The Bacchae

feelings and listening to the “knowledge” of this external “being” I have been taught to believe in. The Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, written by the playwright, Euripides, over 2,500 years ago addresses this conflict which, I believe, is a conflict belonging to many in today’s society. The notion of a “higher power” is a concept that we struggle with on a day to day basis. In The Bacchae, the Greek myth of Dionysus is expanded through the tale of his struggle. His quest to claim his identity and…

The aim of this paper is to posit that Soyinka’s adaptation of The Bacchae reveals that the allure to and support favoring Dionysos and the Dionysian religion has far less to do with an attraction towards the God Dionysos and the beliefs and rituals that go along with practicing bacchanalia, and far more to do with the aversion and rejection of the tyrannical King Pentheus, his oppressive ideology, and his inability to rule Thebes. In the very first line of the scene description on page one,…

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: BACCHAE AND TWO GENTS OF VERONA The Bacchae was about a demigod who wanted to get revenge on his mother’s family, which, in the end, he accomplished. In the Two Gentlemen of Verona, however, all of the characters had the chance to get revenge or not forgive Proteus, yet, in the end, they all forgave him and became friends with him again. Another difference is how the plays would have been staged. In Bacchae, there was only one location where all the characters…

In Euripides’ The Bacchae Dionysus tells Pentheus that, “Wise speech seems thoughtless to the ignorant” (56). An alternative translation and one more commonly seen in any quote generating website is “Talk sense to a fool and [they] calls you foolish.” The problem with this quote is that almost anyone can use this logic to reason that their own logic is wise and that those who do not heed it are ignorant fools. If “wise speech” is automatically perceived to be ignorance by the fool, facts and…

The play Bacchae is written by Euripides. This is in fact based on the themes, revenge and idolization. One of the main characters, Dionysus shares with us that he is in fact in mortal disguise as the mortal of the stranger – Son of Zeus and Semele, a mortal woman and the most powerful Greek God. One of the turning points of the play seems to be when Dionysus travels to Thebes to share his religion but in Asia his rituals become known by all as being very controversial. Another turning point of…

Bacchae by Euripides revolves around Dionysus, the god of wine, and his pursuit to establish himself as a god not only acknowledged, but also worshiped by the people of Thebes. While attempting to make a name for himself, Dionysus also strives to punish those who deny him and make a laughing stock of his and his mother’s name. In particular, Dionysus is out to get his own family because they have turned on him. Among these family members is Pentheus, the king of Thebes, who has forbidden the…

The stories of Greek mythology have had many interpretations and many meanings throughout the years. There are also many similarities and differences between stories from the past; Just like in the plays Bacchae and Hippolytus. Both Aphrodite and Dionysus' motivation and behaviors in the plays Bacchae (Dionysus) and Hippolytus (Aphrodite) were similar, in that, they both wanted to restore honor to their names and they used the family to teach the one who disrespected them to show respect to a…

to a civil war, also, the segregation of the jews and germans lead to the World War II. Similarly, in the gender segregation, in the play the Bacchae the king’s empire was thrown over the board by the power of religion. Dionysus religion power was able to have all the females in his side which drove the regulated society crazy. When the soldier in The Bacchae mentioned, “ Now, about these Bacchic women you’d arrested, chained and locked up in the public jail- they’re free, they escaped to the…

Jean Toomer 's composite novel Cane, mirrors the Greek play The Bacchae by Euripides. This is accomplished through the use of specific symbolism and references to the vagrant preacher and Greek God, Dionysos. Toomer retells this play through his short story Esther. He does so by telling the story of a character who, after leaving the south and then returning, comes back entirely transformed. In addition, the perspective of a woman is given. She remains in the south her entire life in order to…

Pentheus refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Dionysus and the religion he introduces to the women of Thebes. “I’ll catch them all in iron cages! I’ll put a stop, right now, to this dirty business, this Bacchism” (Bacchae 231-232); Pentheus finds the foreign religion to be in bad taste, but more importantly, it endangers his conventional wishes for the city. Even if it means working against the wishes of the Theban women, the wishes of Pentheus' own mother even, the…