminded me of free writing exercises, especially ones where we would
start with a prompting sentence and we could write anything ... Show more content on
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I think that people in the audience felt involved, especially during the scene where Pentheus is like
Donald Trump because you have all the Bacchae in the audience yelling and cheering. When the
Bacchae join the crowd and cheer and yell from the seats it makes the audience feel more involved.
They act just like Trump supporters at a rally which is a very relevant commentary which I think
worked really well. The whole comparison itself between Pentheus and Donald Trump is just really
interesting to me because we see Pentheus as this tyrant, stubborn and afraid of foreigners. That
itself is what makes it so funny because it's also a good parody of Donald

Violence In EuripidesBacchae
Unabashedly, tragedy is brimming with violence and death, "it reeks of blood and is strewn with
corpses" (Henrichs 173). If it is not the precipice of the action, the plot of tragedy often revolves
around the build–up to or the after–effects of violence; what to do with the body, how to reintegrate
after the fact, and even what to do when violence is taken too far, such as in the Ajax. As a pervasive
force in classical antiquity, the audience of the City Dionysia would be all too familiar with the
many faces of violence throughout the cusping three decades of the Peloponnesian war leading up to
405 BC. Although it is flawed to attempt to condense tragedy into a single function, it is perhaps less
so to name one as a digestion of the everyday violence of the ancient world. In Euripides' Bacchae,
the motif of violence is first presented by means of an enraptured herdsman speech that revels in the
spectacle of violent delights and foreshadows what is to come. This motif comes to a close when a
second messenger reveals the tragic reality of violence and Pentheus' sparagmos while the chorus of
bacchants revels in their god's brutality. Through examining the chorus' status and perspective on
violence, the staging behind Agave wielding Pentheus' head, and the contemporaneous socio–
political climate in Athens, the Bacchae can be examined as in dialogue with tragedy's tradition of
violence.
The first messenger speech sets the stage for the traditional role of violence in tragedy.

A Comparison of Vengeance in Electra, The Bacchae and...
Vengeance in Electra, The Bacchae and Frankenstein
In today's world, vengeance is still in existence, bubbling below our calm facade, waiting for the
catalyst it needs to break loose. Evidence can be seen right now in the reactions of the American
people towards Bin Laden. He destroyed so many lives, and now, there is probably not one
American that would not love to get their minute alone with him. The American people want to hurt
him the way he and his followers hurt their fellow Americans, their family. This hunger for
vengeance is completely Dionysian and is found in more than one written work.
Electra is saturated with the Dionysian quest for vengeance that prevails also in The Bacchae. It is
found again in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is what prompted Electra and Orestes into action. Their senses were presumably on the mark
considering their mother's reaction upon hearing of Orestes' death. Her primary concern is her own
well being. Orestes' feigned death cleared up any misconceptions readers might have had as to what
Clytmaenestra's true sentiments were, and gives more definition unto the rationale behind Electra
and Orestes' conduct.
In Frankenstein, the Dionysian principle is found twice. It exists for the monster and for Victor in an
opposing manner. For the monster, it is a little more complicated to uncover due to its "backwards"
pattern and the strange relationships. Victor's monster is left alone to fend for himself and discovers
that he is hideous and grotesquely frightening to all human beings he comes in contact with. With
the basis of these experiences, he deems himself unworthy of love and curses his creator for
bringing him into such a cruel world. He is determined to get even with Victor and kills his younger
brother, and when Victor refuses to create a monster companion, the monster destroys more of
Victor's beloved. Victor, as the monster's creator, is in essence, his mother, making Victor's family
the monster's family as well. The monster forsakes these family members who were ignorant of his
existence. Had they known him, they might have shown him the compassion he wishes for,

Dionyyso The Role Of The God
The character of Dionysos assumes itself in many ways throughout Euripides' Bacchae, the role of
the god, his intentions and subsequently his actions within the text are disorderly due to the comic
then tragic nature of the play, Dionysos is most definitely seen as a psychological force within the
text. However, Dionysos is, to a greater degree, understood to be a vindictive and heartless god
when considering the nature of his relationships to humans and the greater role he plays. The
Bacchae is commentary on the relationship between gods and mortals as gods play psychological
forces in the realm of men, however vindictive their intentions may be. This is seen in instances in
the play where Dionysos uses his title as a god to further his agenda. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
By analysing the dialogue provided and considering the religious atmosphere in ancient Greece at
the time it is easily deduced the true nature of Dionysos. The Dionysos I have explored is the
Dionysos most easily understood due to his lack of human morals, that because of his
anthropomorphic nature, cannot be discounted in modern analysis of his character. Overall Dionysos
has proven to be cruel and lacking compassion. His relationship to mortals is that based on
obedience as Cadmus states, "Angry gods should not act just, like

