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''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
, written by the
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
playwright
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...
during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...
that also included ''
Iphigeneia at Aulis ''Iphigenia in Aulis'' or ''Iphigenia at Aulis'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Αὐλίδι, Īphigéneia en Aulídi; variously translated, including the Latin ''Iphigenia in Aulide'') is the last of the extant works by the playwright Euripide ...
'' and '' Alcmaeon in Corinth'', and which Euripides' son or nephew is assumed to have directed. It won first prize in the City Dionysia festival competition. The tragedy is based on the Greek myth of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave, and their punishment by the god
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
(who is Pentheus's cousin). The god Dionysus appears at the beginning of the play and proclaims that he has arrived in Thebes to avenge the slander, which has been repeated by his aunts, that he is not the son of Zeus. In response, he intends to introduce Dionysian rites into the city, and he intends to demonstrate to the king, Pentheus, and to Thebes that he was indeed born a god.Murray Gilbert. ''Euripides and His Age''. Oxford University Press. 1965. At the end of the play, Pentheus is torn apart by the women of Thebes and his mother Agave bears his head on a pike to her father Cadmus.Euripides. Vellacott, Philip, translator. ''The Bacchae and Other Plays''. Penguin Books. 1954. . p. 193. ''The Bacchae'' is considered to be not only one of Euripides's greatest tragedies, but also one of the greatest ever written, modern or ancient. ''The Bacchae'' is distinctive in that the chorus is integrated into the plot and the god is not a distant presence, but a character in the play, indeed, the protagonist.


Various interpretations

''The Bacchae'' has been the subject of widely varying interpretations regarding what the play as a whole means, or even indeed whether there is a “moral” to the story. The extraordinary beauty and passion of the poetic choral descriptions indicate that the author certainly knew what attracted those who followed Dionysus. The vivid gruesomeness of the punishment of Pentheus suggests that he could also understand those who were troubled by religion. At one time the interpretation that prevailed was that the play was an expression of Euripides’ religious devotion, as though after a life of being critical of the Greek gods and their followers, the author finally repented of his cynicism, and wrote a play that honors Dionysus and that carries a dire warning to nonbelievers. Then, at the end of the 19th century the opposite idea began to take hold: it was thought that Euripides was doing with ''The Bacchae'' what he had always done, pointing out the inadequacy of the Greek gods and religions.Winnington-Ingram, R. P. ''Euripides and Dionysus, an Interpretation of the Bacchae''. Bristol Classical Press. 1997.


Background

The Dionysus in Euripides' tale is a young god, angry that his mortal family, the royal house of Cadmus, has denied him a place of honor as a deity. His mortal mother,
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came fr ...
, was a mistress of Zeus; while pregnant she was killed by Hera, who was jealous of her husband's affair. When Semele died, her sisters said it was Zeus' will and accused her of lying; they also accused their father, Cadmus, of using Zeus as a coverup. Most of Semele's family refused to believe Dionysus was the son of Zeus, and the young god was spurned by his household. He traveled throughout
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
and other foreign lands, gathering a cult of female worshipers, the Maenads. At the play's start he has returned, disguised as a stranger, to take revenge on the house of Cadmus. He has also driven the women of Thebes, including his aunts, into an ecstatic frenzy, sending them dancing and hunting on
Mount Cithaeron Cithaeron or Kithairon (Κιθαιρών, -ῶνος) is a mountain and mountain range about sixteen kilometres (ten miles) long in Central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. It is mai ...
, much to the horror of the young Pentheus, king of Thebes who also is Dionysius' cousin. Complicating matters, Pentheus has declared a ban on the worship of Dionysus throughout Thebes.


