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Euripides, from Te Bacchae Which, They Boldly Asserted, Caused Zeus to Slay Her for the Falsehood About the Marriage

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Euripides, from Te Bacchae Which, They Boldly Asserted, Caused Zeus to Slay Her for the Falsehood About the Marriage lo%er, tried to foist her sin on !eus-a cle%er ruse of $admus, Euripides, from Te Bacchae "hich, they boldl asserted, caused !eus to slay her for the falsehood about the marria#e' <herefore these are they "hom I ha%e dri%en frenzied from their homes, and they are d"ellin# on Te Bacchae tells the story of the introduction of the hills "ith mind distrau#ht2 and I ha%e forced them to assume the worship of the god Dionysus from Asia into the dress "orn in my or#ies, and all the "omen-fol* of $admus+ Greece. But as Dionysus arrives in the Greek city of stoc* ha%e I dri%en ra%in# from their homes, one and all ali*e2 and there they sit upon the roo&ess roc*s beneath the #reen pine- Tebes, he fnds that the populace, led by its king, trees, min#lin# amon#st the sons of Tebes' =or this city must entheus, refuses to acknowledge his divinity. learn, ho"e%er loth, seein# that it is not initiated in my Bacchic Dionysus sets out to punish the unfaithful, and rites, and I must ta*e up my mother+s defence, by sho"in# to mortals that the child she bore to !eus is a deit ' No" $admus !stings the female population of Tebes with #a%e his sceptre and its pri%ile#es to 0entheus, his dau#hter+s daemonic frenzy, sending them to the mountains child, "ho "ages "ar 3#ainst my di%init , thrustin# me a"ay from outside of the city where they celebrate his rites at his drin*-o)erin#s, and makin# no mention of me in his pra ers' Terefore "ill I pro%e to him and all the race of $admus that I am last.# a #od' 5nd "hen I ha%e set all in order here, I "ill pass hence to a fresh countr , manifestin# myself2 but if the city of Tebes in fur DIONYSUS takes up arms and see*s to dri%e my %otaries from the mountain, I "ill meet them at the head of my frantic rout' Tis is "hy I ha%e Lo! I am come to this land of Tebes, Dion sus the son of !eus, assumed a mortal form, and put o) my #odhead to take man+s of "hom on a day Semele, the dau#hter of $admus, "as deli%ered nature' by a &ash of li#htnin#'( I ha%e put o) the #od and taken human shape, and so present myself at Dirce+s sprin#s and the "aters of O e "ho le1 /molus, the bul"ar* of L dia, ye "omen, my re%el Ismenus' Yonder I see my mother+s monument "here the bolt rout! "hom I brou#ht from our forei#n homes to be e%er by m sle" her ni#h her house, and there are the ruins of her home side and bear me compan , upli1 the cymbals nati%e to our smoulderin# "ith the hea%enl &ame that blazeth still-.era+s 0hr #ian home, that "ere by me and the #reat mother >hea 6rst deathless outrage on my mother' /o $admus all praise I o)er, de%ised, and march around the royal halls of 0entheus smitin# because he *eeps this spot hallo"ed, his dau#hter+s precinct, them, that the city of $admus may see ou2 "hile I "ill see* "hich my o"n hands ha%e shaded round about "ith the %ine+s $ithaeron+s #lens, there "ith my Bacchanals to 7oin the dance' clusterin# folia#e' • • ? L dia+s #lebes, "here #old abounds, and 0hr #ia ha%e I le1 behind2 o'er 0ersia+s sun-ba*ed plains, by Bactria+s "alled to"ns $n this passage, a messenger describes to entheus and 4edia+s "intry clime ha%e I ad%anced throu#h 5rabia, land of promise2 and 5sia+s len#th and breadth, outstretched alon# the the sights he has seen on %ount &ithaeron, where brac*ish sea, "ith many a fair "alled to"n, peopled "ith min#led the Teban women—now Bacchants, Dionysus( race of .ellenes and barbarians2 and this is the 6rst city in .ellas female adherents'have )ed. Among them are I ha%e reached' Tere too ha%e I ordained dances and established my rites, that I mi#ht manifest my #odhead to men2 but Tebes is entheus( mother Agave, and her sisters Autonoe the 6rst city in the land of .ellas that I ha%e made rin# "ith and Ino. shouts of 7o , #irt in a fa"n-s*in, "ith a th rsus,8 my i% -bound spear, in my hand2 since my mother+s sisters, "ho least of all should ha%e done it, denied that Dionysus "as the son of !eus, 4ESSEN@E> sayin# that Semele, "hen she became a mother by some