Bacchae Scholarship

• What was Dodds' interpretation of the Bacchae (Irrationalist)?

  Euripides celebrates uninhibited Dionysian passion and pleasure. Pentheus suffers because he is a puritan, suppressing his emotions and feelings
• What point did Rosie Wyles make about Dionysus's power in the Bacchae?

  "The appearance of Pentheus cross-dressed and with Bacchic accessories offers a visual representation of Dionysus's full control over him."
• What does Garvie say about Dionysus bringing suffering in the Bacchae?

  "The most striking paradox is that the god who throughout the play promises joy will at the end produce only suffering and horror."
• What does Hannah Roisman believe about the scene in which Agave realises she's killed Pentheus?

  "One of the most painful and harrowing scenes in Greek tragedy"
• How does Morwood describe the effect that Dionysus has on Thebes

  "Dionysus has profoundly disrupted the city's social structure"
• How does Garvie describe the theme of joy in the Bacchae?

  "Somehow the despair in the play feels all the darker because of the recurring theme of joy that has preceded it."
• How does Sophie Mills describe Pentheus's attitude towards Dionysus?

  "Pentheus sees Dionysus as a fake and his religion as merely an excuse for women to enjoy untrammelled sex and wine."
• How does Stuttard describe the Bacchae?

  "The Bacchae is one of Euripides' most disturbing plays."
• How does Carey describe Dionysus's control of Pentheus?

  "We have the uncanny sense that the god is simultaneously beside him and within him."
• What did Mills say about the power struggle between Pentheus and Dionysus?

  "Dionysus is a god in human form; Pentheus is a human but aspires to be like a god in human form."
• How does Mills describe the power struggle between Pentheus and Dionysus?

  "Pentheus is manipulated into the mistake of believing that he is dealing with an equal."