The
Bacchae or Bacchantes By Euripides - Dionysus Wineskin God
See Psalm "41" as translated in the Dead Sea
Scrolls. This explains why Judas failed to MUSICALLY TRIUMPH OVER
JESUS. See more details of how the Levitical Warrior
Musicians momentarily TRIUMPHED
over Jesus after dismissing Him as Beel-zebul (Dung God in Hebrew and
therefore Lord of the Flies). In the end, God in Christ would make
"music" as the fruit of His lips. When "performers" put on the persona of the Dionysus
female ACTORS with any form of "body" performance they are trying to
"worship with men's hands" and insult
the Incarnate God of the universe Who
was never a performer and Who demanded that you can only find Him in
quiet places, outside the gates in solitary communion. Many churches having lost their elasticicity
demand a "new wineskin" to allow the wine-like exhilaration of "worship"
to move the group into drama in an effort to "move the worshippers
into the presence of the gods." This urge for "play" or drama is the
evidence of lostness which can be somewhat relieved by
pretending
a form of worship to replace the never-realized goals of a few minor
gods. When the Wineskins Won't
Stretch! "It is symptomatic
of structures that have lost their elasticity, becoming too rigid to accommodate further
development, to
intensify the semantics of self-reference as a sort of final act of self-reassurance. The patterns of
self-reference by drama
to drama as we see them in The Bacchae of Euripides reflect a crisis in the very genre of tragedy, in the context of
drastic
changes in Athenian
society toward the end of the fifth century; the prospect is one
of abrupt confrontation and loss." -- Nagy, Pindar's Homer p. 388 This was the
Y-.5K hysteria and the signs was
a hysterical effort to assure themselves when they really had nothing
to say. The pretend people substituted the performance of their own
bodies having lost all of their clothing of righteousness and
justice. mania (A), Ion. -iê, hê, ( [mainomai] ) madness, Hdt.6.112, Hp.Aph. 7.5, S.Ant.958
(lyr.), etc.; pollên katagnônai m. tinôn Isoc.4.133
; mechri manias hê sphodra hêdonê katechousa Pl.Phlb.45e ; maniê nousos Hdt.6.75
: freq. in pl., Lex Solonis ap.D.46.14, Thgn.1231, A.Pr. 879, 1057
(both anap.), etc. II. enthusiasm, inspired frenzy, m. Dionusou para
E.Ba.305 ; apo
Mousôn katokôchê te kai m. Pl.Phdr. 245a ; theia m., opposite sôphrosunê
anthrôpinê, ib.256b,
cf. Prt.323b, X. Mem.1.1.16; tês philosophou m. te kai
bakcheias Pl.Smp.218b . Mousôn
katokôchê Mousa
1 [*maô]
I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses of song, music, poetry,
dancing, the drama, and all fine arts, Hom.: the names of the nine were Clio, Euterpe,
Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia or Polyhymnia,
Urania, and Calliope, Hes., II. mousa, as appellat., music, song, Pind., Trag.:--also eloquence, Eur.:--in pl. arts,
accomplishments, Ar., Plat. melôid-ia , hê, singing, chanting, E.Rh.923, etc.
II. chant, choral song, melôidias poiêtês Pl.Lg.935e ,
cf. 812d; lullaby, ib.790e: generally, music, Phld.Mus.p.12 K.
katokôchê 1
[attic for katochê] a being possessed, possession (i. e. inspiration), Plat. OPPOSITE:
sôphrosunê anthrôpinê [mankind]
sôphrôn 1 [sôs, phrên] I. of sound mind, Lat.
sanae
mentis:-- hence
sensible, discreet, wise, Hom., Hdt., Xen. 2. of things, sôphrona
eipein Eur.; allo ti sôphronesteron gignôskein Thuc.:--
sôphron II. having control over the sensual
desires, temperate,
self-controlled, moderate, chaste, sober,
2. to sôphron
sôphrosunê, Sophron (g4988) so'-frone; from the base of
4982 and that of 5424; safe (sound) in mind, i.e. self- controlled
(moderate as to opinion or passion): - discreet, sober, temperate.
Anthrôpinos [anthrôpos] mankind defined as the only being
capable of controlling their emotions. Tatian reminds
the sophisticated urbans who disparage rural songs and worship that song,
instruments, dance and vocal competition (who will get out the
biggest crowd), that these are always a reaching back for the
"archaic, in Joseph Campbell's mind, when the food supply runs out: "The wonders of the
god Dionysus pull people
together to celebrate
these wonders by
competing with each
other in song
and dance.