Who Is Dionysus In The Bacchae
Euripides uses the god Dionysus in The Bacchae in order to emphasize that humans need to embrace
irrational behavior in their day to day lives. In Thebes, Dionysus finds a structured and ordered
society, with their goal simply being to work as hard as possible, while Dionysus aims to simply live
to have fun and make merry. Due to the disrespect given to him by the Thebans as a result of their
differences, Dionysus aims to take revenge and force the people to worship him by destroying their
society and recreating it in his image. Dionysus and Theban society are complete opposites.
Dionysus is considered to be the god of wine and merriment. He and his followers live life to the
fullest, epitomizing the idea of "carpe diem" and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Despite Dionysus repeatedly trying to convince King Pentheus to see logic, the constant rebuffing at
every turn eventually leads to him giving up reconciliation and condemning the king to death. As
soon as King Pentheus says "bring me my arms, attendants! and stop talking, you!," there is no more
talking to be done, and one can see that at this point that the always rational King Pentheus has
repressed the irrational, represented by Dionysus, since he is quite literally calling for his weapons
to kill Dionysus and his followers. (Euripides 809). Since King Pentheus has rejected what Dionysus
has had to say and called for his armor, Dionysus is left with no choice but to become vengeful and
consequently starts to lead King Pentheus to his doom. The critic AJ Podlecki refers to this when he
says "Dionysus had told Pentheus, but he did not heed the warning, for his final assault on the
Bacchae is seen as a mad expedition which he is bound to fail" (Podlecki 151). Dionysus had
warned Pentheus not to do anything rash, because there was no chance that he could defeat a god in
battle. However, due to the fact that Pentheus has made the decision to raise his sword against the
Bacchante, he has exhausted the patience of Dionysus and has therefore set himself up for his

The Heroes Of Greek And Roman Mythology
The heroes in Greek and Roman mythology had the characteristics of violent masculinity and
bravery, the ideology of a patriarchal society in which all the men were elite than the women.
According to Kampmen in Gender Theory in Roman Art, "Roman society evolved in such a way as
to enable elite men to establish and maintain power over everyone else, " such men included heroes
like Hercules, Achilles, and Pentheus (1996, p.152). They represented the elite males who had stable
physical attributes that emphasized their masculinity and heroism. Heroes like the ones mentioned
above had been idolized and worshiped with cults due to their works in helping their societies to
fight monsters, the gods also favored them. Gender is emphasized by one 's appearance, dressing
being the primary attribute. The mythic narratives of Achilles on Scyros, Hercules and Omphale and
lastly Pentheus and Dionysus give a rather strange definition on the characteristics of heroes when
they crossdress. In this essay, I shall discuss how male heroes characteristics become subverted than
emphasized due to the myths of cross–dressing.
The armor of a hero plays an important role in catalyzing his heroism. It served as an object of
strength, virility, and masculinity. The armor of Achilles was according to the Greeks suggested a
new crucial role in the hero 's 'social reintegration ' after Hektor stripped Patroklos of Achilles ' old
armor, the hero undergoes what this critic describes as "a rebirth into

Why Death So Much It Feels More Like A Memory
I consider my own mortality quite often. There is a lyric in the musical Hamilton that reads, "I
imagine death so much it feels more like a memory. When is it going to get me? In my sleep, several
feet ahead of me?" I remember first hearing this lyric and feeling that it was the only words outside
of my own thoughts I had connected with in a long while. Over the past few years, I have been
forced to reckon with my own mortality more than I believe useful. I have witnessed much death
throughout these past couple of years, and I have not always known what to do with it – with the
grief, the sorrow, the loss, or the transience.
I constantly feel the impending doom that is my impermanence. I know death is a part of life – I am
very painfully aware of this fact. I know that I will someday die, but what is it that I will leave
behind? Will I leave anything behind? I'm a filmmaker, a photographer, a musician – I have projects
that I am very proud of. But the question still rings in my ears: Have I done anything valuable? And
what does the world consider valuable? Is their value the same as mine? I find that I do not know
how to shake these questions from my attentions.
I grew up in a Christian community, believing that if you were baptized and maintained the Bible's
standards, then you were saved – and being saved meant heaven after death. However, after one of
my best friends passed away, I began to question mortality, as well as death as a whole. Exactly how
strict is

