THE STORY OF "THE BACCHAE"

In the Bacchae, Pentheus, king of Thebes, seeks to put down the new worship of Dionysus, which is turning the heads of his female subjects. The offended god persuades him to dress himself in the garb of a Bacchante, that he may pry into the sacred mysteries. Then, disguised as a stranger, he leads him to the mountains, and placing him on the topmost branch of a tall pine, delivers him into the hands of the Maenads, the female devotees of Bacchus, who tear him limb from limb. A slave, who had accompanied the king, thus in part tells the story.

The play exhibits the tumultuous enthusiasm of the Bacchanalian worship with great impressiveness and realism. The stubborn unbelief of Pentheus, and his infatuation and fearful punishment by the hand of his own mother, form a daring picture. Imagine the chorus with flying hair and garments, tambourines and cymbals in their hands, as the Bacchae are represented on bas-reliefs, storming into the orchestra, and executing their inspired dance amidst the din of music. Such luxuriance of ornament, which Euripides everywhere seeks, was quite in place. Wild as the play is, it exhibits a certain harmony and unity of composition, qualities of rare occurrence in Euripides, together with abstinence from all foreign matter, so that the effects and motives all flow from one source and tend to one purpose.