The speech of the herdsman says it all: "once upon a time, we humble
herdsmen came together in the countryside, drawn by the wonders of the
god to sing and dance
in competition." Even in Corinth the unbelievers might have visited the
urban church just to see the "huper" or
super apostles fling their hands and listen
to the women (men don't often do that) sing in the charismatic style
of self-invention pretending to be true prophest and speaking for
God. However, when "the best show in town" was over and the
jubilators returned home, the modern music from voodoo and hillbilly
roots makes them hold the "children playing musical games looking
like madmen"
(mild or extreme) in contempt: "I have often seen a man
(actor)-- and have been amazed to see, and the
amazement has ended in
contempt, to think how
he is one thing
internally, but
outwardly counterfeits what he is not-- giving himself
excessive
airs of daintiness and indulging in all sorts of effeminacy; and raving with his face smeared with mud (sweat, spit and
dust); sometimes personating Aphrodite (female), sometimes Apollo (male);
a solitary
accuser of all the gods, an epitome of superstition, a vituperator of heroic
deeds, an actor
of murders, a chronicler of adultery, a storehouse of madness, a teacher of cynaedi, an instigator of capital sentences;-- and yet such
a man is praised by
all. But I have
rejected all his falsehoods, his impiety, his practices,--in short,
the man althogether. But you are led
captive by such men, I have no mind to stand agape
at a number of singers, nor do I desire to be affected in sympathy with a man when he is
winking and gesticulating in an unnatural manner."... "Why should I
admire the mythic
piper... We leave you
to these worthless things;
and do you believe our doctrines, or, like us, give up yours." (Tatian to the Greeks, Ante-Nicene, Vol. II, p.
75). As you read the play you will understand why
the jubilating Jews who had adopted Dionysus forms of worship tested
Jesus, discovered that He was not a Dancing God and therefore had Him
destroyed. Jesus, however, refused to sing, dance, get in the
effeminate dance and identify Himself as -- like they hoped John
would be -- a "man" Who wore soft clothing. When He
refused they literally tried to tear Him limb from limb as His "bones
were out of joint." He is still mocked by boy-girls trying to force
you into the dance---
Lo! I am come to this land of
Thebes, Dionysus' the son of Zeus, of whom on a day Semele, the daughter of
Cadmus,
was delivered by a flash of lightning. I have put off the
god and taken human shape, and so
present myself at Dirce's springs and the
waters of
Ismenus.
Yonder I see my mother's monument where the
bolt slew
her nigh her house, and there are the ruins of her home smouldering
with the heavenly flame that blazeth still- Hera's deathless outrage on my mother. To Cadmus all praise I
offer, because he keeps this spot hallowed, his daughter's precinct,
which my own hands have shaded round about with the vine's clustering
foliage. Lydia's glebes, where gold abounds, and
Phrygia
have I left behind; o'er Persia's sun-baked plains, by
Bactria's
walled towns and Media's wintry clime have I advanced through
Arabia,
land of promise; and Asia's length and breadth, outstretched along
the brackish sea, with many a fair walled town, peopled with mingled
race of Hellenes and
barbarians; and this is the first city in Hellas I have
reached. There too have I ordained
dances and
established my rites, that I might manifest my godhead to men;
but Thebes is the first city
in the land of Hellas that I have made ring with shouts of joy, girt in a
fawn-skin,
with a thyrsus, my ivy-bound spear, in my hand; since my mother's sisters, who least of all
should have done it, denied that Dionysus was the son of
Zeus, tried to foist her sin on Zeus-a clever ruse of
Cadmus, which, they boldly asserted, caused Zeus to slay her for the
falsehood about the marriage. Wherefore these are they whom I have
driven frenzied from their homes, and they are dwelling on the hills
with mind distraught; and I have forced them to assume the dress worn in
my orgies,
and all the women-folk of Cadmus' stock have I
driven raving from their homes, one and all alike; and there they sit
upon the roofless rocks beneath the green pine-trees, mingling
amongst the sons of Thebes. For this city must learn, however loth, seeing
that it is not initiated in my Bacchic
rites, and I must take up my mother's
defence, by showing to mortals that the
child she bore to Zeus is a deity. Now Cadmus gave his sceptre
and its privileges to Pentheus, his daughter's
child, (the mortal brother) who wages war 'gainst my
divinity, thrusting me away from his
drink-offerings, and making no mention of me in his prayers.
