Euripides
The Bacchae
404 BC
Translator's Note
This translation, prepared by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, is in the public domain and may be used by anyone, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge, provided the source is acknowledged.
Note that the normal line numbers refer to this text and the ones in square brackets refer to the lines in the Greek text. There is an important gap of 50 lines or more in Euripides' manuscript between lines 1329 and 1330 of the Greek text. The content of the missing lines is fairly well known, so this translation has attempted to provide a reconstructed text for the missing portion (lines 1645 to 1699 of the English text). That reconstructed text appears between square brackets.
For a brief interpretative introduction to The Bacchae, click here
This translation was last revised in July 2003
For comments, questions, suggestions for improvements, please contact Ian Johnston.
Printed copies of this text in booklet form are available (for $2.00 Canadian each) from Prideaux Street Publications. For details, explore this link Prideaux Street Publications.
The Bacchae
Dramatis Personae
DIONYSUS:
divine son of Zeus and Semele, also called Bromius or Bacchus.
TIRESIAS: an old blind prophet
CADMUS: grandfather of both Dionysus and Pentheus, an old man
PENTHEUS: young king of Thebes, grandson of Cadmus, cousin of Dionysus
AGAVE: mother of Pentheus, daughter of Cadmus, sister of Semele
FIRST MESSENGER a cattle herder
SECOND MESSENGER: an attendant on Pentheus
CHORUS OF BACCHAE: worshippers of Dionysus who have followed him from
Asia, also called Maenads or Bacchants.
SOLDIERS and ATTENDANTS around Pentheus
Supplementary List of Characters and Places
The following names are frequently mentioned but are not speaking characters in the play.
Actaeon: hunter destroyed by
his own dogs as punishment for boasting that he was a better hunter than goddess
Artemis, son of Autonoe (one of Cadmus' daughters).
Aphrodite: goddess of erotic love and sexuality.
Autonoe: sister of Agave, Ino, and Semele, daughter of Cadmus, mother of
Actaeon
Cithaeron: sacred mountain close to Thebes.
Ino: daughter of Cadmus, sister of Agave and Semele
Semele: human daughter of Cadmus, mother of Dionysus, killed by Zeus'
lightning bolt.
Thebes: a major Greek city, where (according to some legends) the Greek
race originated.
Tmolus: sacred mountain in Asia Minor, associated with Dionysus.
A thyrsus (pl. thyrsoi) is a hollow plant stalk, usually decorated with ivy, and carried as a symbol of Dionysus in the dancing celebrations (where it can acquire magical powers).
[Scene: The Greek city of Thebes, outside the royal palace. Dionysus, appearing as young man, is alone, with the palace behind him, its main doors facing the audience. He speaks directly to the audience]DIONYSUS: I've arrived here
in the land of Thebes,
I, Dionysus, son of Zeus,
born to him
from Semele, Cadmus'
daughter, delivered
by a fiery midwife—Zeus'
lightning flash.
Yes, I've changed my form
from god to human,
appearing here at these
streams of Dirce,
the waters of Ismarus. I
see my mother's tomb—
for she was wiped out by
that lightning bolt.
It's there, by the
palace, with that rubble,
the remnants of her
house, still
smoldering
10
from Zeus' living fire—Hera's undying outrage
against my mother. But I
praise
Cadmus.
[10]
He's made his daughter's shrine a sacred place.
I have myself completely
covered it
with leafy shoots of
grape-bearing vines.
I've left the fabulously
wealthy East,
lands of Lydians and
Phrygians,
Persia's sun-drenched
plains, walled towns in Bactria.
I've moved across the
bleak lands of the Medes,
through rich Arabia, all Asian
lands,
20
along the salt-sea coast, through those towns
with their beautifully constructed towers,
full of barbarians and Greeks all intermingled.
Now I've come to Thebes, city of
Greeks,
[20]
only after I've set those eastern lands
dancing in the mysteries I established,
making known to men my own divinity.
Thebes is the first city of the Greeks
where I've roused people to shout out my cries,
with this deerskin draped around my body,
30
this ivy spear, a thyrsus, in my hand.
For my mother's sisters have acted badly,
something they, of all people, should avoid.
They boasted aloud that I, Dionysus,
was no child of Zeus, claiming Semele,
once she was pregnant by some mortal man,
attributed her bad luck in bed to Zeus,
a story made up (they said) to trick
Cadmus.
[30]
Those sisters state that's why Zeus killed her,
because she lied about the man she'd slept
with.
40
So I've driven those women from their homes
in a frenzy—they now live in the mountains,
out of their minds. I've made them put on costumes,
outfits appropriate for my mysteries.
All Theban offspring—or, at least, all women—
I've driven in a crazed fit from their homes.
Now they sit out there among the rocks,
underneath green pine trees, no roof overhead,
Cadmus' daughters in their company as well.
For this city has to learn, though against its
will,
50
that it has yet to be initiated
into my Dionysian rites. Here I
plead
[40]
the cause of my own mother, Semele,
appearing as a god to mortal men,
the one she bore to Zeus. Now Cadmus,
the old king, has just transferred his power,
his royal authority, to Pentheus,
his daughter's son, who, in my case at least,
fights against the gods, prohibiting me
all sacrificial offerings. When he
prays,
60
he chooses to ignore me. For this neglect
I'll demonstrate to him, to all in Thebes,
that I was born a god. Once these things here
have been made right, I'll move on somewhere else,
to some other land, revealing who I am.
But if Thebans in this city, in their
anger,
[50]
try to make those Bacchic women leave,
to drive them from the mountains forcibly,
then I, commander of these Maenads,
will fight them. That's why I've transformed
myself, 70
assumed a mortal shape, altered my looks,
so I resemble any human being.
[Enter the Chorus of Bacchae, dressed in ritual deerskin, carrying small drums like tambourines]
But you there, you women who've left Tmolus,
backbone of Lydia, my band of worshippers,
whom I've led here from barbarian lands,
my comrades on the road and when we rest,
take up your drums, those instruments of yours
from Phrygian cities, first invented
by mother Rhea and myself. Move round
here,
beat those drums by Pentheus'
palace,
80 [60]
let Cadmus' city see you, while I go,
in person, to the clefts of Mount Cithaeron,
to my Bacchae, to join their dancing.
[Exit Dionysus]
CHORUS [singing and dancing]
FIRST VOICE: From Asia, from sacred
Tmolus
I've come to dance,
to move swiftly in my dance—
for Bromius—
sweet and easy task,
to cry out in celebration,
hailing great god
Bacchus.
90
SECOND VOICE: Who's in the street?
Who's there? Who?
Let him stay inside
out of our way.
Let every mouth be
pure,
[70]
completely holy,
speak no profanities.
In my hymn I celebrate
our old eternal custom,
hailing Dionysus.
THIRD VOICE: O, blessed is the
man, 100
the fortunate man who knows
the rituals of the gods,
who leads a pious life,
whose spirit merges
with these Bacchic celebrations,
frenzied dancing in the mountains,
our purifying rites—
one who reveres these mysteries
from Cybele, our great mother,
who, waving the
thyrsus,
110
[80]
forehead crowned with ivy,
serves Dionysus.
FOURTH VOICE: On
Bacchae! Bacchae,
move!
Bring home Bromius, our god,
son of god, great Dionysus,
from Phrygian mountains
to spacious roads of Greece—
Hail Bromius!
FIFTH VOICE: His mother dropped him
early,
as her womb, in forceful birth
pangs,
120
was struck by Zeus' flying lightning
bolt,
[90]
a blast which took her life.
Then Zeus, son of Cronos,
at once hid him away
in a secret birthing chamber,
buried in his thigh,
shut in with golden clasps,
concealed from Hera.
SIXTH VOICE: Fates made him
perfect.
Then Zeus gave birth to
him,
130 [100]
the god with ox's horns,
crowned with wreaths of snakes—
that's why the Maenads
twist in their hair
wild snakes they capture.
SEVENTH VOICE: O Thebes, nursemaid
of Semele,
put on your ivy crown,
flaunt your green yew,
flaunt its sweet fruit!
Consecrate yourselves to
Bacchus,
140
with stems of oak or
fir,
[110]
Dress yourselves in spotted fawn skins,
trimmed with white sheep's wool.
As you wave your thyrsus,
revere the violence it contains.
All the earth will dance at once.
Whoever leads our dancing—
that one is Bromius!
To the mountain, to the mountain,
where the pack of women
waits,
150
all stung to frenzied madness
to leave their weaving shuttles,
goaded on by Dionysus.
EIGHTH VOICE: O you dark chambers
of the
Curetes,
[120]
you sacred caves in Crete,
birthplace of Zeus,
where the Corybantes in their caves,
men with triple helmets, made for me
this circle of stretched hide.
In their wild ecstatic
dancing,
160
they mixed this drum beat
with the sweet seductive tones
of flutes from Phrygia,
then gave it to mother Rhea
to beat time for the Bacchae,
when they sang in ecstasy.
Nearby, orgiastic
satyrs,
[130]
in ritual worship of the mother goddess,
took that drum, then brought it
into their biennial
dance, 170
bringing joy to Dionysus.
NINTH VOICE: He's welcome in the
mountains,
when he sinks down to the ground,
after the running dance,
wrapped in holy deerskin,
hunting the goat's blood,
blood of the slain beast,
devouring its raw flesh with joy,
rushing off into the mountains,
in Phrygia, in
Lydia,
180
[140]
leading the dance—
Bromius—Evoë!
ALL: The land flows with milk,
the land flows with wine,
the land flows with honey from the bees.
He holds the torch high,
our leader, the Bacchic One,
blazing flame of pine,
sweet smoke like Syrian incense,
trailing from his
thyrsus.