The Bacchae Symbolism
Finding Your Spot in the Doorway Imagine a doorway, on one side you have pure ecstasy and on the
other, you have pure self–control, but on the line between the two choices you have both ecstasy and
self–control. Imagine that door and how hard it could be to stay standing strictly in the middle
without being tempted to go to either side. Euripides' reflects this symbolism, of the standing in the
doorway, into his character Dionysus, god of intoxication, in one of his famous works, The Bacchae.
In the Bacchae, Euripides found that balance and held it continuously throughout Dionysus'
character. Napoleon Hill said, "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." There is
only one character, whom I believe, who conquers himself and ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Again, think of the door, someone can have total control and achieve total ecstasy, only if they find
that balance in the frame way. A person can use self–control to set their own goal of what they
would like to achieve. Like Jack Welch said, "Control your destiny or someone will." Jack Welch is
saying that if you do not have self–control others around you will have control of you. Dionysus
kept that goal of revenge in his mind, and it helped him keep happiness and self–control. Having
self–control when it comes to revenge is a good thing because holding on to anger can be worse than
letting it out. Just like Buddha believed, he said, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal
with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets

The Tragic Women Of Tragedy
The Tragic Women of Tragedy Euripides and Sophocles wrote powerful tragedies that remain
influential to this day. The vast majority of work recovered from this time is by male authorship.
What remains about women of this time is written through the lens of male authors' perspective and
beliefs about the role of women in Greek culture. The works of these two playwrights frequently
characterize women as unstable and dangerous. Agave, Antigone, and Medea are all undoubtedly the
driving force behind the tragic action in these plays. It is their choices that lead to the pain and death
of the people around them. Through an examination of the evidence from three separate works,
Antigone, The Bacchae, and The Medea, the role of women in ancient Greek tragedy becomes clear.
The actions of Agave, Antigone, and Medea repeatedly prove their characters instability and danger.
Agave in Euripides tragedy, The Bacchae, is a violent example of how women were portrayed.
Agave, the mother of Pentheus, joins the cult of Dionysus. Pentheus dresses as a woman to spy on
the Maenads because of a burning curiosity as to the possible sexual nature of their gatherings. His
plan is foiled when he is spotted hiding in a tree. The messenger depicts the demise of Pentheus at
the hands of Agave, "But she was foaming at the mouth, and her crazy eyes rolling with frenzy. She
was mad, stark mad, possessed by Bacchus. Ignoring his cries pity, she seized his left arm at the
wrist; then, planting her foot upon

The Menace Of Dionysus : Sex Roles And Reversals
And it is this very same feminine power the women have in the natural world that propels males in
"The Bacchae" to fear them and feel the need to control them as a way of controlling the natural
world; this ultimately leads to the destruction of the society. In his article, The Menace of Dionysus:
Sex Roles and Reversals in Euripides' Bacchae, Charles Segal argues that Euripides is criticizing the
rigid Athenian gender hierarchy, mainly focusing on how Pentheus' and society's fear of femininity
leads to the suppression of females that ultimately causes the disintegration and destruction of
society in the play. Women in "The Bacchae" were feared by males "because they [were] seen as
closer to the basic biological processes of nature" (Segal 186). These aspects of nature included
menstruation, lactation, and birth of a child. These were all processes of nature that involved women
and could not be controlled by males. The males then find themselves at a place where they lose all
control, and that place is nature. In his book, Slipp includes Homer Smith's claim that "People tried
to control their destiny by anthropomorphizing the forces of nature" (21). In other words, males in
the city of Thebes would personify these "forces of nature" to represent women, so they felt in
controlling women, they were controlling their destiny and taking back power of their lives from
nature. Slipp claims this control of women was done by "[enhancing] the protective and minimizing
the feared