Plot

The play begins before the palace at Thebes, with Dionysus telling the story of his birth and his reasons for visiting the city. Dionysus explains he is the son of a mortal woman, Semele, and a god, Zeus. Some in Thebes, he notes, don't believe this story. In fact, Semele's sisters—Autonoe, Agave, and Ino—claim it is a lie intended to cover up the fact that Semele became pregnant by some mortal. Dionysus reveals that he has driven the women of the city mad, including his three aunts, and has led them into the mountains to observe his ritual festivities. He has disguised himself as a mortal for the time being, but he plans to vindicate his mother by appearing before all of Thebes as a god, the son of Zeus, and establishing his permanent cult of followers. Dionysus exits to the mountains, and the chorus (composed of the titular Bacchae) enters. They perform a choral ode in praise of Dionysus. Then Tiresias, the blind and elderly seer, appears. He calls for Cadmus, the founder and former king of Thebes. The two old men start out to join the revelry in the mountains when Cadmus’ petulant young grandson Pentheus, the current king, enters. Disgusted to find the two old men in festival dress, he scolds them and orders his soldiers to arrest anyone engaging in Dionysian worship, including the mysterious "foreigner" who has introduced this worship. Pentheus intends to have him stoned to death. The guards soon return with Dionysus himself in tow. Pentheus questions him, both skeptical of and fascinated by the Dionysian rites. Dionysus's answers are cryptic. Infuriated, Pentheus has Dionysus taken away and chained to an angry bull in the palace stable. But the god now shows his power. He breaks free and razes the palace with an earthquake and fire. Dionysus and Pentheus are once again at odds when a herdsman arrives from the top of Mount Cithaeron, where he had been herding his grazing cattle. He reports that he found women on the mountain behaving strangely: wandering the forest, suckling animals, twining snakes in their hair, and performing miraculous feats. The herdsmen and the shepherds made a plan to capture one particular celebrant, Pentheus' mother. But when they jumped out of hiding to grab her, the Bacchae became frenzied and pursued the men. The men escaped, but their cattle were not so fortunate, as the women fell upon the animals, ripping them to shreds with their bare hands. The women carried on, plundering two villages that were further down the mountain, stealing bronze, iron and even babies. When villagers attempted to fight back, the women drove them off using only their ceremonial staffs of fennel. They then returned to the mountain top and washed up, as snakes licked them clean. Dionysus, still in disguise, persuades Pentheus to forgo his plan to defeat and massacre the women with an armed force. He says it would be better first to spy on them, while disguised as a female Maenad to avoid detection. Dressing Pentheus in this fashion, giving him a thyrsus and fawn skins, Dionysus leads him out of the house. At this point, Pentheus seems already crazed by the god's power, as he thinks he sees two suns in the sky, and believes he now has the strength to rip up mountains with his bare hands. He has also begun to see through Dionysus' mortal disguise, perceiving horns coming out of the god's head. They exit to Cithaeron. A messenger arrives to report that once the party reached Mount Cithaeron, Pentheus wanted to climb an evergreen tree to get a better view and the stranger used divine power to bend down the tall tree and place the king in its highest branches. Then Dionysus, revealing himself, called out to his followers and pointed out the man in the tree. This drove the Maenads wild. Led by Agave, his mother, they forced the trapped Pentheus down from the tree top, ripped off his limbs and his head, and tore his body into pieces. After the messenger has relayed this news, Agave arrives, carrying her son's bloodied head. In her god-maddened state, she believes it is the head of a mountain lion. She proudly displays it to her father, Cadmus, and is confused when he does not delight in her trophy, but is horrified by it. Agave then calls out for Pentheus to come marvel at her feat, and nail the head above her door so she can show it to all of Thebes. But now the madness begins to wane, and Cadmus forces her to recognize that she has destroyed her own son. As the play ends, the corpse of Pentheus is reassembled as well as is possible, and the royal family is devastated and destroyed. Agave and her sisters are sent into exile, and Dionysus decrees that Cadmus and his wife
Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία / harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia. Her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discordi ...
will be turned into snakes and leads a barbarian horde to plunder the cities of Hellas.