190
As he dances, he runs,
here and there,
rousing the stragglers,
stirring them with his cries,
thick hair rippling in the
breeze.
[150]
Among the Maenads' shouts
his voice reverberates:
"On Bacchants, on!
With the glitter of Tmolus,
which flows with
gold,
200
chant songs to Dionysus,
to the loud beat of our drums.
Celebrate the god of joy
with your own joy,
with Phrygian cries and shouts!
When sweet sacred
pipes
[160]
play out their rhythmic holy song,
in time to the dancing wanderers,
then to the mountains,
on, on to the
mountains."
210
Then the bacchanalian woman
is filled with total joy—
like a foal in pasture
right beside her mother—
her swift feet skip in playful dance.
[Enter Tiresias, a very old blind man, dressed in clothing appropriate for the Dionysian ritual. He goes up to the palace door and knocks very aggressively]
TIRESIAS: [shouting] Where's
the servant on the door? You in there, [170]
tell Cadmus to get himself out of the house,
Agenor's lad, who came here from Sidon,
then put up the towers of this Theban town.
Go tell him Tiresias is waiting for
him.
220
He knows well enough why I've come for him.
I'm an old man, and he's even older,
but we've agreed make ourselves a thyrsus,
to put on fawn skins and crown our heads
with garlands of these ivy branches.
[Enter Cadmus from the palace, a very old man, also dressed in clothing appropriate for the Dionysian ritual]
CADMUS:
My dearest friend,
I was inside the house. I heard your voice.
I recognized it—the voice of a man truly wise.
So I've come equipped with all this god
stuff.
[180]
We must sing his praise, as much as we can,
for this Dionysus, well, he's my daughter's
child.
230
Now he's revealed himself a god to men.
Where must I go and dance? Where do I get
to move my feet and shake my old gray head?
You must guide me, Tiresias, one old man
leading another, for you're the expert here.
Oh, I'll never tire of waving this thyrsus,
day and night, striking the ground. What rapture!
Now we can forget that we're old men.
TIRESIAS: You feel the same way I
do, then.
For I'm young and going to try the
dancing.
240
[190]
CADMUS: Shall we go up the mountain in a chariot?
TIRESIAS: The god would not then get complete respect.
CADMUS: So I'll be your nursemaid—one
old man
will take charge of another one?
TIRESIAS:
The god himself
will get us to the place without our efforts.
CADMUS: Of all the city are we the
only ones
who'll dance to honour Bacchus?
TIRESIAS:
Yes, indeed,
for we're the only ones whose minds are clear.
As for the others, well, their thinking's wrong.
CADMUS: There'll be a long wait. Take my hand. 250
TIRESIAS: [holding out his hand] Here. Take it—make a pair of it and yours.
CADMUS: I'm a mortal, so I don't mock the gods.
TIRESIAS: To the gods we mortals
are all
ignorant.
[200]
Those old traditions from our ancestors,
the ones we've had as long as time itself,
no argument will ever overthrow,
in spite of subtleties sharp minds invent.
Will someone say I disrespect old age,
if I intend to dance with ivy on my head?
Not so, for the god makes no distinctions—
260
whether the dancing is for young or old.
He wants to gather honours from us all,
to be praised communally, without division.
CADMUS: Since you're blind to
daylight,
Tiresias,
[210]
I'll be your seer, tell you what's going on—
Pentheus, that child of Echion, the one
to whom I handed over power in this land,
he's coming here, to the house. He's in a rush.
He looks so flustered. What news will he bring?
[Enter Pentheus, with some armed attendants. At first he does not notice Cadmus and Tiresias, not until he calls attention to them]
PENTHEUS: It so happens I've
been away from
Thebes, 270
but
I hear about disgusting things going on,
here
in the city—women leaving home
to go to silly Bacchic rituals,
cavorting there in mountain shadows,
with
dances honouring some upstart god,
this
Dionysus, whoever he may be. Mixing
bowls
[220]
in the middle of their meetings are
filled with wine.
They creep off one by one to lonely spots
to
have sex with men, claiming they're Maenads
busy
worshipping. But they rank
Aphrodite,
280
goddess
of sexual desire, ahead of Bacchus.
All
the ones I've caught, my servants guard
in our public prison, their hands chained up.
All
those who're still away, I'll chase down,
hunt
them from the mountains—that includes
Agave, who bore me to Echion,
Ino,
and
Autonoe, Actaeon's
mother.
[230]
Once
I've clamped them all in iron fetters,
I'll
quickly end this perverse nastiness,
this
Bacchic celebration. People
say
290
some
stranger has arrived, some wizard,
a
conjurer from the land of Lydia—
with
sweet-smelling hair in golden ringlets
and
Aphrodite's charms in wine-dark eyes.
He
hangs around the young girls day and night,
dangling
in front of them his joyful mysteries.
If
I catch him in this city, I'll stop him.
He'll
make no more clatter with his
thyrsus,
[240]
or
wave his hair around. I'll chop off his head,
slice
it right from his body. This man
claims 300
that
Dionysus is a god, alleging
that
once upon a time he was sewn up,
stitched
inside Zeus' thigh—but Dionysus
was
burned to death, along with Semele,
in
that lightning strike, because she'd lied.
She
maintained that she'd had sex with Zeus.
All
this surely merits harsh punishment,
death
by hanging. Whoever this stranger is,
his
insolence is an insult to me.
[Noticing Cadmus and Tiresias for the first time]
Well,
here's something totally
astounding!
310
I
see Tiresias, our soothsayer, all dressed up
in
dappled fawn skins—my mother's father,
too!
[250]
This
is ridiculous. To take a thyrsus
and
jump around like this. [To Cadmus] You sir,
I
don't like to see such arrant foolishness
from
your old age. Why not throw out that ivy?
And,
grandfather, why not let that thyrsus go?
[Turning to address Tiresias]
Tiresias, you're the one who's put him up to this.
You
want to bring in some new god for men,
so
you'll be able to inspect more
birds,
320
and
from his sacrifices make more money.
If
your gray old age did not protect you,
you'd
sit in chains with all the Bacchae
for such a ceremonial
perversion.
[260]
Whenever
women at some banquet
start
to take pleasure in the gleaming wine,
I
say there's nothing healthy in their worshipping.
CHORUS LEADER: That's impiety! O
stranger,
have
you no reverence for the gods, for Cadmus,
who
sowed that crop of men born from the
earth?
330
You're a child of Echion—do you wish
to
bring your own family into disrepute?
TIRESIAS: When a man of wisdom has
good occasion
to
speak out, and takes the opportunity,
it's
not that hard to give an excellent speech.
You've
got a quick tongue and seem intelligent,
but
your words don't make any sense at all.
A
fluent orator whose power
comes
[270]
from
self-assurance and from nothing else
makes
a bad citizen, for he lacks
sense.
340
This
man, this new god, whom you ridicule—
it's
impossible for me to tell you
just
how great he'll be in all of Greece.
Young
man, among human beings two things
stand
out preeminent, of highest rank.
Goddess
Demeter is one—she's the earth
(though
you can call her any name you wish),
and
she feeds mortal people cereal grains.
The
other one came later, born of Semele—
he brought with him liquor from the
grape,
350
something
to match the bread from Demeter.
He introduced it among mortal men.
When
they can drink up what streams off the vine,
unhappy
mortals are released from
pain.
[280]
It
grants them sleep, allows them to forget
their
daily troubles. Apart from wine,
there
is no cure for human hardship.
He,
being a god, is poured out to the gods,
so
human beings receive fine benefits
as gifts from him.
And yet you mock him.
Why?
360
Because
he was sewn into Zeus thigh?
Well,
I'll show you how this all makes sense.
When
Zeus grabbed him from the lightning flame,
he
brought him to Olympus as a god.
But
Hera wished to throw him out of
heaven.
[290]
So
Zeus, in a manner worthy of a god,
came
up with a cunning counter plan.
From
the sky which flows around the earth,
Zeus
broke off a piece, shaped it like Dionysus,
then
gave that to Hera, as a
hostage.
370
The
real child he sent to nymphs to raise,
thus saving
him from Hera's jealousy.
Over
time people mixed up "sky" and "thigh,"
saying
he'd come from Zeus's thigh, changing words,
because
he, a god, had once been hostage
to
goddess Hera. So they made up the tale.
This
god's a prophet, too, for in his rites—
the
Bacchic celebrations and the madness—
a huge prophetic powere is
unleashed.
When
the god fully enters human
bodies,
380 [300]
he
makes those possessed by frenzy prophets.
They
speak of what will come in future days
He
also shares the work of war god Ares.
For
there are times an army all drawn up,
its weapons ready, can shake with terror,
before
any man has set hand to his spear.
Such
madness comes from Dionysus.
Some
day you'll see him on those rocks at Delphi,
leaping
with torches on the higher slopes,
way up there between two mountain
peaks,
390
waving
and shaking his Bacchic wand,
a
great power in Greece. Trust me, Pentheus.
Don't
be too confident a sovereign's force
controls
men. If something seems right to
you,
[310]
but
your mind's diseased, don't think that's wisdom.
So
welcome this god into your country.
Pour
libations to him, then celebrate
these
Bacchic rites with garlands on your head.
On
women, where Aphrodite is concerned,
Dionysus
will not enforce restraint—
400
such
modesty you must seek in nature,
where
it already dwells. For any woman
whose
character is chaste won't be defiled
by
Bacchic revelry. Don't you see that?
When
there are many people at your gates,
you're
happy. The city shouts your praise.
It
celebrates the name of
Pentheus.
