EURIPIDES' BACCHAE

By Steve Esposito, Boston University

APPENDIX FOUR

Outlines of several key speeches and scenes in the Bacchae

(Last Updated June 18, 1998)

' first monologue (215-62 = 48 lines). This speech serves as a kind of second prologue to the play, "a counter-manifesto to the first (prologue) -- having heard the god's programme of action, we now listen to man's." (Dodds 97) Pentheus sets forth his main ideas in the following manner: a) 217-32 (= 16 lines): the intolerable behavior of Thebes' women (on Mt. Cithaeron partaking in sham Bacchic orgies of wine and sex).
b) 233-47 (= 15 lines): the intolerable behavior of the effeminate Stranger (alluring Thebes' women and claiming that Dionysus is a god).
c) 248-60 (= 13 lines): the intolerable behavior of Tiresias and Cadmus (ridiculously decked out and acting like Bacchae).
The first 2 sections represent the facts about the new cult as reported to Pentheus (or, possibly, the facts as he has chosen to interpret them; cp. 216, 233) and articulate his 2 main objections to that cult. He cannot know what we, the audience, know from the prologue, namely that: a) the women were driven mad and forced to the mountain by Dionysus as a punishment (32-42); b) the Lydian stranger is the god Dionysus himself (2, 22, 42, 48, 53-54). Given his limited information, Pentheus' concern to 'stop' (232, 239) both threats is quite reasonable. As Taplin (75) observes: "The Athenians were obsessed with the legitimacy of the children of citizens and with the promiscuity of unguarded wives, and so Pentheus' first response of outraged indignation is perfectly respectable - so long as that is all the evidence he has... But while a wiser man would think again, Pentheus shows all the characteristics of the young tyrant..."

Tiresias' refutation of Pentheus (266-327 = 62 lines). His argument proceeds thus: a) 266-271, prologue: a denunciation of Pentheus' abuse of the art of rhetoric.
b) 272-318, argument: various attempts to convert Pentheus by proving Dionysus' divinity
  1. 272-285: positive argument #1 for Dionysus' greatness: benefits of his gift of wine
  2. 286-297: negative argument #1 refuting Pentheus' earlier dismissal (242-7) of Dionysus' birth.
  3. 298-309: positive argument #2 for Dionysus' greatness: he induces frenzy and panic.
  4. 309-313: (interlude) a direct appeal to Pentheus to accept the god.
  5. 314-318: negative argument #2 refuting Pentheus' charge (222-5) against maenads.
c) 319-327, epilogue: a declaration of Cadmus' and Tiresias' allegiance to Dionysus as god

In section b) 2 above (= lines 286-97) the prophet employs several remarkable word-plays to sustain his attack on Pentheus' refusal to believe the myth of Dionysus' double birth. Given the strangeness of his thesis a summary may be useful (cp. Kirk 1970, 50). Zeus makes Semele pregnant by his lightning. She dies but gives birth to Dionysus. Zeus brings the infant to Mt. Olympus as a god. Hera, angry at Zeus' love-making with Semele, wants the baby banished. Zeus contrives a scheme to thwart his wife's hostility. He constructs a dummy of Dionysus out of a 'piece' (meros #1) of the sky's ether and gives it to her. The deceived Hera takes the dummy as a 'hostage' (ho-meros) to assure her of Zeus' future good behavior. To explain away this fact of Dionysus as a 'piece' of ether held 'hostage' (gods wouldn't hold one another hostage!) men changed those words (meros #1 and ho-meros) to the similar sounding 'thigh' (meros #2). In this way mortals fabricated the myth that Dionysus was born from Zeus' thigh. Despite Tiresias' claim (200) that he is not using cleverness (sophia) on the gods, he does indeed present himself as a sort of 'theological sophist' (see Glossary, 'Sophist') who combines a certain religious conservatism with a flare for the intellectual relativism that was so popular in the late fifth century. As Dodds (91) says, he represents "the ecclesiastical politics of Delphi (with which Euripides elsewhere shows little sympathy)... His is the type of mind which would harness to the cause of doctrinal conservatism the spontaneous emotional forces generated by a religious revival: he would not reject the new foreign cults which were disturbing Athens in Euripides' day, but he would Hellenize and rationalize them..."