Modern productions


Dramatic versions

* Joe Orton's play The Erpingham Camp (television broadcast 27 June 1966; opened at the Royal Court Theatre on 6 June 1967) relocates ''The Bacchae'' to a British holiday camp. An author's note states: "No attempt must be made to reproduce the various locales in a naturalistic manner. A small, permanent set of Erpingham's office is set on a high level. The rest of the stage is an unlocalised area. Changes of scene are suggested by lighting and banners after the manner of the Royal Shakespeare Company's productions of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's
histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
."Orton, Joe. 1976. ''The Complete Plays''. London: Methuen. p. 278. . * In 1970, Brian De Palma filmed Richard Schechner's dramatic re-envisioning of the work, ''
Dionysus in 69 ''Dionysus in '69'' is a 1970 film by Brian De Palma, Robert Fiore and Bruce Rubin. The film records a performance of The Performance Group's stage play of the same name, an adaptation of ''The Bacchae''. It was entered into the 20th Berlin In ...
'', in a converted garage. * Wole Soyinka adapted the play as '' The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite'' with the British Royal National Theatre in London in 1973, incorporating a second chorus of slaves to mirror the civil unrest in his native
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. * Caryl Churchill and David Lan used the play as the basis of their 1986
dance-theatre The German Tanztheater ("dance theatre") grew out of German Expressionist dance in Weimar Germany and 1920s Vienna. The term first appears around 1927 to identify a particular style of dance emerging from within the new forms of 'expressionist dan ...
hybrid ''
A Mouthful of Birds ''A Mouthful of Birds'' is a 1986 play with dance, written by Caryl Churchill and David Lan, with choreography by Ian Spink. Drawing its themes from ''The Bacchae'' of Euripides, it is a meditation on possession, madness and female violence. ...
''. * In 1989
Costas Ferris Costas Ferris ( el, Κώστας Φέρρης; born 18 April 1935) is a Greek film director, writer, actor, and producer. He wrote the lyrics of Aphrodite's Child's album ''666''. His 1983 film '' Rembetiko'' won the Silver Bear at the 34th Berli ...
adapted ''The Bacchae'' for his film ''Oh Babylon'' and retells it in a more modern guise. * Andre Gregory related in '' My Dinner With Andre'' that he put on a production at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
and campaigned to have a real cadaver's head used for Pentheus', but the actress playing Agave refused. * ''The Bacchae 2.1'', a theatrical adaptation set in modern times, was written by Charles Mee and first performed in 1993. * Swedish director Ingmar Bergman directed ''The Bacchae'' three times: as an opera (1991) for the Royal Swedish Opera, as a film (1993) for Sveriges Television, and on stage (1996) for the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. These three versions received great acclaim amidst some mixed reviews. * In 1997,
Brad Mays Brad Mays (born May 30, 1955) is an independent filmmaker and stage director, living and working in Los Angeles, California. Background and education Mays was raised in the Edinburg section of West Windsor Township, New Jersey, attending the ...
directed his own adaptation of the play at The Complex in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, where it broke all box office records and was nominated for three
LA Weekly Theater Award LA Weekly Theater Award was an annual critics' award system established in 1979, organized by the ''LA Weekly'' for outstanding achievements in small theatre productions in Southern California. Nominees were typically announced in January for E ...
s: for Best Direction, Best Musical Score and Best Production Design. Because it featured levels of violence and nudity rare for even experimental theater, it was widely discussed in print, and even videotaped for the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
's Billy Rose Theatre Collection in New York. The production was eventually made into an independent
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
which featured Will Shepherd – the Pentheus of Richard Schechner's ''
Dionysus in '69 ''Dionysus in '69'' is a 1970 film by Brian De Palma, Robert Fiore and Bruce Rubin. The film records a performance of The Performance Group's stage play of the same name, an adaptation of ''The Bacchae''. It was entered into the 20th Berlin In ...
'' – as Cadmus. Both the stage and film versions were produced by Mays' wife,
Lorenda Starfelt Lorenda Starfelt (January 11, 1955 – March 16, 2011) was an independent film producer, as well as a committed political activist and blogger who notably dug up president Barack Obama's birth announcement in an August 1961 edition of ''The Hon ...
. * On 20 April 2003 BBC Radio 3 premiered the radio play ''Dionysos'' – a ninety-minute drama based on ''The Bacchae'' – written by
Andrew Rissik Andrew Rissik (born 23 April 1955) is a British scriptwriter, journalist and critic best known for the BBC Radio 3 trilogy, ''Troy'' and the five-part thriller serial for Radio 4, ''The Psychedelic Spy''. He was theatre critic at '' The Independ ...
and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, with Paul Scofield as Cadmus and Diana Rigg as Agave. It was repeated on BBC Radio 7 in May 2008. * In 2004, KneeHigh Theatre company toured a reinvented version of The Bacchae as "A contemporary postmodern folk tale", directed by Emma Rice. * In 2007, David Greig wrote an adaptation of ''The Bacchae'' for the
National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...
starring Alan Cumming as
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
, with ten soul-singing followers in place of the traditional Greek chorus. A critically praised run at New York's
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
Rose Theater The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?) – and the first of several playhouses to be situated in ...
followed the premiere in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. * Luigi Lo Cascio's multimedia adaptation ''La Caccia'' (The Hunt) won the Biglietto d' Oro del Teatro prize in 2008. The free adaptation combines live theater with animations by Nicola Console and Desideria Rayner's video projections. A revised 2009 version went on tour with original music by Andrea Rocca. * In 2008, James Thomas directed Peter Arnott's faithful and audience-friendly translation of ''The Bacchae'' as part of MacMillan Films series on Greek drama. The production featured Mia Perovetz as
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
, a traditional Greek chorus with Morgan Marcum as the chorus leader and the dance choreography of Angessa Hughmanick. *In 2017,
Madeleine George Madeleine George is an American playwright and author. Her play ''The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2014 and she won the 2016 Whiting Award for Drama. Early life George grew up in ...
's adaptation ''Hurricane Diane'' premiered at Two River Theater. ''Hurricane Diane'' places the narrative in Monmouth, New Jersey, where Dionysus becomes Diane, a butch landscaper who schemes to install permaculture gardens in suburban backyards, and convince four women to start a "mystery cult" in order to regain her powers and fight climate change. *In 2020, the Classics department of King's College London performed a version of ''The Bacchae'' in its original ancient Greek in combination with Aristophanes' ''
The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus i ...
'', created by David Bullen and entitled ''Dionysus in the Underworld'' for their annual Greek play, which is the only production of Greek drama in the UK staged annually in the original language.


