Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

there is a slave uprisin g Pentheus seizes the opportunity for mass murder. When his
aged priest. Tlresias, pleads with him to accept Dionysos, Penth eus orders his
attendants to demolish his home and temple (35) . Knowin g it is an abomination, the
Old Slave hesitantl y asks Penthcusif he really wants to destroy the holy man's hut and
Pentheus replies with "a slap that knocks him flat- (36). As in the similar situati on
where Rotimi could not allo w Oedi pus to hit an elder, old enough to be his father,
here Soyinka deliberately has Pentheus violate the ethical codes and mores of African
culture by creating a characterwho doesnot respect anyone, nor. even his own
grandfather. The Staves and others (Various) express their disgusc
VARIOUS: We are strangers but we know the meaning of madness
To hit an old servant
Wi th fros t on his head
Age is holy
To hit an old man
Or demolish the roof of a sage? (31).
The words spoken by the Slaves and others in response to Pentheus' brutality suggest
Soyinka' s awareness that some African leaders have become like Pentheus in their
rejection of African traditions and in the way they treat their own people.
Penlheus' initial entrance on stage, according to the stage directions. is
"straight, militaristic in bearing and speech . His attendan ts have to run to keepup with
him. Once on stage he stri des angrily up and down- (26) . Like the modern day
dictators, Pentheus speaks in militaristic terms and says: -I shall have order! Let the
city know at once I Pentheus is here to give back order and sanity- (27) . The first
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