[320]
The
god, too, I think, derives great pleasure
from
being honoured. And so Cadmus,
whom
you mock, and I will crown our
heads
410
with
ivy and will join the ritual,
an old gray team, but
still we have to dance.
Your
words will not turn me against the god,
for
you are mad—under a cruel delusion.
No
drug can heal that ailment—in fact,
some
drug has caused it.
CHORUS
LEADER:
Old man,
you've
not disgraced Apollo with your words,
and
by honouring this Dionysus,
a
great god, you show your moderation.
CADMUS: My child, Tiresias has
given
you
420
[330]
some
good advice. You should live among us,
not
outside traditions. At this point,
you're
flying around—thinking, but not clearly.
For
if, as you claim, this man is not a god,
why
not call him one? Why not tell a lie,
a
really good one? Then it will seem
that
some god has been born to Semele.
We—and
all our family—will win honour.
Remember
the dismal fate of Actaeon—
torn
to pieces in some mountain
forest
430
by
blood-thirsty dogs he'd raised himself.
He'd
boasted he was better in the
hunt
[340]
than
Artemis. Don't suffer the same fate.
Come
here. Let me crown your head with ivy.
Join
us in giving honour to this god.
PENTHEUS: Keep your hands off
me! Be off with you—
go
to these Bacchic rituals of yours.
But
don't infect me with your madness.
As
for the one who in this foolishness
has
been your teacher, I'll bring him to
justice.
440
[To his attendants]
One of you, go quickly to where this man,
Tiresias,
has that seat of his, the place
where
he inspects his birds. Take some levers,
knock it down. Demolish it completely.
Turn
the whole place upside down—all of it.
Let
his holy ribbons fly off in the
winds.
[350]
That
way I'll really do him damage.
You
others—go to the city, scour it
to
capture this effeminate stranger,
who
corrupts our women with a new
disease,
450
and
thus infects our beds. If you get him,
tie
him up and bring him here for judgment,
a
death by stoning. That way he'll see
his
rites in Thebes come to a bitter end.
[Exit Pentheus into the palace]
TIRESIAS: You unhappy man, you've
no idea
just
what it is you're saying. You've gone mad!
Even
before now you weren't in your right mind.
Let's
be off, Cadmus. We'll pray to the
god
[360]
on
Pentheus' behalf, though he's a savage,
and
for the city, too, so he won't harm
it. 460
Come
with me—bring the ivy-covered staff.
See
if you can help support my body.
I'll
do the same for you. It would be shameful
if
two old men collapsed. No matter—
for
we must serve Bacchus, son of Zeus.
But
you, Cadmus, you should be more careful,
or
Pentheus will bring trouble in your home.
I'm
not saying this as a prophecy,
but
on the basis of what's going on.
A
man who's mad tends to utter
madness.
470
[Exit Tiresias and Cadmus together on their way to the mountains]
CHORUS: Holiness, queen of the
gods,
[370]
Holiness,
sweeping over earth
on wings of gold,
do
you hear what Pentheus says?
Do
you hear the profanities he utters,
the
insults against Bromius,
child
of Semele, chief god
among
all blessed gods,
for
those who wear their lovely garlands
in
a spirit of harmonious joy?
480
This
is his special office,
to
lead men together in the dance,
to
make them laugh as the flute
plays,
[380]
to
bring all sorrows to an end,
at
the god's sacrificial feast,
when
the gleaming liquid grapes arrive,
when
the wine bowl casts its sleep
on
ivy-covered feasting men.
Unbridled
tongues and lawless folly
come
to an end only in
disaster.
490
A
peaceful life of
wisdom
[390]
maintains
tranquillity.
It
keeps the home united.
Though
gods live in the sky,
from
far away in heaven
they
gaze upon the deeds of men.
But
being clever isn't wisdom.
And
thinking deeply about things
isn't
suitable for mortal men.
Our
life is brief—that's
why
500
the
man who chases greatness
fails
to grasp what's near at hand.
That's
what madmen
do,
[400]
men
who've lost their wits.
That's
what I believe.
Would
I might go to Cyprus,
island
of Aphrodite,
where
the Erotes,
bewitching
goddesses of love,
soothe
the hearts of
humankind,
510
or
to Paphos, rich and fertile,
not with rain, but with the waters
of
a hundred flowing mouths
of
a strange and foreign river.
Oh Bromius, Bromius,
inspired
god who leads the Bacchae,
lead
me away to lovely
Peira,
[410]
where Muses dwell,
or
to Olympus' sacred slopes,
where Graces live, Desire,
too,
520
where
it's lawful and appropriate
to
celebrate our rites with Bacchus.
This
god, son of Zeus,
rejoices
in our banquets.
He
adores the goddess Peace,
and
she brings riches with her
[420]
and
nourishes the young.
The
god gives his wine equally,
sharing
with rich and poor alike.
It
takes away all
sorrow.
530
But
he hates the man who doesn't care
to
live his life in happiness,
by
day and through the friendly nights.
From
those who deny such common things
he
removes intelligence,
their
knowledge of true wisdom.
So
I take this as my rule—
follow
what common people think—
[430]
do
what most men do.
[Enter a group of soldiers, bringing Dionysus with his arms tied up. Pentheus enters from the palace]
SOLDIER: Pentheus, we're here
because we've caught the prey 540
you
sent us out to catch. Yes, our attempts
have
proved successful. The beast you see here
was
tame with us. He didn't try to run.
No,
he surrendered willingly enough,
without
turning pale or changing colour
on
those wine dark cheeks. He even laughed at us,
inviting
us to tie him up and lead him
off.
[440]
He
stood still, making it easier for me
to
take him in. It was awkward, so I said,
"Stranger,
I don't want to lead you
off,
550
but
I'm under orders here from Pentheus,
who
sent me." And there's something else—
those
Bacchic women you locked up, the ones
you
took in chains into the public prison—
they've
all escaped. They're gone—playing around
in
some meadow, calling out to Bromius,
summoning
their god. Chains fell off their feet,
just
dropping on their own. Keys opened doors
not
turned by human hands. This man here
has
come to Thebes full of amazing
tricks.
560
But now the rest of this affair is
up to
you.
[450]
[Soldier hands chained Dionysus over to Pentheus]
PENTHEUS: [Moving up close to
Dionysus, inspecting him carefully]
Untie
his hands. I've got him in my nets.
He's
not fast enough to get away from me.
[Soldiers remove the chains from Dionysus' hands. Pentheus moves in closer]
Well,
stranger, I see this body of yours
is
not unsuitable for women's pleasure—
that's
why you've come to Thebes. As for your hair,
it's
long, which suggests that you're no wrestler.
It
flows across your cheeks That's most seductive.
You've
a white skin, too. You've looked after it,
avoiding
the sun's rays by staying in the
shade,
570
while
with your beauty you chase Aphrodite.
But
first tell me something of your
family.
[460]
DIONYSUS: That's easy enough,
though I'm not boasting.
You've
heard of Tmolus, where flowers grow.
PENTHEUS: I know it. It's around the town of Sardis.
DIONYSUS: I'm from there. My home land is Lydia.
PENTHEUS: Why do you bring these rituals to Greece?
DIONYSUS: Dionysus sent me—the son of Zeus.
PENTHEUS: Is there some Zeus there who creates new gods?
DIONYSUS: No. It's the same Zeus who wed Semele right here. 580
PENTHEUS: Did this Zeus overpower
you at night,
in
your dreams? Or were your eyes wide open?
DIONYSUS: I saw him—he saw
me. He gave
me
[470]
the
sacred rituals.
PENTHEUS:
Tell me what they're like,
those
rituals of yours.
DIONYSUS:
That information
cannot
be passed on to men like you,
those
uninitiated in the rites of Bacchus.
PENTHEUS: Do they benefit those who sacrifice?
DIONYSUS: They're worth knowing, but you're not allowed to hear.
PENTHEUS: You've avoided that
question
skillfully,
590
making
me want to hear an answer.
DIONYSUS: The rituals are no friend
of any man
who's
hostile to the gods.
PENTHEUS:
This god of yours,
since
you saw him clearly, what's he like?
DIONYSUS: He was what he wished to be, not made to order.
PENTHEUS: Again you fluently evade
my question,
saying
nothing whatsoever.
DIONYSUS:
Yes, but then
a
man can seem totally ignorant
when
speaking to a
fool.
[480]
PENTHEUS:
Is Thebes
the first place you've come to with your
god?
600
DIONYSUS: All the barbarians are dancing in these rites.
PENTHEUS: I'm not surprised. They're stupider than Greeks.
DIONYSUS: In this they are much
wiser. But their laws
are
very different, too.
PENTHEUS:
When you dance these rites,
is
it at night or during daylight?
DIONYSUS: Mainly at night. Shadows confer solemnity.
PENTHEUS: And deceive the women. It's all corrupt!
DIONYSUS: One can do shameful things in daylight, too.
PENTHEUS: You must be punished for these evil games.
DIONYSUS: You, too—for
foolishness, impiety
610
towards
the
god.
[490]
PENTHEUS:
How brash this Bacchant is!
How
well prepared in using language!
DIONYSUS: What punishment am I to
suffer?
What
harsh penalties will you inflict?
PENTHEUS: First, I'll cut off this delicate hair of yours.
DIONYSUS: My hair is sacred. I grow it for the god.
PENTHEUS: And give me that thyrsus in your hand.
DIONYSUS: This wand I carry is the
god's, not mine.
You'll
have to seize it from me for yourself.
PENTHEUS: We'll lock your body up inside, in prison. 620
DIONYSUS: The god will personally
set me free,
whenever
I so choose.