Therefore will I prove to him and all the race
of Cadmus that I am a god. And when I have set
all in order here, I will pass hence to a fresh country, manifesting
myself; but if the city of Thebes in fury takes up arms and seeks to
drive my votaries from the mountain, I will meet them at the head of my
frantic rout. This is why I have assumed a
mortal form, and put off my
godhead to take man's nature.
O ye who left Tmolus, the bulwark of
Lydia, ye
women, my
revel rout! whom I brought from your foreign homes to be ever
by my side and bear me company, uplift the cymbals native to your
Phrygian home, that were by me and the great mother Rhea first devised, and
march
around the royal halls of Pentheus smiting them, that the city of
Cadmus may see you; while I will seek Cithaeron's glens, there
with my Bacchanals to join the
dance. Exit DIONYSUS. Enter CHORUS. CHORUS
Dionysus or Bacchus
was the NEW WINESKIN god. The Jews hoped that Jesus was that god. The
test for both John the Baptist and Jesus was that they hoped that
John wore soft clothing of the catamite of male prostitute which
plagued the Jewish and all priesthoods. They "piped" as Jesus accused
them of thinking that He would join the feminine of effeminate
singing and dancing. From Asia o'er the holy
ridge of Tmolus hasten to a pleasant task, a toil that brings no
weariness, for Bromius' (son of Egyptus, husband of
Erato:) sake, in honour of the Bacchic god. Who loiters in the road?
who lingers 'neath the roof? Avaunt! I say, and let every lip be
hushed in
solemn silence; for I will raise a
hymn to Dionysus, as custom aye
ordains. O happy he! who to his joy is initiated in heavenly mysteries and
leads a holy life, joining heart and soul in Bacchic revelry upon the
hills, purified from
every sin; observing the rites of
Cybele, the mighty mother, and
brandishing the thyrsus, with ivy-wreathed head, he worships Dionysus.
whom on a day his mother in her
sore travail brought forth untimely, yielding up her
life beneath the lightning stroke of Zeus' winged bolt; but forthwith
Zeus, the son of Cronos, found for him another womb wherein to rest,
for he hid him in his thigh and fastened it with
golden pins to conceal him from
Hera. And when the Fates had fully
formed the horned god, he brought him forth and crowned him with a coronal of
snakes,
whence it is the thyrsus-bearing
Maenads
hunt the snake to twine about their
hair. O Thebes, nurse of Semele! crown
thyself with ivy; burst forth, burst forth with
blossoms fair of green convolvulus, and with the
boughs of oak and pine join in the Bacchic revelry; don thy
coat of dappled fawn-skin, decking it with tufts of silvered hair; with reverent
hand the sportive wand now wield. Rhea was a name for
EVE. In the Greek
version, Eve is named ZOE or the MOTHER GODDESS. Long before the time
of Paul most people worshiped the MOTHER OF THE GODS. The dove
resting on the goddess whose DAUGHTER was the "female teaching
principle" identified this goddess under various names. When the dove
rested on the head of Jesus it was the FATHER speaking and
identifying Jesus as the SON who spoke His words exactly as He heard
them. Inanna or Ishtar worshiped by
the men in Jerusalem as the women lamented with instruments in the
temple for Tammuz (Bacchus, Saturn or Satan whose number is 666)
became EVE in the Classical period and ZOE in the early
post-Christian period. In Babylonia, Inanna got father or grandfather
drunk and stole the MES of the trees. Ea was the patron god of
music and Inanna had the magical power of
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Sophia (wisdom) was identified as the
SERPENT and her
daughter ZOE was identified as the BEAST. She was identified as the
FEMALE INSTRUCTING PRINCIPLE. People worshiped EVE because
she had SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE because Satan (Saturn 666) taught her both
good and evil. Paul being educated in Greek
literature understood that Christianity had to be different for two
reasons: 1. It was a fact
that EVE was wholly seduced by Lucifer. She is called the harp
playing prostitute as king/queen of Tyre. Lucifer was in the
garden and used music as the pleasure of the angelic host to seduce the worship from God. He is
credited with introducing string instruments, wind instruments and
percussions. The prophecy that Lucifer as
the end time Babylon Harlot "mother" of all RELIGIONS would again go
back into hell with her musicians and musical instruments.