Operatic versions

* In 1941–1944, Giorgio Federico Ghedini composed an opera in Italian based on ''The Bacchae'' and called ''Le Baccanti'', with libretto by playwright and screenwriter Tullio Pinelli. It debuted at La Scala in Milan on February 22, 1948. It was revived in Milan in 1972. * Harry Partch composed an opera based on ''The Bacchae'' titled '' Revelation in the Courthouse Park''. It was first performed in 1960, and a recording was released in 1987. * Another opera based on ''The Bacchae'', called '' The Bassarids'', was composed in 1965 by Hans Werner Henze. The libretto was by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. * John Buller composed an opera ''Bakxai'' (The Bacchae) which was produced at the English National Opera in London in 1992. The Libretto was in ancient Greek. * Georgia Spiropoulos composed a solo opera for performer, electronics and lights calle
Les Bacchantes
The work premiered at Ircam during the 2010 Agora Festival, starring Médéric Collignon. * Karol Szymanowski's second opera '' King Roger'' is based on ''The Bacchae''. * Daniel Börtz' opera ''Backanterna'' (Swedish for the Bacchae) is based on ''The Bacchae''. The opera premiered at the Royal Swedish Opera in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
in 1991. The music was used in Ingmar Bergman's 1993 TV opera film.


Musical versions

* Gustav Holst's "Hymn to Dionysus" (Op. 31, No. 2) is a setting for female voices and orchestra of the parodos from ''The Bacchae'' in the translation by Gilbert Murray. It was composed in 1913 and premiered in 1914. * In Fall 2007, Prospect Theater Company put on ''The Rockae'', a rock musical adaption of the show written by Peter Mills & Cara Reichel * In Summer 2009, the Public Theater (of New York City) produced a version of ''The Bacchae'' with music by Philip Glass. * In Fall 2013, the Globe Theatre produced a musical adaptation of ''The Bacchae'', '' The Lightning Child'', written by
Ché Walker Ché Walker is an English actor, playwright, theatre director, and teacher. His musical '' Been So Long'' played at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Young Vic theatre. It was later developed into a feature film of the same name starring Mi ...
. Music was scored by Arthur Darvill.


