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The Bacchae | Study Guide

Euripides

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Course Hero. "The Bacchae Study Guide." Course Hero. 23 June 2017. Web. 6 June 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Bacchae/>.

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Course Hero. "The Bacchae Study Guide." June 23, 2017. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Bacchae/.

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Course Hero, "The Bacchae Study Guide," June 23, 2017, accessed June 6, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Bacchae/.

The Bacchae | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about Euripides's The Bacchae. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

bacchae-euripidesCadmus, Exodosngry gods should not act just like humans.Sources: Biography.com, Dionysiac Poetics and Euripides’ Bacchaeby Charles Segal, Encyclopaedia Britannica, The Kennedy CenterCopyright © 2017 Course Hero, Inc.DualityPeople’s dual natures contain rationality and primal instincts.Religious BeliefsOpposing religious views cause strife over the “right beliefs.”Social OrderWhen social norms are flouted, societal fabric unravels.ThemesBacchae; Dionysus’s frenzied followers who worship him with secret ritualsChorusPentheus’s mother; becomes a Maenad under Dionysus’s spell and kills her sonAgaveAuthoritarian king of Thebes; secretly curious about Dionysian religionPentheusGod of wine and theater; avenges himself on relatives for not believing in himDionysusMain CharactersEuripides left behind a large body of work, including at least 18 plays. Influenced by Socrates and the philosophers called Sophists, Euripides was an iconoclast and innovator. The Bacchae reflects his critical mind and shows his concern with taking life to extremes rather than keeping it in balance.EURIPIDESc. 485–406 BCEAuthorThe frenzied Maenads mistake Pentheus for a wild lion and tear him apart.Maenads Murder PentheusDionysus destroys the palace and leads unsuspecting Pentheus to Mount Cithaeron.Dionysus Tricks PentheusDionysus’s presence drives the Theban women to a state of frenzy and madness.Dionysus Arrives in ThebesThough he was conceived from a mortal woman and the god Zeus, Dionysus’s relatives disbelieve his divinity. Then Dionysus, the god of wine, shows up in Thebes. His cousin King Pentheus has outlawed worship in Thebes, so Dionysus uses his divine powers to prove a gruesome point.The God of Wine Is AngryOVERVIEWAncient GreekOriginal Languagec. 406 BCEFirst PerformedEuripidesAuthorThe BacchaeTragedyPlay
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