PENTHEUS:
That only works
if
you call him while among the Bacchae.
DIONYSUS: He sees my suffering now—and from near by. [500]
PENTHEUS: Where is he then? My eyes don't see him.
DIONYSUS: He's where I am.
You can't see him,
because
you don't believe.
PENTHEUS: [To his
attendants] Seize him.
He's
insulting Thebes and me.
DIONYSUS: I warn you—you
shouldn't tie me up.
I've
got my wits about me. You've lost
yours.
630
PENTHEUS: But I'm more
powerful than you,
so
I'll have you put in chains.
DIONYSUS:
You're quite ignorant
of
why you live, what you do, and who you are.
PENTHEUS: I am Pentheus, son of Agave and Echion.
DIONYSUS: A suitable name. It suggests misfortune.
PENTHEUS: [to his
soldiers] Go
now.
Lock
him up—in the adjoining stables.
That
way he'll see nothing but the
darkness.
[510]
There
you can dance. As for all those women,
those
partners in crime you brought along with you,
we'll
sell them off or keep them here as
slaves,
640
working
our looms, once we've stopped their hands
beating
those drum skins, making all that noise.
[Exit Pentheus into the palace, leaving Dionysus with the soldiers]
DIONYSUS: I'll go, then. For
I won't have to suffer
what
won't occur. But you can be sure of this—
Dionysus,
whom you claim does not exist,
will
go after you for retribution
after
all your insolence. He's the one
you
put in chains when you treat me unjustly.
[The soldiers lead Dionysus away to an area beside the palace]
CHORUS: O Sacred Dirce, blessed
maiden,
daughter
of
Achelous,
650 [520]
your
streams once received
the
new-born child of Zeus,
when
his father snatched him
from those immortal fires,
then
hid him in his thigh,
crying
out these words,
"Go, Dithyrambus,
enter
my male womb.
I'll
make you known as Bacchus
to
all those in
Thebes,
660
who'll
invoke you with that name."
But
you, o sacred
Dirce,
[530]
why
do you resist me,
my
garland-bearing company,
along
your river banks?
Why
push me away?
Why
seek to flee from me?
I
tell you, you'll find joy
in
grape-filled vines from Dionysus.
They'll
make you love
him.
670
What
rage, what rage
shows
up in that earth-bound race
of
Pentheus, born to
Echion,
[540]
an
earth-bound mortal.
He's
descended from a snake,
that
Pentheus, a savage beast,
not
a normal mortal man,
but some bloody monster
who
fights against the gods.
He'll
soon bind me in
chains,
680
as
a worshipper of Bacchus.
Already
he holds in his house
my
fellow Bacchic revelers,
hidden
there in some dark cell.
Do
you see, Dionysus,
child
of Zeus, your
followers
[550]
fighting
their oppression?
Come
down, my lord,
down
from Olympus,
wave
your golden
thyrsus,
690
to
cut short the profanities
of
this blood-thirsty man.
Where
on Mount Nysa,
which
nourishes wild beasts,
where
on the Corcyrean heights,
where
do you wave your thyrsus
over
your worshippers,
oh
Dionysus?
Perhaps
in those thick
woods
[560]
of
Mount
Olympus,
700
where
Orpheus once played his lyre,
brought
trees together with his songs,
collecting
wild beasts round him.
Oh
blessed Peiria,
whom
Dionysus loves—
he'll
come to set you dancing
in
the Bacchic celebrations.
He'll
cross the foaming Axius,
lead
his whirling Maenads on,
[570]
leaving
behind the river
Lydias 710
which
enriches mortal men,
and
which, they say, acts as a father,
nourishing
with many lovely streams
a
land where horses flourish.
[The soldiers move in to round up the chorus of Bacchae. As they do so, the ground begins to shake, thunder sounds, lightning flashes, and the entire palace starts to break apart]
DIONYSUS: [shouting from within
the palace]
Io!
Hear me, hear me as I call you.
Io!
Bacchae! Io Bacchae!
CHORUS: [a confusion of
different voices in the following speeches]
Who's
that? Who is it? It's Dionysus' voice!
It's
calling me. But from what direction?
DIONYSUS: [From inside the
palace] Io! Io! I'm calling out again— [580]
the
son of Semele, a child of
Zeus!
720
CHORUS: Io! Io! Lord and master!
Come
join our company,
Bromius,
oh Bromius!
DIONYSUS: [From inside] Sacred lord of earthquakes, shake this ground.
[The earthquake tremors resume]
CHORUS VOICE 1: Ai! Soon
Pentheus' palace
will
be shaken into rubble.
CHORUS VOICE 2: Dionysus is in the house—revere him.
CHORUS VOICE 3: We revere him, we revere him. [590]
CHORUS VOICE 4: You see those stone
lintels on the pillars—
they're
splitting up. It's Bromius
calling,
730
shouting
to us from inside the walls.
DIONYSUS: [from inside the
palace] Let fiery lightning strike right now—
burn
Pentheus' palace—consume it all!
CHORUS VOICE 5: Look! Don't you see
the fire—
there
by the sacred tomb of Semele!
The
flame left by that thunderbolt from Zeus,
when
the lightning flash destroyed her,
all
that time ago. Oh Maenads—
throw
your bodies on the ground, down,
down,
[600]
for
our master, Zeus' son, moves
now
740
against
the palace—to demolish it.
[Enter Dionysus, bursting through the palace front doors, free of all chains, smiling and supremely confident.]
DIONYSUS: Ah, my barbarian Asian
women,
Do
you lie there on the ground prostrate with fear?
It
seems you feel Dionysus' power,
as
he rattles Pentheus' palace.
Get
up now. Be brave. And stop your trembling.
CHORUS LEADER: How happy I am to
see you—
Our
greatest light in all the joyful dancing.
We
felt alone and totally
abandoned.
DIONYSUS: Did you feel despair when
I was sent
away,
750 [610]
cast
down in Pentheus' gloomy dungeon?
CHORUS LEADER: How could I not?
Who'll protect me
if
you run into trouble? But tell me,
how
did you escape that ungodly man?
DIONYSUS: No trouble. I saved myself with ease.
CHORUS LEADER: But didn't he bind up your hands up in chains?
DIONYSUS: In this business I
was playing with him—
he
thought he was tying me up, the fool!
He
didn't even touch or handle me,
he
was so busy feeding his
desires.
760
In
that stable where he went to tie me up,
he
found a bull. He threw the iron fetters
around
its knees and hooves. As he did so,
he
kept panting in his rage, dripping
sweat
[620]
from
his whole body—his teeth gnawed his lip.
I
watched him, sitting quietly nearby.
After
a while, Bacchus came and shook the place,
setting
his mother Semele's tomb on fire.
Seeing
that, Pentheus thought his palace
was
burning down. He ran round, here and
there,
770
yelling
to his slaves to bring more water.
His
servants set to work—and all for nothing!
Once
I'd escaped, he ended all that work.
Seizing
a dark sword, he rushed inside the house.
Then,
it seems to me, but I'm guessing now,
Bromius
set up out there in the
courtyard
[630]
some
phantom image. Pentheus charged it,
slashing
away at nothing but bright air,
thinking
he was butchering me. There's more—
Bacchus
kept hurting him in still more
ways.
780
He
knocked his house down, right to the ground,
all
shattered, so Pentheus has witnessed
a
bitter end to my imprisonment.
He's
dropped his sword, worn out, exhausted,
a
mere mortal daring to fight a god.
So
now I've strolled out calmly to you,
leaving
the house, ignoring Pentheus.
Wait!
It seems to me I hear marching feet—
no
doubt he'll come out front here soon enough.
What
will he say, I wonder, after
this?
790
Well,
I'll deal with him quite
gently,
[640]
even
if he comes out breathing up a storm.
After
all, a wise man ought to keep his temper.
[Pentheus comes hurriedly out of the palace, accompanied by armed soldiers]
PENTHEUS: What's happening to me—total
disaster!
The
stranger's escaped, and we'd just chained him up.
[Seeing Dionysus]
Ah
ha! Here is the man—right here.
What's
going on? How did you get out?
How
come you're here, outside my palace?
DIONYSUS: Hold on. Calm down. Don't be so angry.
PENTHEUS: How did you escape your chains and get here? 800
DIONYSUS: Didn't I say someone
would release me—
or did you miss that part?
PENTHEUS:
Who was
it?
[650]
You're
always explaining things in riddles.
DIONYSUS: It was the one who
cultivates for men
the
richly clustering vine.
PENTHEUS:
Ah, this Dionysus.
Your
words are a lovely insult to your god.
DIONYSUS: He came to Thebes with nothing but good things.
PENTHEUS: [To soldiers] Seal
off all the towers on my orders—
all
of them around the city.
DIONYSUS:
What for?
Surely
a god can make it over any
wall?
810
PENTHEUS: You're so wise, except in
all those things
in which you should be wise.
DIONYSUS:
I was born wise,
especially
in matters where I need to be.
[Enter the Messenger, a cattle herder from the hills]
DIONYSUS: But first you'd better
listen to this man,
hear
what he has to say, for he's come here
from
the mountains to report to you.
I'll
still be here for you. I won't run off.
MESSENGER: Pentheus, ruler of this
land of
Thebes,
[660]
I've
just left Cithaeron, that mountain
where
the sparkling snow never melts
away.
820
PENTHEUS: What this important news you've come with?
MESSENGER: I saw those women in
their Bacchic revels,
those
sacred screamers, all driven crazy,
the
ones who run barefoot from their homes.
I
came, my lord, to tell you and the city
the
dreadful things they're doing, their actions
are
beyond all wonder. But, my lord,
first
I wish to know if I should tell you,
openly
report what's going on up there,
or
whether I should hold my
tongue.