Film versions

* In 1961 Italian filmmaker Giorgio Ferroni directed his own adaptation of the tragedy as '' Le baccanti'', with French actor Pierre Brice as Dionysus, Italian actors
Alberto Lupo Alberto Lupo (byname of Alberto Zoboli; 19 December 1924 – 13 August 1984) was an Italian film and television actor best known for his roles in swash-buckling and actions films of the 1960s. Lupo starred in films such as '' A 008, operazion ...
and Miranda Campa respectively as Pentheus and Agave, Finnish actress-dancer
Taina Elg __NOTOC__ Taina may refer to: People Women * Taina Asili (), Puerto Rican musician, filmmaker and activist * Taïna Barioz (born 1988), French alpine skier * Taina Bien-Aimé, Swiss social activist * Taina Bofferding (born 1982), Luxembourgish ...
as Dirce, and Russian actor Akim Tamiroff as Tiresias. American choreographer
Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...
directed the bacchantes' dance sequences. * In 1970 American filmmaker Brian De Palma and theater director Richard Schechner filmed the stage adaptation ''
Dionysus in '69 ''Dionysus in '69'' is a 1970 film by Brian De Palma, Robert Fiore and Bruce Rubin. The film records a performance of The Performance Group's stage play of the same name, an adaptation of ''The Bacchae''. It was entered into the 20th Berlin In ...
'', performed by members of
The Performance Group The Performance Group (TPG) was an experimental theater troupe that Richard Schechner founded in 1967 in New York City. TPG's home base was the Performing Garage in the SoHo district of Lower Manhattan. After 1975, tensions led to Schechner's res ...
, an experimental theater group in New York that would later become The Wooster Group. *
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
lists at least five adaptations made for television.


Significant quotations

:Dionysus: "It's a wise man's part to practise a smooth-tempered self-control." :Dionysus: "Your entheus'name points to calamity. It fits you well." (The name "Pentheus" derives from πένθος, ''pénthos'', grief) :Messenger: "Dionysus' powers are manifold; he gave to men the vine to cure their sorrows." :Dionysus: "Can you, a mortal, measure your strength against a god?" :Dionysus: “It hurts you to kick against the goad ricks


Religious significance

Greek theater was a form of religious expression and worship. ''The Bacchae'' re-enacts how Dionysus had come to be a god. In ancient Greek theatre, "role-playing is a well-known feature of ritual liminality."Lada-Richards, Ismene. Initiating Dionysus: Ritual and Theatre in Aristophanes' Frogs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. 159-164. Print. As an actor, religious worship is a direct experience. The actor would have experienced a "stepping out" of himself to become a representation of Dionysus. As a spectator, the experience comes from what is acted onstage, arousing emotions that sympathize with Dionysus. Collectively, through Dionysiac acting, there is a reintegration of the "other" into the "self," that is to say that Dionysus has been accepted and will be worshipped by the Greek people.


Comparative analysis

Jesus's interrogation by Pontius Pilate from
The Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
has been compared to Dionysus' interrogation by King Pentheus regarding his claim to divinity.


Dramatic structure

In the play's climactic plot construction, Dionysus the protagonist instigates the unfolding action by simultaneously emulating the play's author, costume designer, choreographer and artistic director. Helene P. Foley, writing of the importance of Dionysus as the central character and his effect on the play's structure, observes: "The poet uses the ritual crisis to explore simultaneously god, man, society, and his own tragic art. In this protodrama Dionysus, the god of the theatre, stage-directs the play." At the play's start, Dionysus' exposition highlights the play's central conflict: the invasion of Greece by an Asian religion.


Criticism

Until the late 19th century, the play's themes were considered too gruesome to be studied and appreciated. It was Nietzsche's " Birth of Tragedy" in 1872 that re-posed the question of Dionysus's relation with the theatre and awakened interest in ''The Bacchae''. In the 20th century, performances became quite fashionable—particularly in opera, due in part to the dramatic choruses found throughout the story. In 1948, R.P. Winnington-Ingram said of Euripides' handling of the play: "On its poetical and dramatic beauties, he writes with charm and insight; on more complex themes, he shows equal mastery." Recent criticism has been provided by P.E. Easterling, ''et al.'' in ''The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy.''