First Messenger Speech (677-774 = 98 lines). This speech is our most important literary source for the behavior of maenads. A 'messenger' in Greek tragedy is a minor, anonymous eye-witness who brings news of some off-stage event. This first messenger speech, laden with an air of mystery, describes the magical powers of the Theban Bacchae on the mountain. Its main purpose is to persuade Pentheus to accept Dionysus and his female devotees (769-74). This messenger speech is unusual in that it does not lead to the arrival of a major character. Its thematic structure is as follows: a) 677-713: peaceful behavior of the maenads on Mt. Cithaeron. 1. 677-688: 3 bands of sleeping Bacchae, who were neither drunk nor seeking sex.
2. 689-713: various miracles performed by the Bacchae.
b) 714-747: warlike behavior of the maenads on Mt. Cithaeron.1. 714-27: shepherds prepare to ambush Bacchae (hoping to win Pentheus' favor).
2. 728-33: Agave urges a counter-attack on the shepherds.
3. 734-47: shepherds flee but Bacchae tear apart (sparagmos) their livestock.
c) 748-768: warlike behavior of the maenads off of Mt. Cithaeron (= climax of speech).1. 748-58: Bacchae ford Asopus and attack 2 local villages, snatching the children.
2. 758-64: village men counter-attack but are routed.
3. 765-68: triumphant Bacchae return to Cithaeron and wash off the blood on them.
d) 769-774: conclusion (moral of the story; cp. 712-13): 1. messenger warns Pentheus to accept Dionysus into the city.

On the significance of the first Messenger Scene (660-774) and its 'black maenadism' Dodds (159) writes: "[it] is essential to the psychological dynamics of the play, since its effect is to divert Pentheus' rage from the god and his priest on to his own subjects. It also depicts for the audience what could not be shown on the stage, the strange working of the Dionysiac madness upon the Theban women, as it appeared in all its beauty and horror to a simple-minded observer. It should be remembered that what is described here is not the organized and controlled maenadism of Dionysiac cult, as sketched e.g. in the first choral song, but a 'black maenadism' which has been sent as a punishment upon the too respectable and has swept them away against their will: critics of the play have too often ignored this distinction."

Second Messenger Speech (1043-1152 = 110 lines). In the first messenger speech a herdsman (714) had described the miracles of the Theban Bacchae on Mt. Cithaeron, including the tearing apart of bulls. In the second messenger speech one of Pentheus' slaves (1028, 1046), who was apparently on stage with Pentheus earlier (cp. 1043-47) and departed with him and the Stranger at 965-76, describes the tearing apart of his master. Hence he might be called an 'aftermath' messenger in contrast to the earlier 'advance' messenger (Taplin's terms). The speech builds gradually to a horrifying climax. a) 1043-1062: departure (of Pentheus, Stranger, Messenger) from Thebes and arrival to Cithaeron.
b) 1063-1083: Stranger elevates Pentheus atop a fir tree and then disappears.
c) 1084-1113: the Bacchae, prompted by a strange voice, attack Pentheus.
d) 1114-1147: Pentheus' death
1. 1122-36: tearing to pieces (sparagmos) of Pentheus by Agave and maenads.
2. 1137-47: Agave's revel (kômos); she returns with Pentheus' head on her thyrsus
e) 1148-1152: conclusion: departure of the messenger from the palace before Agave arrives

Agave's madness and her recovery (1106-1300). The progression of events in this remarkable scene can be outlined as follows (cp. Devereux 1970): a) Agave's (offstage) seizure (narrated by messenger at 1106-9, 1122-28, 1139-47).
b) Agave's deluded exaltation of her deed (1168-1263).
1. 'baiting' scene (1168-1215): Agave impervious to chorus' mocking of her delusions about her 'catch.'
2. 'corpse' scene (1216-58): Agave impervious to Cadmus' presenting of the facts. a. Cadmus' 'messenger' speech on Pentheus' fate (1216-32).
b. Agave's cradling of Pentheus' decapitated head (1233-58).
c) Agave's recovery: the 'psychotherapy' scene: Cadmus as Agave's therapist (1259-1300)1. coaxing Agave back to physical reality (1259-68).
2. recreating Agave's internal and social identity (1269-76).
3. confronting Agave with her murderous deed (1277-93). a. Cadmus as questioner (1266-79).
b. Agave as questioner (1280-93: recognition # 1).
4. confronting Agave with the deed's doer (1294-1300: recognition # 2).

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