830
Your
mood changes so fast I get afraid—
[670]
your
sharp spirit, your all-too-royal temper.
PENTHEUS: Speak on. Whatever
you have to report,
you'll
get no punishment at all from me.
It's
not right to vent one's anger on the just.
The
more terrible the things you tell me
about
those Bacchic women, the worse
I'll move against the one who
taught them
all their devious tricks.
MESSENGER:
The grazing cattle
were
just moving into upland
pastures, 840
at
the hour the sun sends out its beams
to
warm the earth. Right then I saw them—
three
groups of dancing women. One of
them
[680]
Autonoe
led. Your mother, Agave,
led
the second group, and Ino led the third.
They
were all asleep, bodies quite relaxed,
some
leaning back on leafy boughs of pine,
others cradling heads on oak-leaf pillows,
resting
on the ground—in all modesty.
They
weren't as you described—all drunk on
wine
850
or
on the music of their flutes, hunting
for
Aphrodite in the woods alone.
Once
she heard my horned cattle lowing,
your
mother stood up amid those Bacchae,
then called them to stir their limbs from sleep.
They rubbed refreshing sleep out of their
eyes,
[690]
and
stood up straight there—a marvelous sight,
to
see such an orderly arrangement,
women
young and old and still unmarried girls.
First,
they let their hair loose down their
shoulders,
860
tied
up the fawn skins (some had untied the knots
to loosen up the chords). Then around those skins
they
looped some snakes, who licked the women's cheeks.
Some
held young gazelles or wild wolf cubs
and
fed them on their own white milk, the
ones
[700]
who'd
left behind at home a new-born child
whose breasts were still swollen
full of milk.
They
draped themselves with garlands from oak trees,
ivy and flowering yew. Then one of them,
taking
a thyrsus, struck a rock with
it,
870
and
water gushed out, fresh as dew. Another,
using
her thyrsus, scraped the ground. At once,
the
god sent fountains of wine up from the spot.
All
those who craved white milk to drink
just
scratched the earth with their fingertips—
it came out in streams. From their ivy
wands
[710]
thick sweet honey dripped. Oh, if you'd been there,
if
you'd seen this, you'd come with reverence
to
that god whom you criticize so much.
Well,
we cattle herders and shepherds
met
880
to
discuss and argue with each other
about
the astonishing things we'd seen.
And
then a man who'd been in town a bit
and
had a way with words said to us all,
"You
men who live in the holy regions
of
these mountains, how'd you like to hunt down
Pentheus'
mother, Agave—take
her
[720]
away
from these Bacchic celebrations,
do the king a favour?" To all of us
he
seemed to make good sense. So we set
up
890
an ambush, hiding in the bushes,
lying
down there. At the appointed time,
the
women started their Bacchic ritual,
brandishing
the thyrsus and calling out
to
the god they cry to, Bromius, Zeus' son.
The
entire mountain and its wild animals
were,
like them, in one Bacchic ecstasy.
As
these women moved, they made all things dance.
Agave,
by chance, was dancing close to me.
Leaving
the ambush where I'd been
concealed,
900
I
jumped out, hoping to grab hold of
her.
[730]
But
she screamed out, "Oh, my quick hounds,
men
are hunting us. Come, follow me.
Come
on, armed with that thyrsus in your hand."
We
ran off, and so escaped being torn apart.
But
then those Bacchic women, all unarmed,
went at the
heifers browsing on the turf,
using their bare hands. You should have seen one
ripping
a fat, young, lowing calf apart—
others
tearing cows in pieces with their
hands.
910
You
could've seen ribs and cloven hooves
[740]
tossed
everywhere—some hung up in branches
dripping
blood and gore. And bulls, proud beasts till then,
with
angry horns, collapsed there on the ground,
dragged
down by the hands of a thousand girls.
Hides
covering their bodies were stripped off
faster
than you could wink your royal eye.
Then,
like birds carried up by their own speed,
they
rushed along the lower level ground,
beside
Asopus' streams, that fertile
land
920
which
yields its crops to Thebes. Like fighting
troops,
[750]
they
raided Hysiae and Erythrae,
below
rocky Cithaeron, smashing
everything,
snatching children from their homes.
Whatever
they carried their shoulders,
even
bronze or iron, never tumbled off
onto
the dark earth, though nothing was tied down.
They
carried fire in their hair, but those flames
never singed them. Some of the villagers,
enraged
at being plundered by the
Bacchae,
930
seized
weapons. The sight of what happened
next,
[760]
my
lord, was dreadful. For their pointed spears
did
not draw blood. But when those women
threw
the thrysoi in their hands, they wounded them
and
drove them back in flight. The women did this
to
men, but not without some god's assistance.
Then
they went back to where they'd started from,
those
fountains which the god had made for them.
They
washed off the blood. Snakes licked their cheeks,
cleansing
their skin of every drop. My
lord,
940
you
must welcome this god into our city,
whoever
he is. He's a mighty
god
[770]
in
many other ways. The people say,
so
I've heard, he gives to mortal human beings
that
vine which puts an end to human grief.
Without
wine, there's no more Aphrodite—
or
any other pleasure left for men.
CHORUS LEADER: I'm afraid to talk
freely before the king,
but
nonetheless I'll speak—this Dionysus
is
not inferior to any
god.
950
PENTHEUS: This Dionysian arrogance,
like fire,
keeps
flaring up close by—a great insult
to
all the Greeks. We must not hesitate.
[To one of his armed attendants]
Go
to the Electra Gates. Call out the
troops,
[780]
the
heavy infantry, all fast cavalry.
Tell
them to muster, along with all those
who
carry shields—all the archers, too,
the men who pull the
bowstring back by hand.
We'll
march out against these Bacchae.
In this
whole business we will lose control,
960
if
we have to put up with what we've suffered
from
these women.
DIONYSUS:
You've heard what I had to say,
Pentheus,
but still your not convinced.
Though
I'm suffering badly at your hands,
I
say you shouldn't go to war against a god.
You
should stay calm. Bromius will not let
you
[790]
move
his Bacchae from their mountains.
PENTHEUS: Don't preach to me!
You've got out of prison—
enjoy
that fact. Or shall I punish you some more?
DIONYSUS: I'd sooner make an
offering to that
god
970
than
in some angry fit kick at his whip—
a
mortal going to battle with a god.
PENTHEUS: I'll sacrifice all right—with
a slaughter
of
those women, just as they deserve—
in
the forests on Cithaeron.
DIONYSUS:
You'll all run.
What
a disgrace! To turn your bronze shields round,
fleeing
the thyrsoi of those Bacchic women!
PENTHEUS: [turning to one of his
armed attendants, as if to go]
It's
useless trying to argue with this stranger—
[800]
whatever
he does or suffers, he won't shut up.
DIONYSUS [calling Pentheus back]
My
lord! There's still a chance to end this
calmly.
980
PENTHEUS: By doing what?
Should I become a slave
to
my own slaves?
DIONYSUS:
I'll bring the women here—
without
the use of any weapons.
PENTHEUS:
I don't think so.
You're
setting me up for your tricks again.
DIONYSUS: What sort of trick,
if I want to save you
in
my own way?
PENTHEUS:
You've made some arrangement,
you
and your god, so you can always dance
your
Bacchanalian orgies.
DIONYSUS:
Yes, that's true.
I
have made some arrangement with the god.
PENTHEUS: [to one of his armed
servants]
You
there, bring me my
weapons.
[to
Dionysus]
And
you,
990
No
more talk! Keep quiet!
DIONYSUS: Just a minute! [810]
[moving up to Pentheus]
How'd
you like to gaze upon those women out there,
sitting
together in the mountains?
PENTHEUS:
I'd like that.
Yes,
for that I'd pay in gold—and pay a lot.
DIONYSUS: Why is that? Why do you desire it so much?
PENTHEUS: I'd be sorry to see the women drunk.
DIONYSUS: Would you derive pleasure
from looking on,
viewing
something you find painful?
PENTHEUS:
Yes, I would—
if
I were sitting in the trees in silence.
DIONYSUS: But even
if you go there
secretly,
1000
they'll
track you down.
PENTHEUS:
You're right.
I'll
go there openly.
DIONYSUS:
So you're prepared,
are
you, to make the trip? Shall I lead you there?
PENTHEUS: Let's go, and with all speed. I've got time. [820]
DIONYSUS: In that case, you must
clothe your body
in
a dress—one made of eastern linen.
PENTHEUS: What! I'm not going up
there as a
man?
I've
got to change myself into a woman?
DIONYSUS: If they see you as a man, they'll kill you.
PENTHEUS: Right again. You always have the answer. 1010
DIONYSUS: Dionysus taught me all these things.
PENTHEUS: How can I best follow your suggestion?
DIONYSUS: I'll go inside your house and dress you up.
PENTHEUS: What? Dress up in a
female outfit?
I
can't do that—I'd be ashamed to.
DIONYSUS: You're still keen to see the Maenads, aren't you?
PENTHEUS: What sort of clothing do
you recommend?
How
should I cover up my
body?
[830]
DIONYSUS: I'll fix up a long hair piece for your head.
PENTHEUS: All right. What's the next piece of my outfit? 1020
DIONYSUS: A dress down to your feet—then
a headband,
to
fit just here, around your forehead.
PENTHEUS: What else? What other things will you provide?
DIONYSUS: A thyrsus to hold and a dappled fawn skin.
PENTHEUS: No. I can't dress up in women's clothes!
DIONYSUS: But if you go fighting
with these Bacchae,
you'll
cause bloodshed.
PENTHEUS:
Yes, that's true.
