Purpose Of Bacchae

The ancient Greek drama Bacchae written by Euripides, is a renowned tragedy known for the intense struggle between King Pentheus and the God Dionysus. Perhaps what makes this play so startling, in addition to the graphically brutal murder of Pentheus, is the wild yet captivating all-female chorus. Typically, the chorus is intrinsic to the play as it represents the voice of the community, reflecting on ethical and moral issues. However, in Bacchae, the chorus consists of fifteen women who are referred to as maenads or “mad-women,” and also are characterized as “frenzied female worshipers of Dionysus” (205). The Asiatic Bacchae inhabit Mount Cithaeron, outside the city of Thebes and removed from civilization. They are painted as lustful, blind disciples of Dionysus, yet, the women are the key to the uncovering the main moral of the play. The purpose of the Bacchae is to illuminate the inner struggle Pentheus, …show more content…
Pentheus assumes the exact identity that he hates and fights against. Not only does Pentheus disguise himself as a woman, he worries about his appearance as his hair had been “jostled..out of place” and turns to Dionysus to “fix it since [he] gives [himself] up” to the god (4.1.931-934). Evidently, one purpose of the chorus is to remind the audience that, like Pentheus, they too can be tempted by the slightest inkling to let loose. Pentheus is obsessed with the notion that the women are constantly sexual beings in saying that “like birds in a bush, I reckon they are in the thickets held fast in the sweetest snare of love-making” (4.1.957-958). As he contemplates the actions of the women, it is obvious to the audience how a part of Pentheus longs to partake in such activities at his leisure. Ultimately this is one’s downfall as, it is only a matter of time until one sole moment pushes one over the edge after suppressing one’s passions and desires for so