Influences

''The Bacchae'' had an enormous impact on ancient literature, and its influence can be seen in numerous Greek and Roman authors. It seems to have been one of Horace's favorite tragedies. Beyond antiquity, dramatists and filmmakers of all ages have been greatly impacted by it. The tragedy's influence can be seen in the writings of Henrik Ibsen, as well as
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
's 1912 novella '' Death in Venice'' and Oliver Stone's 2004 film '' Alexander''. The Renaissance Venetian painter Titian may have illustrated the arrest of Bacchus in his painting "Il Bravo" in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum. (Source:Nine reasons why Titian's "Il Bravo" should be re-titled "The Arrest of Bacchus"by Sutherland, Bruce D., Published in: Venezia Cinquecento 3.1993(1994), 6, 35-52, an image of this painting can be seen on WikiArt.)


In popular culture

Donna Tartt Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist and essayist. Early life Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta, the elder of two daughters. She was raised in the nearby town of Grenada. Her fa ...
's 1992 novel '' The Secret History'' is about six students of classical languages who go in search of the rapture described by Euripides in ''The Bacchae''.


Translations

*
Theodore Alois Buckley Theodore Alois William Buckley (1825–1856) was a translator of Homer and other classical works. In 1852 Buckley published the book "''The great cities of the ancient world in their glory and their desolation''". This book depicts stories, descri ...
, 1850: prose * Henry Hart Milman, 1865: verse *
Edward P. Coleridge Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...
, 1891: prose * Gilbert Murray, 1911: verse * Arthur S. Way, 1912: verse * D. W. Lucas, 1930: prose *
Philip Vellacott Philip Humphrey Vellacott (16 January 1907 – 24 August 1997) was an English classical scholar, known for his numerous translations of Greek tragedy. He was born at Grays, Essex and educated at St Paul's School, London and Magdalene College, C ...
, 1954: prose and verse *
F. L. Lucas Frank Laurence Lucas (28 December 1894 – 1 June 1967) was an English classical scholar, literary critic, poet, novelist, playwright, political polemicist, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and intelligence officer at Bletchley Park during ...
, 1954: verse * Henry Birkhead, 1957: verse *
William Arrowsmith William Ayres Arrowsmith (April 13, 1924 – February 21, 1992) was an American classicist, academic, and translator. Life Born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Walter Weed Arrowsmith and Dorothy (Ayres) Arrowsmith, William grew up in Wellesle ...
, 1958: verse *
Moses Hadas Moses Hadas (June 25, 1900, Atlanta, Georgia – August 17, 1966) was an American teacher, a classical scholar, and a translator of numerous works from Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and German. Life Raised in Atlanta in a Yiddish-speaking Orthodox J ...
and John McLean, 1960: prose * Paul Roche, 1969: verse * Geoffrey Kirk, 1970: prose and verse * Robert Bagg, 1978: verse (as ''The Bakkhai'') *
Michael Cacoyannis Michael Cacoyannis ( el, Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ''Michalis Kakogiannis''; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, producer, and actor. ...
, 1982: verse * Matt Neuberg, 1988: verse * Arthur Evans, 1988, prose and verse, as ''The God of Ecstasy'' ( St. Martin's Press) * Nicholas Rudall, 1996 *
Richard Seaford Richard Seaford is a British classicist. He is professor emeritus of classics and ancient history at the University of Exeter. His work focuses on ancient Greek culture, especially that of ancient Athens. Career Seaford has published widely on ...
, 1996: prose *
Daniel Mark Epstein Daniel Mark Epstein (born October 25, 1948) is an American poet, dramatist, and biographer. His poetry has been noted for its erotic and spiritual lyricism, as well as its power—in several dramatic monologues—in capturing crucial moments ...
, 1998;verse * Paul Woodruff, 1999: verse * Reginald Gibbons, 2000: verse * James Morwood, 2000: * David Franklin, 2000: prose *
Ian C. Johnston Ian C. Johnston (born September 27, 1938) is a Canadian author and translator, a retired university-college instructor and a professor emeritus at Vancouver Island University. Early life and education Johnston was born in Valparaíso, Chile, to ...
, 2003: verse *
Colin Teevan Colin Teevan (born 1961 in Dublin) is an Irish playwright, radio dramatist, translator and academic. Teevan has premiered works in the National Theatres of Ireland, Scotland and the Royal National Theatre in London, He has been a regular collabo ...
, 2003: verse (as "Bacchai") * George Theodoridis, 2005: prose * Michael Valerie, 2005: verse * Michael Scanlan, 2006: verse (La Salle Academy: Providence, RI) * Graham Kirby, 2009: verse (
The Scoop The Scoop is an outdoor amphitheatre situated on the south side of the River Thames near Tower Bridge in London, located next to City Hall, providing seating for approximately 800 people. Designed by Townshend Landscape Architects, it is a venue ...
) * Che Walker, 2013: play with songs as '' The Lightning Child'' *
Robin Robertson Robin Robertson (born in 1955) is a Scottish poet. Biography Robertson was brought up on the north-east coast of Scotland, but has spent most of his professional life in London. After working as an editor at Penguin Books and Secker and Wa ...
, 2014: verse * Anne Carson, 2015: verse (as ''The Bakkhai'') * David Stuttard, 2016: verse * Emily Wilson, 2016: verse * Emma Pauly, 2019: prose and verse * Brian Vinero, 2020: verse