2. In the world view at that
time, Sophia-Zoe had forced the "minor jehovahs" into forming MUSICAL
WORSHIP TEAMS in order to worship the FEMININE Goddesses. 3. God had declared for a
PATRIARCHIAL "school of the Bible" as opposed to a pagan worship
center with music by identifying Himself as the FATHER. 4. Women and effeminate men
always formed RELIGIONS but Christianity continued the synagogue.
This was not a worship center but a school of the Bible. 5. Women and strange males were
always identified as the singers and musicians in all pagan religions
usually practiced at festivals. 6. The "authority" Paul
outlawed was the Greek authentia. This was known to be exercised by women as both
EROTIC and MURDEROUS. Musicologists identify today's praise songs as
EROTIC. Anon shall the whole land be
dancing,
when Bromius leads his revellers to the hills, to the hills
away! where wait him groups of maidens from loom and
shuttle roused in frantic haste by Dionysus.
O hidden cave of the Curetes! O hallowed haunts in Crete, that saw
Zeus born, where Corybantes with
crested helms devised for me in their grotto the rounded timbrel of ox-hide
(lifeless instrument), mingling Bacchic
minstrelsy with the shrill sweet accents of
the Phrygian flute, a gift bestowed by them on mother Rhea, to add its crash of
music to the Bacchantes' shouts of joy;
but frantic satyrs
(homosexual priests) won it from the
mother-goddess for their own, and added it to their dances in festivals, which
gladden the heart of Dionysus, each
third
recurrent year. Oh! happy that votary, when from the hurrying
revel-rout
he sinks to earth, in his holy robe of fawnskin, chasing the goat
to drink its blood, a banquet sweet of flesh uncooked, as he hastes
to Phrygia's or to Libya's hills; while in the van the Bromian god
exults with cries of Evoe (Eve, Zoe and
now Mary). With milk and wine and streams of
luscious honey flows the earth, and Syrian incense smokes. Methodist feminist and lesbian
pastors have added the worship of SOPHIA and use honey in their
"communion." Paul warned about "uncovered
prophesying" in Corinth: While the Bacchante holding in his
hand a blazing torch of pine uplifted on his wand waves it, as he
speeds along, rousing wandering votaries, and as he waves it cries
aloud with wanton
tresses tossing in the breeze; and thus
to crown the revelry, he raises loud his
voice, "On, on, ye Bacchanals, pride of
Tmolus (a
gold-producing mountain in Lydia, near Sardis:) with its rills of gold to the sound
of the booming drum, chanting in
joyous strains the praises of your joyous god
with Phrygian accents lifted high, what time the holy lute with sweet
complaining note invites you to your hallowed sport, according well with feet that hurry wildly to
the hills; like a colt that gambols at its mother's side in the
pasture, with gladsome heart each Bacchante bounds
along." Enter TEIRESIAS. TEIRESIAS
What loiterer at the gates will
call Cadmus from the house, Agenor's son, who left the city of
Sidon and
founded here the town of Thebes? Go one of you, announce to him that
Teiresias is seeking him; he knows himself the reason of my coming
and the compact I and he have made in our old age to bind the thyrsus
with leaves and don the fawnskin, crowning our heads the while with
ivy-sprays. Enter CADMUS. CADMUS
Best of friends! I was in the house
when I heard thy voice, wise as its owner. I come prepared, dressed
in the livery of the god. For 'tis but right I should magnify with all my might
my own daughter's son, Dionysus, who hath shown
his godhead unto men. Where are we to join the dance? where plant the
foot and shake the hoary head? Do thou, Teiresias, be my guide, age
leading age, for thou art wise. Never shall I weary, night or day, of
beating the earth with my thyrsus. What joy to forget our years?