So
first, we must go up and spy on them.
DIONYSUS: Hunt down evil by
committing evil—
that
sounds like a wise way to
proceed.
1030
PENTHEUS: But how will I make it
through the city
without
the Thebans noticing
me?
[840]
DIONYSUS: We go by deserted streets. I'll take you.
PENTHEUS: Well, anything's easier
to accept
than
being made a fool by Bacchic women.
Let's
go into the house. I'll think about what's best.
DIONYSUS: As you wish. Whatever you do, I'm ready.
PENTHEUS: I think I'll go in
now. It's a choice
of
going with weapons or taking your advice.
[Exit Pentheus into the palace. Dionysus turns to face the chorus]
DIONYSUS: My women! that man's now
entangled in our net. 1040
He'll
go to those Bacchae, and there he'll die.
That
will be his punishment. Dionysus,
you're
not far away. Now it's up to you.
Punish
him. First, make sure he goes
insane
[850]
with
some crazed fantasy. If his mind is strong,
he'll not agree to put on women's clothes.
But
he'll do it, if you make him mad.
I
want him made the laughing stock of Thebes,
while
I lead him through the city, mincing
as
he moves along in women's
clothing,
1050
after
he made himself so terrifying
with
all those earlier threats. Now I'll be off,
to
fit Pentheus into the costume
he'll
wear when he goes down to Hades,
once
he's butchered by his mother's hands.
He'll
come to acknowledge Dionysus,
son
of Zeus, born in full
divinity,
[860]
most
fearful and yet most kind to men.
[Exit Dionysus]
CHORUS: Oh, when will I be dancing,
leaping
barefoot through the
night,
1060
flinging
back my head in ecstasy,
in
the clear, cold, dew-fresh air—
like
a playful fawn
celebrating
its green joy
across
the meadows—
joy
that it's escaped the fearful hunt—
as
she runs beyond the hunters,
leaping past their woven nets—
[870]
they
call out to their hounds
to
chase her with still more
speed,
1070
but
she strains every limb,
racing
like a wind storm,
rejoicing
by the river plain,
in
places where no hunters lurk,
in
the green living world
beneath
the shady branches,
the
foliage of the trees.
What
is wisdom? What is finer
than
the rights men get from gods—
to
hold their powerful
hands
1080
over
the heads of their enemies?
[880]
Ah
yes, what's good is always loved.
The
power of the gods
is difficult to stir—
but
it's a power we can count on.
It
punishes all mortal men
who
honour their own ruthless wills,
who,
in their fits of madness,
fail
to reverence the gods.
Gods
track down every
man
1090
who
scorns their worship,
using
their cunning to conceal
the
enduring steady pace of time.
[890]
For
there's no righteousness
in
those who recognize or practice
what's
beyond our customary laws.
The
truth is easy to acknowledge:
whatever
is divine is mighty,
whatever
has been long-established law
is
an eternal natural
truth.
1100
What
is wisdom? What is finer
than
the rights men get from gods—
to
hold their powerful
hands
over
the heads of their enemies?
[900]
Ah
yes, what's good is always loved.
Whoever
has escaped a storm at sea
is
a happy man in harbour,
whoever
overcomes great hardship
is
likewise another happy man.
Various
men out-do each
other
1110
in
wealth, in power,
in
all sorts of ways.
The
hopes of countless men
are
infinite in number.
Some
make men rich;
some
come to nothing.
So
I consider that man blessed
who
lives a happy
life
[910]
existing
day by day.
[Enter Dionysus from the palace. He calls back through the open doors]
DIONYSUS: You who are so
desperately
eager
1120
to
see those things you should not look upon,
so
keen to chase what you should not pursue—
I
mean you, Pentheus, come out here now,
outside
the palace, where I can see you
dressed
up as a raving Bacchic female,
to
spy upon your mother's company.
[Enter Pentheus dressed in women's clothing. He moves in a deliberately over-stated female way, enjoying the role]
DIONYSUS: [admiringly, as he
escorts Pentheus from the doors]
You
look just like one of Cadmus' daughters.
PENTHEUS: Fancy that! I seem to see
two suns,
two
images of seven-gated Thebes.
And
you look like a bull leading me out
here, 1130
[920]
with
those horns growing from your head.
Were
you once upon a time a beast?
It's
certain now you've changed into a bull.
DIONYSUS: The god walks here.
He's made a pact with us.
Before
his attitude was not so kind.
Now
you're seeing just what you ought to see.
PENTHEUS: How do I look? Am I
holding myself
just
like Ino or my mother, Agave?
DIONYSUS: When I look at you,
I think I see them.
But
here, this strand of hair is out of
place.
1140
It's
not under the headband where I fixed it.
PENTHEUS: [demonstrating his
dancing steps]
I
must have worked it loose inside the
house,
[930]
shaking
my head when I moved here and there,
practising
my Bacchanalian dance.
DIONYSUS: I'll rearrange it for
you. It's only right
that
I should serve you. Straighten up your head.
[Dionysus begins adjusting Pentheus' hair and clothing]
PENTHEUS: All right
then. You can be my dresser,
now
that I've transformed myself for you.
DIONYSUS: Your girdle's
loose. And these pleats in your dress
are
crooked, too, down at your ankle here.
1150
PENTHEUS: [examining the back of
his legs]
Yes,
that seems to be true for my right leg,
but
on this side the dress hangs perfectly,
down
the full length of my limb.
DIONYSUS:
Once you see
those
Bacchic women acting modestly,
once
you confront something you don't
expect,
[940]
you'll
consider me your dearest friend.
PENTHEUS: This thyrsus—should I
hold it in my right hand,
or
in my left? Which is more suitable
in
Bacchic celebrations?
DIONYSUS:
In your right.
You
must lift your right foot in time with
it.
1160
[Dionysus observes Pentheus trying out the dance step]
DIONYSUS: Your mind has changed. I applaud you for it.
PENTHEUS: Will I be powerful enough
to carry
the
forests of Cithaeron on my shoulders,
along
with all those Bacchic females?
DIONYSUS: If you have desire,
you'll have the power.
Before
this your mind was not well adjusted.
But
now it's working in you as it should.
PENTHEUS: Are we going to take some
levers with us?
Or
shall I rip the forests up by hand,
putting
arm and shoulder under mountain
peaks?
1170 [950]
DIONYSUS: As long as you don't do
away with
those
places where the nymphs all congregate,
where
Pan plays his music on his pipes.
PENTHEUS: You mention a good
point. I'll use no force
to
get the better of these women.
I'll
conceal myself there in the pine trees.
DIONYSUS: You'll find just the sort
of hiding place
a
spy should find who wants to hide himself,
so
he can gaze upon the Maenads.
PENTHEUS: That's good. I can
picture them right
now,
1180
in
the woods, going at it like rutting birds,
clutching
each other as they make sweet love.
DIONYSUS: Perhaps. That's why
you're going—as a guard
to
stop all that. Maybe you'll capture
them,
[960]
unless
you're captured first.
PENTHEUS:
Lead on—
through
the centre of our land of Thebes.
I'm
the only man in all the city
who
dares to undertake this enterprise.
DIONYSUS: You bear the city's
burden by yourself,
all
by yourself. So your work is waiting there,
1190
the
tasks that have been specially set for you.
Follow
me. I'm the guide who'll rescue you.
When
you return someone else will bring you back.
PENTHEUS: That will be my mother.
DIONYSUS:
For everyone
you'll
have become someone to celebrate.
PENTHEUS: That's why I'm going.
DIONYSUS: You'll be carried back . . .
PENTHEUS: [interrupting] You're pampering me!
DIONYSUS: [continuing] . . . in your mother's arms.
PENTHEUS: You've really made up your mind to spoil me.
DIONYSUS: To spoil you? That's true, but in my own way.
PENTHEUS: Then I'll be off to get what I deserve. 1200 [970]
[Exit Pentheus]
DIONYSUS: [speaking in the
direction Pentheus has gone, but not speaking to him]
You
fearful, terrifying man—on your way
to
horrific suffering. Well, you'll win
a
towering fame, as high as heaven.
Hold
out your hand to him, Agave,
you,
too, her sisters, Cadmus' daughters.
I'm
leading this young man in your direction,
for
the great confrontation, where I'll triumph—
I
and Bromius. What else will happen
events
will show, as they occur.
[Exit Dionysus]
CHORUS 1: Up now, you hounds of
madness,
1210
go
up now into the mountains,
go
where Cadmus' daughters
keep
their company of worshippers,
[980]
goad
them into furious revenge
against
that man, that raving spy,
all
dressed up in his women's clothes,
so
keen to glimpse the Maenads.
His
mother will see him first,
as
he spies on them in secret
from
some level rock or
crag.
1220
She'll
scream out to her Maenads,
"Who's
the man who's come here,
to
the mountains, to these mountains,
tracking
Cadmean mountain dancers?
Oh
my Bacchae, who has come?
From whom was this man
born?
He's
not born of woman's blood—
he
must be some lioness' whelp
or spawned from Libyan
gorgons."
[990]
CHORUS: Let justice manifest itself—
1230
let
justice march, sword in hand,
to
stab him in the throat,
that
godless, lawless man,
unjust
earthborn seed of Echion.
CHORUS 2: Any man intent on
wickedness,
turning
his unlawful rage
against
your rites, O Bacchus,
against
the worship of your mother,
a
man who sets out with an insane mind,
[1000]
his
courage founded on a
falsehood,
1240
who seeks to overcome by force
what
simply can't be overcome—
let
death set his intentions straight.
For
a life devoid of grief is one
which
receives without complaint
whatever
comes down from the gods—
that's
how mortals ought to live.