mortal Te sun had 7ust risen and the earth "as "armin# up as "e dro%e our herds alon# the rid#e to the hi#h meado", "hen I sa" three (Semele, $admus+ dau#hter and Dion sus+ mother, had an a)air "ith !eus. .era, !eus+ "ife, tric*ed !eus into destro in# Semele "ith a bands of "omenA one led b 5utonoe, one by your mother, 5#a%e, li#htnin# bolt' !eus too* the infant Dion sus from his mother+s "omb as and one by Ino' she "as d in# and se"ed him into his thi#h, "here Dion sus continued to #ro" until he "as deli%ered as a ne"-born infant' 85 thyrsus 9pl' thyrsoi: is a hollo" plant stal*, usuall decorated "ith i% , Te lay eBhausted, some restin# on 6r branches, others sleepin# and carried as a symbol of Dion sus in the dancin# celebrations 9"here it amon# oak lea%es' Tey "ere modest and composed, not drun* can ac;uire ma#ical po"ers)' 0a#e ( "ith "ine as ou sa , not dancin# "ildly to pipe music, or chasin# their homes, and pillaged houses' E%erythin# they thre" on their 5phrodite in some ecstas ' bac*s sta ed thereA nothin#, not e%en bronze or iron, fell to the earth' Flames danced in their hair but did not burn them. Te But then our mother must ha%e heard the lo"in# of our cattle furious %illagers too* up their "eapons in defense and, sire, "hat and, sprin#in# to her feet, let out a cry to stir the rest from their happened neBt "as dreadful to see' Te men+s spears of pointed sleep' 5nd one b one they "o*e, rubbin# their e es li*e children, metal dre" no blood, "hile the &un# "ands of the "omen ripped and roseCtall and strai#ht' <hat a si#ht it "asA old and oun#, open &esh, and the men turned and ran' <omen routin# men! some still unmarried' <hat a si#ht' =irst they stretched bac* to Some #od "as here "ith them. Te Bacchae then s"un# round loosen their hair and let it fall o%er their shoulders, and those and bac* to "here the +d started, to the #reen "oods, to the "hose fa"n-s*in straps had slipped in sleep, secured them a#ain sprin#s the #od had made for them, and they "ashed their hands "ith sna*es that lic*ed at their chee*s' Ne" mothers, "ho had le1 of the thic* blood, "hile the sna*es lic*ed clean their spattered their babies behind at home, dre" #azelles and "olf cubs to their chee*s' s"ollen breasts and let them feed' Tey dec*ed themsel%es "ith cro"ns of i% , oa*, and br on ' One "oman struc* her thyrsus on <hoe%er this #od may be, sire, I "ould "elcome him to Tebes' a roc* and a sprin# of "ater shot out, bubblin#' 5nother dro%e .e is #reat in many "aysCnot least, I hear sa , for his #i1 of "ine her fennel "and into the #round and the #od released a 7et of to mortal men' <ine, "hich puts an end to sorro" and to pain' "ine' Tose "ho "anted mil* simply tapped the earth "ith their 5nd if there is no "ine, there is no 5phrodite, and "ithout her no 6n#ers and a fountain started' 0ure honey spurted and streamed pleasure le1 at all' from the tips of their "ands' If ou had been there, sire, you "ould ha%e #one do"n on our *nees and pra ed to the %ery #od $.O>US ou den ' Tou#h I fear to spea* my mind "ith freedom in the presence of my *in#, still must I utter this2 Dion sus yields to no deity in <e herdsmen #athered in #roups, tal*in# and ar#uin# about mi#ht' these eBtraordinar thin#s "e+d seen' Ten a blo"-in from the cit , "ho clearl had a "ay "ith "ords, stood up and saidA DYou 0EN/.EUS "ho li%e on the mountain pastures, "hat say "e earn oursel%es 5lread , loo* ou! the presumption of these Bacchantes is upon the #ratitude of the *in# and hunt do"n 5#a%e, 0entheus+s us, s"i1 as 6re, a sad dis#race in the e es of all .ellas' No time for mother, and dra# her from the danceEF It seemed a #ood idea, so hesitation no"! a"ay to the Electra #ate! order a muster of all m "e lay in ambush, camou&aged "ith lea%es' 5t the appointed men-at-arms, of those that mount &eet steeds, of all "ho brandish time, the "omen came, "a%in# their "ands for the start of the li#ht buc*lers, of archers too that make the bo"strin# t"an#2 for I ritual, callin# on Bromius, Iacchus, son of !eus,G till the "hole "ill march a#ainst the Bacchanals' By .ea%en I this passes all, if mountain and its creatures seemed as possessed as they "ere' "e are to be thus treated by "omen' 5nd then the "omen ran, and the "orld ran "ith them.
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