TEIRESIAS
Why, then thou art as I am. For I
too am young again, and will essay the dance. CADMUS
We will drive then in our
chariot to
the hill. TEIRESIAS
Nay, thus would the god
not have an equal honour paid. CADMUS
Well, I will lead thee, age leading
age. TEIRESIAS
The god will guide us both thither
without toil. CADMUS
Shall we alone of all the
city dance in Bacchus'
honour? TEIRESIAS
Yea, for we alone are wise, the
rest are mad. CADMUS
We stay too long; come, take my
hand. TEIRESIAS
There link thy hand in my firm
grip. CADMUS
Mortal that I am, I scorn not the
gods. TEIRESIAS
No subtleties do I indulge about
the powers of heaven. The faith we inherited from our fathers, old as
time itself, no reasoning shall cast
down; no! though it were the subtlest
invention of wits refined. Maybe some one will say, I have no respect for
my grey hair in going to dance with ivy round my head; not so, for
the god did not define whether old or young should dance, but from
all alike he claims a universal
homage, and scorns nice calculations
in his worship. CADMUS
Teiresias, since thou art
blind, I
must prompt thee what to say. Pentheus is coming hither to the house
in haste, Echion's son, to whom I resign the government. How
scared he
looks I what strange tidings will he tell? PENTHEUS
I had left my kingdom for awhile,
when tidings of strange mischief in this city reached me;
I hear that our women-folk have left their
homes on pretence of Bacchic
rites, and on the wooded hills rush
wildly to and fro, honouring in the dance this new god Dionysus, whoe'er he is; and in the midst of each revel-rout the
brimming wine-bowl stands, and
one by one they steal away to lonely spots to gratify their lust,
pretending forsooth that they are Maenads bent on sacrifice,
though it is Aphrodite they are placing before the Bacchic god. As many as I
caught, my gaolers are keeping safe in the public prison fast bound;
and all who are gone forth, will I chase from the hills, Ino and
Agave too who bore me to Echion, and Actaeon's
mother Autonoe. In fetters of iron will I bind them and soon put an
end to these outrageous Bacchic rites. They say there came a stranger
hither, a trickster and a sorcerer, from Lydia's
land, with golden hair and perfumed
locks, the flush of
wine upon his face, and in his eyes
each grace that Aphrodite gives; by day and night he lingers in our
maidens' company on the plea of teaching Bacchic
mysteries.
Here is something on
Echion: THOUGH I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1 And though I have
the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so
that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 1
Corinthians 13:2 Echeo (g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make
a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound. Lu.21:25 And there shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress
of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of
uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"), i.e. roar: fig. a
rumor: - fame, sound. Heb.12:19 And the sound of a trumpet, and
the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the
word should not be spoken to them any more: êch-eô , I. intr., sound, ring, peal,
êchei de karê . . Olumpou Hes.Th.42 ; hotan
achêsêi polios buthos Mosch.Fr.1.4 ; achousi
prospolôn cheres E.Supp.72 (lyr.); of metal, êcheeske ho
chalkos tês aspidos (round brass shield) Hdt.4.200 ; ta chalkia plêgenta
makron êchei Pl.Prt.329a , cf. Men.66.4; of the grasshopper, chirp, Alc.39, Theoc.16.96; of the ears, tingle,
êchêsei ta ôta LXX 1 Ki.3.11 ; dia ti êchei
ê dia ti emphainetai; impers., of anecho, Arist.AP0.98a27.
2. suffer from noises in the
ears, Herod.Med. ap. Orib.10.40.3. II. c. acc. cogn., achein
(iachein codd.) humnon to let it sound, A.Th.869 (lyr.);
kôkuton S.Tr.866 ; goous Id.Fr.523 ; humnous E.Ion883 (lyr.);
chalkeon achei sound the cymbal! Theoc.2.36; ephexês
êchounta auta (sc. ta phônêenta) Demetr.Eloc.71:
--Med., acheisthai tina to sound his praises, dub. in Pi.Fr.75.19:--
Pass., êcheitai ktupos a sound is made, S.OC1500. (Cf.
sq.) êchetês , ou, ho, Ep. êcheta^ , Dor. achetas , acheta^
, ( [êcheô] ) A. clear-sounding,
musical, shrill,
donax achetas A.Pr.575 (lyr.); kuknos E.El.151 (lyr.); epith. of the
cicada [locusts], chirping, êcheta tettix Hes.Op.582 , AP 7.201
(Pamphil.); achetat. ib.213 (Arch.): abs., achetas, ho, the chirper,
i.e. the male cicada, Anan.5.6, Ar.Pax1159 (lyr.), Av.1095 (lyr.),
cf. Arist.HA532b16,556a20: Orph.A.1250 has Ep.acc. êcheta
porthmon the sounding strait. Once let me catch him within these walls, and I
will put an end to his thyrsus-beating and his waving of his tresses,
for I will cut his head from his body. This is the fellow who says that
Dionysus is a god, says that he was once stitched up in the thigh of
Zeus-that child who with his mother was blasted by the lightning
flash, because the woman falsely said her marriage was with Zeus. Is
not this enough to deserve the awful penalty of hanging, this
stranger's wanton insolence, whoe'er he be? But lo! another marvel. I see Teiresias, our
diviner,
dressed in dappled fawn-skins, and my mother's father too, wildly
waving the Bacchic wand; droll sight enough! Father, it grieves me to see you two old men so
void
of sense.