Wisdom
is something I don't envy.
My
joy comes hunting other things
lofty
and plain to
everyone.
1250
They
lead man's life to good
in
purity and reverence,
honouring
gods day and night,
eradicating from our lives
customs lying beyond
what's right.
[1010]
CHORUS: Let justice manifest itself—
Let
justice march, sword in hand,
to
stab him in the throat,
that
godless, lawless man,
unjust
earthborn seed of
Echion.
1260
CHORUS 3: Appear now to our sight,
O Bacchus—
come
as a bull or many-headed serpent
or
else some fire-breathing lion.
Go
now, Bacchus, with your smiling
face
[1020]
cast
your deadly noose upon
that
hunter of the Bacchae,
as
the group of Maenads brings him down.
[Enter Second Messenger, one of Pentheus' attendants]
SECOND MESSENGER: How I grieve for
this house, in earlier days
so
happy throughout Greece, home of that old man,
Cadmus
from Sidon, who sowed the
fields
1270
to
harvest the earth-born crop produced
from serpent Ophis. How I
now lament—
I
know I'm just a slave, but nonetheless . . .
CHORUS [They sing or chant their
responses to the Messenger]
Do you bring us news?
Has
something happened,
something
about the Bacchae?
SECOND MESSENGER: Pentheus, child of Echion, is dead. [1030]
CHORUS: O my lord Bromius,
Now
your divine greatness
is
here made
manifest!
1280
SECOND MESSENGER: What are you
saying? Why that song?
Women,
how can you now rejoice like this
for
the death of one who was my master?
CHORUS LEADER: We're strangers here
in Thebes,
so
we sing out our joy
in
chants from foreign lands.
No
longer need we cower here
in
fear of prisoner's chains.
SECOND MESSENGER: Do you think
Thebes lacks sufficient men
to
take care of your
punishment?
1290
CHORUS: Dionysus, oh Dionysus,
he's
the one with power over me—
not
Thebes.
SECOND MESSENGER: That you may be
forgiven, but to cry
aloud
with joy when such disasters come,
women,
that's not something you should so.
[1040]
CHORUS: Speak to me, tell all—
How
did death strike him down,
that
unrighteous man,
that
man who acted so
unjustly?
1300
SECOND MESSENGER: Once we'd left
the settlements of Thebes,
we
went across the river Asopus,
then
started the climb up Mount Cithaeron—
Pentheus
and myself, I following the king.
The
stranger was our guide, scouting the way.
First,
we sat down in a grassy meadow,
keeping
our feet and tongues quite silent,
so
we could see without being
noticed.
[1050]
There
was a valley there shut in by cliffs.
Through
it refreshing waters flowed, with
pines
1310
providing
shade. The Maenads sat there,
their
hands all busy with delightful work—
some
of them with ivy strands repairing
damaged thyrsoi, while others sang,
chanting
Bacchic songs to one another,
carefree
as fillies freed from harness.
Then Pentheus, that unhappy man,
not
seeing the crowd of women, spoke up,
"Stranger,
I can't see from where we're standing.
My
eyes can't glimpse those crafty
Maenads.
1320 [1060]
But
up there, on that hill, a pine tree stands.
If
I climbed that, I might see those women,
and
witness the disgraceful things they do."
Then
I saw that stranger work a marvel.
He
seized that pine tree's topmost branch—
it
stretched up to heaven—and brought it down,
pulling
it to the dark earth, bending it
as
if it were a bow or some curved wheel
forced
into a circle while staked out with pegs—
[Exit Messenger]
CHORUS: Let's dance to
honour Bacchus,
Let's shout to celebrate what's happened here,
happened to Pentheus,
child of the serpent,
who put on women's clothes,
who took up the beautiful and blessed thyrsus—
his certain death,
disaster brought on by the bull.
You Bacchic
women
1440 [1160]
descended from old Cadmus,
you've won glorious victory,
one which ends in tears,
which ends in lamentation.
A noble undertaking this,
to drench one's hands in blood,
life blood dripping from one's only son.
CHORUS LEADER: Wait! I
see Agave, Pentheus' mother,
on her way home, her eyes transfixed.
Let's now welcome her,
1450
the happy revels of our god of
joy!
[Enter Agave, cradling the head of Pentheus]
AGAVE: Asian Bacchae . . .
CHORUS: Why do you appeal to me?
AGAVE: [displaying the head]
From the mountains I've brought home [1170]
this ivy tendril freshly cut.
We've had a blessed hunt.
CHORUS:
I see it.
As your fellow dancer, I'll accept it.
AGAVE: I caught this young
lion without a trap,
as you can see.
CHORUS: What desert was he in?
AGAVE: Cithaeron.
CHORUS: On Cithaeron?
AGAVE: Cithaeron killed him.
CHORUS: Who struck him down? 1460
AGAVE: The honour of the first blow
goes to
me.
In the dancing I'm called blessed
Agave.
[1180]
CHORUS: Who else?
AGAVE: Well, from Cadmus . . .
CHORUS: From Cadmus what?
AGAVE: His other children laid
hands on the beast,
but after me—only after I did first.
We've had good hunting. So come, share our feast.
CHORUS: What? You want me to eat
that with you?
Oh you unhappy woman.
AGAVE: This is a young bull.
Look at this cheek
It's just growing downy under the
crop
1470
of his soft hair.
CHORUS:
His hair makes him
resemble
some wild beast.
AGAVE:
Bacchus is a clever huntsman—
[1190]
he wisely set his Maenads on this beast.
CHORUS: Yes, our master is indeed a hunter.
AGAVE: Have you any praise for me?
CHORUS: I praise you.
AGAVE: Soon all Cadmus' people. . .
CHORUS: . . . and Pentheus, your son, as well.
AGAVE: . . . will celebrate his
mother, who caught the beast,
just like a lion.
CHORUS: It's a strange trophy.
AGAVE: And strangely captured, too.
CHORUS: You're proud of what you've done?
AGAVE: Yes, I'm delighted.
Great things I've done—
1480
great things on this hunt, clear for all to
see.
CHORUS: Well then, you most unfortunate
woman,
[1200]
show off your hunting prize, your sign of victory,
to all the citizens.
AGAVE: [addressing everyone]
All of you here,
all you living in the land of Thebes,
in this city with its splendid walls,
come see this wild beast we hunted down—
daughters of Cadmus—not with thonged spears,
Thessalian javelins, or by using nets,
but with our own white hands, our finger
tips.
1490
After this, why should huntsmen boast
aloud,
when no one needs the implements they use?
We caught this beast by hand, tore it apart—
[1210]
with our own hands. But where's my father?
He should come here. And where's Pentheus?
Where is my son? He should take a ladder,
set it against the house, fix this lion's head
way up there, high on the palace front.
I've captured it and brought it home with me.
[Enter Cadmus and attendants, carrying parts of Pentheus' body]
CADMUS: Follow me, all those of you
who
carry
1500
some part of wretched Pentheus. You
slaves,
come here, right by the house.
[They place the bits of Pentheus' body together in a chest front of the palace]
I'm worn out.
So many searches—but I picked up the body.
I came across it in the rocky clefts
on Mount Cithaeron, ripped to
pieces,
[1220]
no parts lying together in one place.
It was in the woods—difficult to search.
Someone told me what my daughter'd done,
those horrific acts, once I'd come back,
returning here with old
Tiresias,
1510
inside the city walls, back from the
Bacchae.
So I climbed the mountains once again.
Now I bring home this child the Maenads killed.
I saw Autonoe, who once bore
Actaeon to Aristeius—and Ino,
she was with her there, in the forest,
both still possessed, quite mad, poor creatures.
Someone said Agave was coming
here,
[1230]
still doing her Bacchic dance. He spoke the truth,
for I see her there—what a wretched
sight! 1520
AGAVE: Father, now you can be truly
proud.
Among all living men you've produced
by far the finest daughters. I'm talking
of all of us, but especially of myself.
I've left behind my shuttle and my loom,
and risen to great things, catching wild beasts
with my bare hands. Now I've captured him,
I'm holding in my arms the finest trophy,
as you can see, bringing it back home to you,
so it may hang here.
[offering him Pentheus' head]
Take this,
father 1530 [1240]
let your hands welcome it. Be proud of
it,
of what I've caught. Summon all your friends—
have a banquet, for you are blessed indeed,
blessed your daughters have achieved these things.
CADMUS: This grief's beyond
measure, beyond endurance.
With these hands of yours you've murdered him.
You strike down this sacrificial victim,
this offering to the gods, then invite me,
and all of Thebes, to share a banquet.
Alas—first for your sorrow, then my
own.
1540
Lord god Bromius, born into this family,
has destroyed us, acting out his justice,
[1250]
but too much so.
AGAVE:
Why such scowling eyes?
How sorrowful and solemn old men become.
As for my son, I hope he's a fine hunter,
who copies his mother's hunting style,
when he rides out with young men of Thebes
chasing after creatures in the wild.
The only thing he seems capable of doing
is fighting with the gods. It's up to
you,
1550
father, to reprimand him for it.
Who'll call him here into my sight,
so he can see my good luck for himself?
CADMUS: Alas! Alas!
What dreadful pain you'll feel
when you recognize what you've just
done.
[1260]
If you stay forever in your present state,
you'll be unfortunate, but you won't feel
as if you're suffering unhappiness.
AGAVE: But what in all this is wrong or painful?
CADMUS: First, raise your eyes. Look up into the sky. 1560
AGAVE: All right. But why tell me to look up there?
CADMUS: Does the sky still seem the
same to you,
or has it changed?
AGAVE:
It seems, well, brighter . . .
more translucent than it was before.