Summary Of Bacchae By Euripides And Oresteia
In this paper, I intend to describe the inner working of the household in Greek civilization on three
levels: family, city, and cosmos of gods. To achieve this goal, we will look into Bacchae by
Euripides, and Oresteia by Aeschylus. Bacchae shows the workings of the house of Cadmus, a royal
family, whose actions directly affect their city. This family tree includes a god, and is strongly
affected by the will of the cosmos, through Dionysus. Oresteia is a play of three parts. We see the
families dysfunctional interactions, and how they impact the city over time. We also see how the
gods have an influence on these characters lives throughout the events that happen. Overall these
interactions lead to the undermining of Greek civilization through death and destruction. Bacchae is
a good example of the three levels of the household. Starting with the level of family we see the
flawed family dynamic in the house of Cadmus. Cadmus has four daughters. Semele is the mother
of Dionysus, and Agave is the mother of Pentheus. Semele claimed the father of her child was Zeus,
but the rest of her family did not believe her tales, calling her a liar. No one in the family, or city for
that matter, believed Dionysus status was true, disrespecting him and his followers. Dionysus say
Pentheus "...pays no attention to me in his prayers. For that I'll show him I am a true god."
(Bacc.46–48) Dionysus does just that, showing them the truth in the worst way possible, enacting
his revenge by having Agave unknowingly rip her own son, Pentheus, apart with the help of her
sisters. Agave says she'd "like to go far away from the curse of Kithairon....where there's no display
of a thyrus to remind me." (Bacc.1384–1386) She know Dionysus has defeated them, and her son is
dead, she wants only to get away from the pain. This royal family is torn apart, murderer, exiled, and
turned to serpents at the hands of one of their own relatives because they had no respect for him or
his followers.
The fact that the family is of royal blood mean what happens to them affects not just the inner
workings of the family, but the city–state as a whole, or the second level of the household. When the
city did not believe Dionysus, instead backing the beliefs

Bacchae Of Euripides Analysis
The Chorus was an integral part of the Greek tragedies, and this is no different in The Bacchae of
Euripides. This Chorus is made up of women celebrants of Dionysus, the Bacchae or Maenads. It is
important to understand that the Chorus is not made up of the women celebrants from Thebes.
Instead, the Chorus is made up of women who have traveled from Asia and followed Dionysus to
Thebes. These women are true initiates of the Bacchae, unlike the women from Thebes who have
not been officially inducted to the Maenads. This division makes it seem as though the women from
Thebes are undergoing a hazing or probationary period to be sure they are worthy of entering the
Maenads. The Chorus uses choral interludes to add commentary on what is happening ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Chorus calls on him to arrive in one of his many different forms, such as the bull, serpent, or
lion, and to capture Pentheus in his "fatal net" (1018–1022). The Maenads will be the ones to finish
the deed, but the sighting of Dionysus will make them go into such a frenzy that Pentheus' family,
especially his mother, will not even realize who it is that they are ripping to shreds. The initiated
Maenads from Asia already know the effect that the sighting would have on the women, so they call
on Dionysus to show himself so that the women inflict the appropriate justice on the man who
questions Dionysus' authority. The overall message or lesson in The Bacchae of Euripides seems to
be the importance of revering the gods, and the punishment that could ensue if they are not properly
worshipped and respected. The interludes, especially the Fourth Chorus, warn of these punishments
and the justice that will be served if mortals cannot revere the powerful

Pentheus 'Death In Euripides' The Bacchae
sexual love, is actually the god he says he is. This is Pentheus' demise. Dionysus chooses to
castigate the willful young king by driving the women of the city into a bloodthirsty turmoil,
including Pentheus' own mother. In an intense and violent scene, she leads the other women in
ripping him limb from limb, too deranged to see that it is her own son being killed. However, the
story that leads up to this is full of encounters that show where Pentheus went wrong. To avoid a
tragic demise according to Euripides, one must know their own limits and be aware of the finiteness
of human life, on top of obeying the gods. Pentheus did none of these. Euripides uses The Bacchae
as a receptacle to bring wisdom to people who do not want to meet the same ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Whether you believe in God or gods, fate, karma, or even just the forces of nature, you are
imprudent to not acknowledge that there are powers in this world greater than you. If one begins to
believe that they are above the influence of these forces, they may be seduced into ignoring the
reality of their own human limitations. We are unlikely to come across a mortal embodiment of a
god, yet Euripides begs us to consider the frailty of our own mortality. It does not to do to dwell on
whatever human power we may consider important. Even Teiresias begs Pentheus to "not be so
certain that power is what matters in the life of a man" (lines 333–334). It does not do to swell on
the "now" – we must be wise in our thinking and consider the short time we may have left. We must
have the wisdom to recognize that we do not dictate how long our time is on earth, that our lives are
fleeting at best, and that whatever we want to accomplish in our lives must be done with our own
impending finality in