Oh! shake that ivy from thee!
Let fall the thyrsus from thy
hand, my mother's sire! Was it thou,
Teiresias, urged him on to this? Art bent on introducing this fellow
as another new deity amongst men, that thou mayst then observe the
fowls of the air and make a gain from
fiery divination? and constant
friction (minemployment) between men of corrupt
mind, who have been robbed
of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 1
Timothy 6:5 Were it not that thy grey hairs protected thee,
thou shouldst sit in chains amid the Bacchanals, for introducing knavish
mysteries;
for where the gladsome grape is found at
women's feasts, I deny that their rites have any longer good
results. CHORUS
What impiety! Hast thou no
reverence, sir stranger, for the gods or for Cadmus who sowed the
crop of earth-born warriors? Son of Echion as thou art, thou
dost shame thy birth. Sounding brass
is: Echeo (g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make
a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound. TEIRESIAS
Whenso a man of wisdom finds a good topic for
argument, it is no difficult matter to
speak well; but thou, though possessing a glib
tongue
as if
endowed with sense, [a proper prophets with the
true "voice of the angels" would by nature be insane and therefore
speak in gibberish or tongues because they believed that dod always
used the emotionally or sexual abnormal to make people trust the
gods.] A headstrong man, if he have influence and a
capacity for speaking, makes a bad citizen because he lacks sense.
This new deity, whom thou deridest, will rise
to power I cannot say how great, throughout Hellas. Two things there
are, young prince, that hold first rank among men, the goddess Demeter, that is,
the earth, call her which name thou please; she it is that feedeth
men with solid food; and as her counterpart came this
god,
(Dionysus) the son of Semele, who discovered the
juice of the grape and introduced it to mankind, stilling thereby each grief that
mortals suffer from, soon as e'er they
are filled
with the juice of the
vine; and sleep also he giveth,
sleep that brings forgetfulness of daily
ills, the sovereign charm for all our woe.
God though he is, he serves all other gods for
libations, so that through him mankind is blest. He
it is whom thou dost mock, because he was sewn
up in the thigh of Zeus. But I will show thee this fair mystery. When
Zeus had snatched him from the lightning's blaze, and to Olympus
borne the tender babe, Hera would have
cast him forth from heaven, but Zeus, as such a god well might,
devised a counterplot. He broke off a fragment of the
ether
which surrounds the world, and made thereof a hostage against Hera's
bitterness, while he gave out Dionysus into other hands; hence, in
time, men said that he was reared in the thigh of Zeus, having
changed the word and invented a legend, because the god was once a
hostage to the goddess Hera. This god too hath prophetic power,
for there is no small
prophecy
inspired by Bacchic
frenzy; for whenever the god in his full
might enters the human frame, (speaking in tongues and their
interpretations are pretend prophetic statements which delude and
minimize the true prophets through God's Word) Likewise he hath some share in Ares' rights; for oft, or
ever a weapon is touched, a panic seizes an army when it is
marshalled in array; and this too is a frenzy sent by Dionysus.
Yet shalt thou behold him e'en on Delphi's rocks leaping o'er the
cloven height, torch in hand, waving and brandishing the
branch by
Bacchus
loved, yea, and through the length and breadth of Hellas.
Hearken to me, Pentheus; never boast that might
alone doth sway the world, nor if thou think so, unsound as
thy opinion is, credit thyself with any wisdom; but receive the god into thy realm, pour out
libations, join the revel
rout, and crown thy head.