CADMUS: And your inner spirit—is it still shaking?
AGAVE: I don't understand what it
is you're asking.
But my mind is starting to clear somehow.
It's changing . . . it's not what it was
before.
[1270]
CADMUS: Can you hear me? Can you answer clearly?
AGAVE: Yes. But, father, what
we discussed
before, 1570
I've quite forgotten.
CADMUS:
Then tell me this—
to whose house did you come when you got married?
AGAVE: You gave me to Echion, who,
men say,
was one of those who grew from seeds you cast.
CADMUS: In that house you bore your
husband a child.
What was his name?
AGAVE:
His name was Pentheus.
I conceived him with his father.
CADMUS:
Well then,
this head your hands are holding—whose is it?
AGAVE: It's a lion's. That's what the hunters said.
CADMUS: Inspect it carefully.
You can do
that
1580
without much effort.
AGAVE: [inspecting the head]
What is this?
What am I looking at? What am I
holding?
[1280]
CADMUS: Look at it. You'll understand more clearly.
AGAVE: What I see fills me with
horrific pain . . .
such agony . . .
CADMUS:
Does it still seem to you
to be a lion's head?
AGAVE:
No. It's appalling—
this head I'm holding belongs to Pentheus.
CADMUS: Yes, that's right. I
was lamenting his fate
before you recognized him.
AGAVE:
Who killed him?
How did he come into my
hands?
CADMUS:
Harsh truth—
1590
how you come to light at the wrong moment.
AGAVE: Tell me. My heart is
pounding in me
to hear what you're about to say.
CADMUS:
You killed him—
you and your sisters.
AGAVE:
Where was he killed?
At home? In what sort of
place?
[1290]
CADMUS:
He was killed
where dogs once made a common meal of Actaeon.
AGAVE: Why did this poor man go to Cithaeron?
CADMUS: He went there to ridicule
the god
and you for celebrating Dionysus.
AGAVE: But how did we happen to be up there?
CADMUS: You were insane—the
entire
city
1600
was in a Bacchic madness.
AGAVE:
Now I see.
Dionysus has destroyed us all.
CADMUS: He took offense at being
insulted.
You did not consider him a god.
AGAVE: Father, where's the body of my dearest son?
CADMUS: I had trouble tracking the
body down.
I brought back what I found.
AGAVE:
Are all his limbs laid out
just as they should be? And
Pentheus,
[1300]
what part did he play in my madness?
CADMUS: Like you, he was
irreverent to the
god.
1610
That's why the god linked you and him together
in the same disaster—thus destroying
the house and me, for I've no children left,
now I see this offspring of your womb,
you unhappy woman, cruelly butchered
in the most shameful way. He was the one
who brought new vision to our family.
[Addressing the remains of Pentheus]
My child, you upheld the honour of our house,
my daughter's son. You were feared in
Thebes.
[1310]
No one who saw you ever would insult
me,
1620
though I was old, for you would
then inflict
fit punishment. Now
the mighty Cadmus,
the man who sowed and later harvested
the most splendid crop—the Theban people—
will be an exile, banished from his home,
a dishonoured man. Dearest of men,
even though, my child, you're alive no more,
I count you among those closest to me.
You won't be touching my cheek any more,
holding me in your arms, and calling
me
1630
"grandfather," as you ask me, "Old man,
who's injuring or dishonouring
you?
[1320]
Who upsets your heart with any pain?
Tell me, father, so I can punish him—
anyone who treats you in an unjust way."
Now you're in this horrifying state,
I'm in misery, your mother's pitiful,
and all your relatives are in despair.
If there's a man who disrespects the gods,
let him think about how this man perished—
1640
then he should develop faith in them.
CHORUS LEADER: I'm sorry for
you Cadmus—you're in pain.
But your grandson deserved his punishment.
AGAVE: Father, you see how all has
changed for me.
[From
being your royal and honoured daughter,
the
mother of a king, I'm now transformed—
an
abomination, something to fill
all
people's hearts with horror, with disgust—
the
mother who slaughtered her only son,
who
tore him apart, ripping out the
heart
1650
from
the child who filled her own heart with joy—
all
to honour this god Dionysus.
But,
father, give me your permission now
to
lay out here the body of my son,
prepare
his corpse for proper burial.
CADMUS: That's no easy task to
undertake.
His
body, all the parts I could collect,
lies
here, in this chest, not a pretty sight.
My
own eyes can hardly bear to see him.
But
if you think you can endure the
work,
1660
then,
my child, begin the appropriate rites.
AGAVE: [removing Pentheus' limbs
and placing them on the ground in front of her]
Alas,
for my poor son, my only child,
destroyed
by his mother's Bacchic madness.
How
could these hands of mine, which loved him so,
have
torn these limbs apart, ripped out his flesh.
Here's
an arm which has held me all these years,
growing
stronger as he grew into a man,
his
feet . . . oh, how he used to run to me,
seeking
assurance of his mother's love.
His
face was handsome, on the verge of
manhood.
1670
See
the soft down still resting on these lips,
which
have kissed me thousands of times or more.
All
this, and all the rest, set here before us.
Oh
Zeus and all you Olympian gods . . . .
[She cannot complete the ritual and collapses in grief]
It
makes no sense—it's unendurable.
How
could the god have wished such things on me?
CHORUS LEADER [helping Agave get
up]
Lady,
you must bear what cannot be borne.
Your
suffering is intense, but the god is just.
You
insulted him in Thebes, showed no respect—
you've
brought the punishment upon
yourself.
1680
CHORUS: What is wisdom? What
is finer
than
the rights men get from gods—
to
hold their powerful
hands
over
the heads of their enemies?
Ah
yes, what's good is always loved.
So all praise Dionysus,
praise
the dancing god,
god
of our revelry,
god
whose justice is divine,
whose
justice now reveals
itself.
1690
[Enter Dionysus]
DIONYSUS: Yes, I am Dionysus, son
of Zeus.
You see me now before you as a god.
You Thebans learned about my powers too late.
Dishonouring me, you earn the penalty.
You refused my rites. Now you must leave—
abandon your city for barbarian lands.
Agave, too, that polluted creature,
must go into perpetual banishment.
And Cadmus, you too must endure your lot.]
Your form will change, so you become a
dragon.
1700 [1330]
Your wife, Harmonia, Ares' daughter,
whom you, though mortal, took in marriage,
will be transformed, changing to a snake.
As Zeus' oracle declares, you and she
will drive a chariot drawn by heifers.
You'll rule barbarians. With your armies,
too large to count, you'll raze many cities.
Once they despoil Apollo's oracle,
they'll have a painful journey back again.
But Ares will guard you and
Harmonia.
1710
In lands of the
blessed he'll transform your lives.
That's what I proclaim—I,
Dionysus,
[1340]
born from no mortal father, but from Zeus.
If you had understood how to behave
as you should have when you were unwilling,
you'd now be fortunate, with Zeus' child
among your allies.
CADMUS:
O Dionysus,
we implore you—we've not acted justly.
DIONYSUS: You learn too late.
You were ignorant
when you should have
known.
CADMUS:
Now we
understand.
1720
Your actions against us are too severe.
DIONYSUS: I was born a god, and you insulted me.
CADMUS: Angry gods should not act just like humans.
DIONYSUS: My father Zeus willed all this long ago.
AGAVE: Alas, old man, then this
must be our
fate,
[1350]
a miserable
exile.
DIONYSUS:
Why then delay?
Why postpone what necessity requires?
CADMUS: Child, we've stumbled
into this disaster,
this terrible calamity—you and me,
both in agony—your sisters,
too.
1730
So I'll go out to the barbarians,
a foreign resident in my old age.
And then for me there's that oracle
which says I'll lead a mixed barbarian force
back into Greece. And I'll bring here with me
Harmonia, Ares' daughter, my wife.
I'll have the savage nature of a snake,
as I lead my soldiers to the altars,
to the tombs, in Greece. But even then,
there'll be no end to my wretched
sorrows. 1740
[1360]
I'll never sail the downward plunging Acheron
and reach some final peace.
AGAVE: [embracing Cadmus] Father, I must be exiled without you.
CADMUS: Why do you throw your
arms about me,
my unhappy child, just like some young swan
protecting an old one—gray and helpless.
AGAVE: Because I've no idea where
to go,
once I'm banished from my father's land.
CADMUS: Child, I don't know. Your father's not much help.
AGAVE: Farewell, then, to my
home.
1750
Farewell to my native city.
In my misfortune I abandon you,
an exile from spaces once my
own.
[1370]
CADMUS: Go now to Aristeus' house, my child.
AGAVE: How I grieve for you, my father.
CADMUS: And I grieve for you, my
child,
as I weep for your sisters.
AGAVE: Lord Dionysus has inflicted
such brutal terror on your house.
DIONYSUS: Yes. For at your
hands I suffered, too—
1760
and dreadfully. For here in Thebes
my name received no recognition.
AGAVE: Farewell, father.
CADMUS:
My most unhappy daughter,
may you fare well. That will be hard for
you.
[1380]
AGAVE: Lead on, friends, so I may
take my sisters,
those pitiful women, into exile with me.
May I go somewhere where cursed Cithaeron
will never see me, nor my eyes glimpse
that dreadful mountain, a place far away
from any sacred thyrsus. Let
others
1770
make Bacchic celebrations their concern.
[Exit Agave]
CHORUS: The gods appear in many
forms,
carrying with them unwelcome things.
What people thought would happen never did.
What they did not expect, the gods made happen.
That's what this story has revealed.
[Exeunt Chorus and Cadmus, leaving on stage the remains of Pentheus' body]
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