Repression of Women in Euripides' The Bacchae Essay
Repression of Women in Euripides' The Bacchae
Many different interpretations can be derived from themes in Euripides's The Bacchae, most of
which assume that, in order to punish the women of Thebes for their impudence, the god Dionysus
drove them mad. However, there is evidence to believe that another factor played into this
confrontation. Because of the trend of male dominance in Greek society, women suffered in
oppression and bore a social stigma which led to their own vulnerability in becoming Dionysus's
target. In essence, the Thebian women practically fostered Dionysian insanity through their longing
to rebel against social norms. Their debilitating conditions as women prompted them to search for a
way to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In addition, further proof of women's inferiority is found in The Bacchae when King Pentheus
considers it shameful to disguise himself in women's clothing. "Do I have to be demoted to a
woman?...A woman's costume? No, I won't; I can't"(Bacchae 50–51). Pentheus's attitude in this
situation attests to the negativity women in Greece were faced with daily.
Under these acute circumstances, it is quite logical to infer that Thebian women were tremendously
dissatisfied with their position in the community. Those confined or isolated undoubtedly yearned
for an escape and found the stigma they bore too much to endure without entertaining a hope for
freedom. Perhaps this is why women were considered more prone to madness, emotional outbursts,
and general lack of control over themselves in Greek society (Source 10). Their hope to emerge
from the the shackles of sexism made the women vulnerable to these manifestations. Dionysus,
angry at the women for their demeaning gossip that challenged his own existence as a god, took
advantage of their vulnerability, seeing it as an opportunity to teach them a lesson that mortals must
express due respect for the immortal. "I've stung them with madness...The whole female seed of
Thebes, I've driven frenzied out of house and home"(Bacchae 4). The fact that he appeared in human
form as andrognyous (having the characteristics or nature of

The Chorus In Oedipus The King And EuripidesBacchae
Greek tragedies Oedipus the King and Euripides' Bacchae are both timeless stories in Greek
literature. The engaging plot of both is what is most rememberable however the significance of the
chorus is overlooked. The chorus can be defined simply as a group of dancers and singers that
participate in dramas by singing poetically and lyrically in certain pauses of the play. The music,
movements and gestures of the chorus symbolically define the mood and the themes of the play as
the story line develops. The flow of Oedipus the King and Bacchae are dependent on the chorus,
proving their significance. Oedipus the King is a tragedy revolving around a murder, the murder of
the previous king Laius. The chorus in the play represents the voice of the society, the elders of the
Thebes men. They help provide a broader understanding of the play as it unfolds, by evaluating the
characters and the themes as well as the sequences of the tragedy. As part of the play they also
portray their religious knowledge as they call upon the Gods and Goddesses for guidance. The
commentary by the chorus helps the audience follow the development of the play. At the beginning
the chorus supports the ideas of Oedipus and comments on his greatness "It was said he was killed
by certain wayfarers" Oedipus the King (294–95) the chorus in this scene supports Oedipus's
thoughts of the murderer. As well as supporting Oedipus they begin to give him different ideas on
discovering the murderer, "I know that what

