The main characters featured in the plays written by Euripides are mortals and gods which appear in multiple other plays, poems and works of fiction during that time. As such, some qualities of these characters were universal such as their lineage, the circumstances of their birth, and their progeny, though there were occasional disputes over even these details. However, due to the culture around which these stories revolve, and the propensities of the author Euripides it is only natural that there are some similarities between main characters. Each of the three characters we will examine possess similarities and differences in varying degrees, and what similarities they do possess will often be societal rather than unique amongst themselves.
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King Pentheus is one of two main characters in “The Bacchants” the other being the god Dionysus. Upon the beginning of the play Pentheus is immediately established as a clever man, but an arrogant one and one who cares only for himself. When he learns of the stranger preaching Dionysus’s doctrine and that the prophet Tiresias supports Dionysus’s ascendancy to godhood, he scoffs at him saying “ It is he that says Dionysus is a god and was once sewn up in the thigh of Zeus-the child that was burnt up by the flaming thunderbolt along with his mother, because she falsely named Zeus her lover. Is it not enough to make a man hang himself in agony-this insolent effrontery, this mysterious stranger.”(323) He then goes on to blindly accuse Tiresias of spreading this doctorine for personal gain, despite attesting to the fault of the stranger mere moments ago. “This is your instigation Tiresias. This is another device of yours to make money out of your bird-gazing and burnt sacrifices – introducing a new god to men.”(323) Pentheus shares another character trait with Agamemnon, that of intrinsic misogyny. When he imprisons the stranger he informs him that he shall make his followers into slaves. “These women here, whom you have brought with you, your accomplices in mischief, I shall either sell off, or keep them at the loom as my slaves. Still later, when a herdsman tells of an attack by the followers of Dionysus he responds with, “We shall march against the Bacchants. This is truly going too far- to be treated like this at the hands of women.”(337) Just like Agamemnon his arrogance and self-absorption led him to undermine
King Pentheus is one of two main characters in “The Bacchants” the other being the god Dionysus. Upon the beginning of the play Pentheus is immediately established as a clever man, but an arrogant one and one who cares only for himself. When he learns of the stranger preaching Dionysus’s doctrine and that the prophet Tiresias supports Dionysus’s ascendancy to godhood, he scoffs at him saying “ It is he that says Dionysus is a god and was once sewn up in the thigh of Zeus-the child that was burnt up by the flaming thunderbolt along with his mother, because she falsely named Zeus her lover. Is it not enough to make a man hang himself in agony-this insolent effrontery, this mysterious stranger.”(323) He then goes on to blindly accuse Tiresias of spreading this doctorine for personal gain, despite attesting to the fault of the stranger mere moments ago. “This is your instigation Tiresias. This is another device of yours to make money out of your bird-gazing and burnt sacrifices – introducing a new god to men.”(323) Pentheus shares another character trait with Agamemnon, that of intrinsic misogyny. When he imprisons the stranger he informs him that he shall make his followers into slaves. “These women here, whom you have brought with you, your accomplices in mischief, I shall either sell off, or keep them at the loom as my slaves. Still later, when a herdsman tells of an attack by the followers of Dionysus he responds with, “We shall march against the Bacchants. This is truly going too far- to be treated like this at the hands of women.”(337) Just like Agamemnon his arrogance and self-absorption led him to undermine