Euripides' Bacchae

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the conflict in the poem, "The Bacchae of Euripides", by Euripides and explains that the conflict is constructed around the opposition between Pentheus and Dionysus which is, in fact, a tool of characterization. The paper relates that the conflict between the two characters arises because both of them want to seize power and to have authority over each other and Thebes.

From the Paper:

"Pentheus thinks he has caught the stranger and orders the prisoner to be bound and tortured only to find out that it is in fact impossible thanks to the god's powers that the king had refused to acknowledge. Consequently, Dionysus turns into a bull when the king's men try to chain him, and then when the king himself plunges a knife into his prisoner, the latter turns into a shadow and remains unharmed. Nevertheless, Dionysus tries to make Pentheus change his ways but the king cannot be convinced. The women who served Dionysus lived on a mountain where they feasted, danced and sang. When they saw the messenger - disguised as a cowherd - that the king had sent to spy on them, they chase and try to kill him. Although he escapes, his cattle do not, and so, Pentheus' mother who was disguised and had joined the herd is captured by the mad women of Dionysus."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Euripides. The Bacchae of Euripides. Trans. Donald Sutherland. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1968.

More papers on Euripides' Bacchae:

• Analytical Essay # 4676 : "Euripides' "Bacchae"
• Comparison Essay # 75040 : "Antigone and Bacchae"
• Book Review # 128595 : "The Bacchae in "Death in Venice"

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