Analysis Of ' Medea And The Bacchae '
In Euripides' plays, Medea and The Bacchae, binary oppositions are present, such as the opposition
between man and god, foreigner and citizen, and men and women. Binary oppositions are opposing
terms that are put head to head in a piece of literature to show contrasting ideas (Marvin, 1). Binary
oppositions can also be "good vs. bad," such as in the case of man and god. The first binary
opposition that is present in both plays is man and god. Marvin describes binary oppositions as
being against each other and one being superior to the other (1), such as man and god. In The
Bacchae, Dionysus is the god and Pentheus is the man, and both of them are always clashing heads
about who has the right to power over the other. Dionysus clearly shows his superiority over
Pentheus, showing the superiority of god over man. The chorus leader described Dionysus'
superiority over Pentheus, "Look how quickly Pentheus' palace will be shaken to its fall! Dionysus
is in the palace. Worship him!" (Euripides, Bacchae III: 586–589). Another way that Dionysus is
showing the god over man binary opposition is when he manipulates Pentheus to dress as a woman
to feel protected when he is really setting him up to be murdered. Pentheus is at first hesitant of
dressing like a female and inquires he not dress like a woman, however, Dionysus further
manipulates Pentheus by explaining that if he does not dress like a woman to hide his true identity,
he will be murdered (Euripides, Bacchae III: 836–837). In

Dionysus and the Unraveling of Ideologies in The Bacchae
Dionysus and the Unraveling of Ideologies in The Bacchae
Some evaluations claim that the Dionysus appearing in The Bacchae is fairly true embodiment of
the ideals of ancient Athens. He demands only worship and proper reverence for his name, two
matters of honor that pervaded both the Greek tragedies and the pious society that viewed them. In
other plays, Oedipus' consultations with Apollo and the many Choral appeals to Zeus reveal the
Athenian respect for their gods, while Electra's need for revenge and Antigone's obligation to bury
Polyneices both epitomize the themes of respect and dignity. Yet although Dionysus personifies
these two motifs, his clashes with the rest of Athenian tradition seem to make him its true adversary.
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Chorus first alludes to the traditional place of Athenian women with the statement, "driven from
shuttle and loom, / possessed by Dionysus!" (118–199), and Pentheus later employs the same motif
when threatening, "I shall have them sold as slaves or put to work / at my looms" (513–514). Such a
deliberate analogy amidst the clash of divine and earthly power seems to highlight the woman's
domesticated place and to call attention to her role as a pawn in the struggle between the king and
the god. Though "women were almost excluded from Athenian public life" and "women's presence
in male company [was] surrounded by many taboos in Athenian culture," the frenzied Bacchae serve
a necessary and conspicuous function in this drama.
Women in The Bacchae not only leave their traditional place within the home but are thrust into a
promiscuous position that contrasts sharply with the usual characterization, "[of] submissiveness
and modesty." The proper conduct of a Greek woman can be seen in another of Euripides' dramas,
Iphigenia at Aulis, where the 'blameless wife' is portrayed as 'chaste with regard to sexual matters.'
Certainly the indulgences of the woodland orgies break from such "secluded and silent" positions of
"respectable Athenian women," a challenge to traditional

Binary Oppositions Vs. Evil
Have you ever tried to examine a piece of writing? Did you see a connection between characters,
plots, themes? One thing you might not have noticed is binary oppositions. Now all readers will see
some universal oppositions such as good vs. evil, but as Corey Martin said in his paper there are
many oppositions in literature, some are noticeable, some are not. Now why would a reader want to
look for binary oppositions in literature? Quite simply binary oppositions add some familiarity to the
work, but at the same time the reader has to analyze the work in order to understand it, which
enhances analytical skills present in them. Now does that mean that all good works of literature have
to have many binary oppositions for it to be fully developed? No, the author can have as few as one
and the piece of literature will still make sense and be developed. Readers may get confused
between binary oppositions and themes. A theme is the main idea the author is trying to get across in
a story. Binary oppositions help develop the theme, but they are not the theme themselves. For
example let 's use Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The theme is simply young love. But
Shakespeare used oppositions such as love and hate, and violence and peace to build on his theme.
In Euripides ' tragedy, Medea, the main character Medea was taken away from her homeland and
from her family and brought to a strange world by her husband Jason. Jason used her to get the
golden fleece, as this was

Dionysus The Bacchae
In the book, "The Bacchae",the learning by experience we get from seeing the awesome powers of
Dionysus is that every action has a consequence. We also receive a more indepth and personal
education, being that the play is named for his followers, and it is performed at a theater and in a
festival named for Dionysus: we essentially become immersed in several aspects of his being and
decisions. Overall the immersion of Dionysus' being all lead up to the lesson that every action has a
consequence. The first major example of this in the very beginning when Dionysus, in front of
Pentheus' palace where the tomb of Semele resides, began to discuss his origin. He says, "...For I
have come to refute that slander spoken by my mother's sisters... They ... Show more content on
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Agave then shows her father the head as if it is a trophy saying, "... a Trophy for our house..."
Cadmus then replies, "...This is the awful murder your hands have done..." Agave does not realize it
is her son she had killed until Cadmus makes her closely examine it. She then begins to feel grief
saying, " ... I see the greatest grief there is." After all of this Agave is Banished. All of this is a result
of her blasphemous words when Semele, her sister, was pregnant with Dionysus. (Grene, David, and
Richmond Lattimore, editors. Euripides V :The Bacchae. University of Chicago, 2013) (Pg.72–75
lines