See also

*
Apollonian and Dionysian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by ...


Notes


References

* Damen, Mark L. and Rebecca A. Richards. 2012. "'Sing the Dionysus': Euripides' Bacchae as Dramatic Hymn." ''American Journal of Philology'' 133.3: 343–369. * Foley, H. P. 1980. "The Masque of Dionysus." ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 110:107–133. * Friedrich, R. 1996. "Everything to do with Dionysos? Ritualism, the Dionysiac, and the Tragic." In ''Tragedy and the Tragic: Greek Theatre and Beyond.'' Edited by M. S. Silk, 257–283. Oxford: Clarendon. * Friesen, C. J. P. 2015. ''Reading Dionysus: Euripides’ 'Bacchae' and the Cultural Contestations of Greeks, Jews, Romans, and Christians'' Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. * Morwood, James, ed. and trans. 2000. Euripides: Bacchae and Other Plays. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. * Perris, Simon. 2016. ''The Gentle, Jealous God: Reading Euripides’ 'Bacchae' in English.'' Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception. London; New York: Bloomsbury Academic. * Rehm, Rush. 1992. ''Greek Tragic Theatre.'' Theatre Production Studies ser. London and New York: Routledge. . * Roncace, Mark. 1997. "The Bacchae and Lord of the Flies: A Few Observations with the Help of E.R. Dodds." ''Classical and Modern Literature'' 18.1: 37–51. * Seaford, R. 1981. "Dionysiac Drama and the Dionysiac Mysteries." ''Classical Quarterly'', 31.2: 252–275. * Segal, C. P. 1997. ''Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides’ Bacchae''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. * Stuttard, David. ed. 2016. ''Looking at Bacchae.'' London; New York: Bloomsbury Academic. * Teevan, C. 2001. "Bacchai". Oberon books. * Thumiger, C. 2006. "Animal World, Animal Representation, and the "Hunting-Model": Between Literal and Figurative in Euripides' "Bacchae"." ''Phoenix'', 60(3/4), 191–210. * Thumiger, Chiara. 2007. ''Hidden Paths: Self and Characterization In Greek Tragedy: Euripides' Bacchae.'' Institute of Classical Studies: London.


External links

* *
The Internet Classics Archive – ''The Bacchantes'' by Euripides
*

The Performance History of the ''Bacchae''.
The Bacchae (in Greek and English) at Perseus Digital Library




{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacchae Plays by Euripides, Bacchae, The Theban mythology Culture of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Dionysus Plays set in ancient Greece Greek plays adapted into films Plays adapted into operas Plays based on classical mythology