Why Is the Bacchae a Tragedy?

Sarah Jenkins
Sarah Jenkins
• • 7 min read

The Tragedy Is Based on the Greek Myth of King Pentheus Pentheus in Greek Mythology, Pentheus (/ˈPɛnθjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Πενθεύς, Romanized: Pentheús) Was a...

Why Is the Bacchae a Tragedy?

The tragedy is based on the Greek myth of King Pentheus

Pentheus
In Greek mythology, Pentheus (/ˈpɛnθjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Πενθεύς, romanized: Pentheús) was a king of Thebes. His father was Echion, the wisest of the Spartoi. His mother was Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia.
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of Thebes and his mother Agave, and their punishment by the god Dionysus (who is Pentheus's cousin). ... The Bacchae is considered to be not only one of Euripides's greatest tragedies, but also one of the greatest ever written, modern or ancient.

What is the message of Bacchae?

The Bacchae depicts a struggle to the death between the twin forces of control (restraint) and freedom (release), and permits Dionysus to provide an answer to this question.

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Who is the tragic hero in the Bacchae?

Pentheus is not a typical Greek antagonist. Sure he's the guy that stands in the way of our hero and protagonist, Dionysus, making him a shoe-in for job. In a lot of ways, though, he more closely resembles a tragic hero than Dionysus does, at least according to Aristotle.

Sarah Jenkins

Sarah Jenkins

Senior Technology Editor & AI Specialist
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Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.