The Role Of Women In EuripidesBacchae
Throughout Euripides' Bacchae, there are plot elements, which seem out of place for a tragedy, such
as Pentheus frolicking around in women's clothing. However, these out of place comedic elements
serve as a way to highlight the underlying conflicts in the play. One of these seemingly out of place
plot elements is the comedic way Agave handles the death of her child. On the surface, her comedic
behave or depicts women as foolish and weak, therefore making women seem inferior to men.
However understanding Agave's comedic behavior reveals the underlying conflict between how
women should behave in society versus how they behave in the story. Therefore, understanding the
way Agave handles the death of her son emphasizes the role of women in the patriarchal Greek
society. Understand the underlying meaning of Agave's comical behavior illustrates the oppression
the women face in the patriarchal Greek society. On the surface, the comedic way Agave handles her
son's death presents women as foolish and weak. Agave is oblivious that "with hands alone . . . [she]
caught [Pentheus] and tore [him] limb from limb" even though she holds his head in her hands
(Bacchae 1209/10). Consistently, Agave believes that the bloody item she holds in her hand is the
head of a lion, rather than the head of her own beloved child. Agave's obliviousness is a form of
dramatic irony, which Euripides uses on the surface to represent Agave, as well as the other women,
as rationally inferior to men. This

Dionysus 'Duality In Euripides' The Bacchae
The Bacchae by Euripides grapples with the dichotomy of the human condition, confronting the
duality of having public decorum and acting upon impulsive desires.
Dionysus proves to be a compelling character, acting as a living god with humanistic qualities.
Dionysus' ability to allow humans to "let go" of persistant ailments and issues within their life, while
not without its positive aspects, proves to be excessive. Most notably, the relationship of Dionysus
and Pentheus is that of constant strife. For example, in scene 1, the introduction of The Stranger
(Dionysus) and Pentheus shows the inherent flaws of Pentheus, and his inability to see what is right
before him. Enraged at The Stranger's calm demeanor, Pentheus becomes enraged, exclaiming "you
must be punished for your evil sophistries!" (Euriphides 262). Dionysus' ability to inhabit different
forms gives way to the downfall of Pentheus, who cannot recognize the signs of Dioynsus' divinity
as a god, even when presented clear in front of him. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While Dioynsus is ultimately successful in the death of Pentheus, Dioynsus' ability to so easily
control the actions of Agaue with his divinity highlights Euriphides' message that the powers of the
gods are stronger than the interpersonal relationships and actions of those on Earth. While Dionysus
is hailed a hero throughout the play, his manic actions with his divinity proves to be a negative
quality, showing the lack of self–control and morality when using extreme

Who Is Dionysus In The Bacchae
The story of "The Bacchae" takes place in a kingdom located in Thebes, Greece in 400b.c. The story
being one of revenge has few characters; some of them being, Dionysus, Pentheus, Agave, Cadmus
and Tiresias. The main characters are Pentheus and Dionysus, this two characters are actually
cousins. Pentheus is the son of Agave and Tiresias; both mortal men. While, Dionysus is the son of
Semele (younger sister of agave), and Zeus (god of thunder) making him a demigod. The other
character with in the story is Cadmus, Cadmus is the grandfather of both Pentheus and Dionysus.
"The Bacchae" is a story about the revenge of Dionysus for the shaming of his mother. Dionysus
being a god tricks Pentheus into his death; death by the hand of his mother. So in short I will explain
why Dionysus was seen as a threat to Pentheus at the begin of this marvellous play. I believe that the
reason that Dionysus was seen as a threat at the beginning of the story is due to the fact that he ...
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As Dionysus is arriving to the palace Pentheus tries to seem the manliest way he can be to try to
intimidate Dionysus, setting him as a macho man, while Dionysus not fazed by this and continues to
be his feminine side. As Pentheus starts to question Dionysus to sees just what a follower and
teacher of this new god new and was made of, but of course Dionysus being smart evaded every
question given to him further making Pentheus angry and at the same time curious. The more
Pentheus asks the more intrigued and angry he become intel the point was in fact of where he starts
to threaten Dionysus. Pentheus ignorant to the fact that he was threatening a god. This of course was
cause by Dionysus after saying that Pentheus was going to pay for his blasphemies. Once their
conversation reaches an end Dionysus is to leave to be jailed but while leaving Dionysus is freed
and nature disasters start to

