The Bacchae | Euripides's Ambiguous Treatment of Dionysus as a God
Glenn is a Ph.D. specializing in theatre history and literature. In this essay he examines Euripides’s ambiguous treatment of Dionysus as a god to be either worshipped or abhorred in The Bacchae.
For half a century, Euripides was known as a playwright unafraid to speak his mind. Very often what he had to say disturbed his audiences. In plays like Medea, Hippolytus, and Alcestis, he recalled stories and myths familiar to ancient Greek audiences. Yet, viewed from the perspective of their respective protagonists, they also function as harsh criticisms of the Athenian society they inhabited. These plays show the Greeks’ utter disregard for women, bastards, and foreigners. In addition, they lampoon some of the culture’s most cherished heroes and even call into...
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