Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

trim not only lhe bi- sexual nature attributed to Dion ysos but also the role of a
scapegoat as Dion ysos dec lares : "You alone take on the burden for this city, you
alone; I Therefore the necessary contests await you" (964-9 65). The Seco nd
Messenger's descri ption of what happens to Pentheus and Agave' s expressions when
she returns with his head confirm his death as a sacrificial victim. Pentheus is seen as
a mountain beast . a lion, by the bacchantes and his mother. the priestess. possessed by
the Baechlegod starts the process of dismem berin g him. According to lhe ritual , in
the dismembering of a sacrificial victim. known as sparagmos, the priest or priestess
initiates the rite as dramatized by Agave. Unaware that she tore up her son. she call s
to Cadmus and Pentheus to share her victory in the hunt of the beast, She comes to
her senses and recognizes rhat she b.a.s killed her own son (1169-1300).
Euri pides presen ts me tragedy that befalls the house of Cadm us thro ugh
Penthe us' s death by his moth er as justified. Despite all the reports of Dionysos '
miraculous mani festation of powe r, and the Choru s' pleading that Dion ysos is "the
equal of any of the gods!" (777)23 . Pentheus remainsadamant that me god does not
exist beca use he was blown to pieces with his mother. In the end. Cadmus admits that
Pentheus was a terror to the city (1310) , andif there is any man who thinks be is
above the gods ; "Let him look on Pentheus' s death , and j udge that god s exist- (1326) .
When Cadm us pleads that the punishmen t is too harsh , Dionysos' response is that
-long ago Zeus my father appro ved these things - ( 1349) . Euripides dramatizes what is
very evident from Greek mythology and ancien t Greek literature that mortals who
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