Comparison Between The Bacchae and The Medea
In Euripides' The Bacchae and in the Medea, there are significant binary oppositions in both plays.
Binary opposition is the two opposite terms, such as good versus bad. Binary opposition is used to
present both sides of a contrast (Marvin, 1). In The Bacchae and the Medea, Euripides used binary
opposition to highlight the central themes. The significant binary oppositions that are used are men
versus women, foreigner versus citizen, and god versus man. The contrast between men versus
women is an important opposition in both plays. The women in the Greek society have no control of
their life; the men are in control (Barlow 159). In The Bacchae Dionysus underminded the Greek
society point view on women and empowers ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The binary opposition of man versus woman starts off strong, but Euripides switches the roles in
both plays. In The Bacchae the woman worship Dionysus. Pentheus disguises himself as a woman,
and goes off to view the women in the mountains, which is Dionysus plan the whole time. Pentheus
dresses up as a woman and admits to wanting to see the women up at the mountains, and this goes
against Pentheus' anger at the beginning of the play (Bacchae 813–814). In the end of the play the
women overpower Pentheus and destroy him to pieces (Bacchae 1125–1140). This is an example of
the women being controlling of their own actions and being stronger than the men. In Medea the
stereotype of the man and the woman switch. Medea is no longer going to sit around and let every
man walk all over her; she states in her speech that she will take revenge on everybody that caused
her misery (Medea 364–409). Barlow emphasizes on the reversal of the stereotype, stating that
Medea, "is a woman, moreover, who simply refuses to any longer to accept– at any rate Greek–
female stereotypes unless to use them with calculation to gain her own immediate ends" (158).
Medea reversing the stereotype is the reversal of man controlling the woman, and this shows that
woman as well have the power to control their own life. Euripides also highlights how

The Bacchae Symbolism
Euripides' The Bacchae is a play that uses contrasting places to represent opposing forces or ideas.
Specifically, Euripides uses the city of Thebes to represent the West and he uses the surrounding
wilderness to represent the East. The West is associated with the ideas of rationality, conformity, and
appearance while the East is associated with the ideas of irrationality, nonconformity, and reality.
The West, Thebes, and Pentheus stand in stark contrast to the East, wilderness, and Dionysus. The
West symbolizes masculinity, Greek culture, and city life. In the West lies Thebes, a city that holds
strict laws and ways of thinking; particularly laws restraining women to play a certain roll and keep
them from acting out. It is a city that holds ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While the West holds values such as conformity and civilization, the East represents the
nonconformity and irrationality. The East symbolizes freedom from civilization and strict laws such
as those set in the city of Thebes. It symbolizes the wilderness and it's liberation of society's
standards. Along with the freedom from responsibility, the wilderness also symbolizes reality. An
example of the freedom brought by the wilderness is when the women of Thebes flee to the woods
to celebrate the gifts of the earth of wine, honey, and milk, given by Dionysus. By doing this, they
are defying the laws and order of Pentheus. Dionysus is the personification of the ideals in the East.
He represents the liberation and irrationality that comes with the wilderness surrounding the city of
Thebes. He is the missing piece from Pentheus' order and control that is needed to obtain balance.
The conflict caused by the characters Pentheus and Dionysus and the idea's of conformity and
liberation are central to the way The Bacchae plays out. It is the conflict between these two aspects
that helps to reveal the theme that for there to be balance, there must be freedom where there is
order. Pentheus' hamartia is his lack of understanding of the balance needed, or the golden mean.
Pentheus lacks perception as to how his over orderly ways are what causes the disruption of
Dionysus' wild self to be so extreme and incidentally leading to Pentheus'

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