It is not Dionysus that will force chastity on
women in their love; but this is what we should
consider, whether chastity is part of their
nature for good and all; for if it is, no really modest maid will
ever fall 'mid Bacchic mysteries. Mark this: thou thyself art glad when thousands
throng thy gates, and citizens extol the name of
Pentheus;
he too, I trow, delights in being
honoured. Wherefore I and Cadmus, whom thou jeerest so, will wreath our brows with ivy and join the dance;
pair of grey beards though we be, still must we
take part therein; never will I for any words of thine fight against
heaven. Most grievous is thy
madness,
nor canst thou find a charm to cure
thee, albeit charms have caused thy
malady. CHORUS
Old sir, thy words do not discredit
Phoebus,
and thou art wise in honouring Bromius, potent deity. CADMUS
My son, Teiresias hath given thee
sound advice; dwell with us, but o'erstep not the threshold
of custom;
for now thou art soaring aloft, and thy
wisdom is no wisdom. E'en though he be no god, as thou assertest,
still say he is; be guilty of a splendid fraud, declaring him the son of
Semele, that she may be thought the
mother of a god, and we and all our race gain
honour. Dost thou mark the awful fate of Actaeon? whom
savage hounds of his own rearing rent in pieces in the meadows,
because he boasted himself a
better hunter than Artemis. Lest thy fate be the same, come let
me crown thy head with ivy; join us in
rendering homage to the god.
Touch me not, away to thy Bacchic
rites thyself! never try to
infect me
with thy foolery! Vengeance will I have on the fellow who teaches thee such senselessness. Away one of you without delay! seek yonder seat where
he observes his birds, wrench it from its base with levers,
turn it upside down, o'erthrowing it in utter confusion, and toss his
garlands to the tempest's blast. For by so doing shall I wound him
most deeply. Others of you, range the city and hunt down
this girl-faced stranger, who is
introducing a new complaint amongst our
women, and doing outrage to the
marriage tie. And if haply ye catch him, bring
him hither to me in chains, to be stoned to death, a bitter ending to
his revelry in Thebes. Exit PENTHEUS. TEIRESIAS
Unhappy wretch! thou little knowest
what thou art saying. Now art thou become a raving madman, even before
unsound in
mind. Let us away, Cadmus, and pray earnestly for him, spite of his
savage temper, and likewise for the city, that the god inflict not a
signal vengeance. Come, follow me with thy ivy-wreathed staff;
try to support my tottering
frame as I do thine, for it is unseemly
that two old men should fall; but let that-pass. For we must serve the
Bacchic god, the son of Zeus. it is not my prophetic art, but
circumstances that lead me to say this; for the words of a fool are folly. Exeunt CADMUS and TEIRESIAS. CHORUS
O holiness, queen amongst the gods,
sweeping on golden pinion o'er the earth! dost hear the words of
Pentheus,
dost hear his proud blaspheming
Bromius,
the son of Semele; first of all the blessed gods at
every merry festival? The end of all unbridled speech and
lawless senselessness is misery; but the life of calm repose and
the rule of reason abide unshaken and support the home; for far away in heaven though they dwell, Sophistry is not
wisdom, and to indulge in thoughts
beyond man's ken is to shorten life; and if a man on such poor terms
should aim too high, he may miss the pleasures in his reach. These, to my mind, are the ways of
madmen and
idiots.
Oh! to make my way to Cyprus, isle of
Aphrodite,
where dwell the love-gods strong to
soothe
man's soul, or to Paphos, which that foreign river, never fed by rain, enriches
with its hundred mouths! Oh! lead me, Bromian god, celestial
guide of Bacchic
pilgrims, to the hallowed slopes of
Olympus, where Pierian Muses have their haunt
most fair. There dwell the Graces; there is
soft desire; there thy votaries may hold their revels freely. The joy of
our god, the son of Zeus, is in banquets, his delight is
in peace, that giver of riches and nurse divine of
youth.
Both to rich and poor alike hath he granted the delight of wine, that
makes all pain to cease; Grace is CHARA or CHARIS which
is the "goddess" of Charismatic which involves pederasty among the "priesthood." hateful to him is every one who careth not to
live the life of bliss, that lasts through days and nights of joy.
True wisdom is to keep the heart and soul aloof from over-subtle
wits. That
which the less enlightened crowd approves and practises, will I
accept. Re-enter PENTHEUS. Enter SERVANT bringing
DIONYSUS bound. SERVANT
We are come, Pentheus, having
hunted down this prey, for which thou didst send us forth; not in vain hath
been our quest. We found our quarry tame; he did not fly from us,
but yielded himself without a struggle; his cheek ne'er blanched, nor
did his ruddy colour change, but with a smile he bade me
bind and
lead him away, and he waited, making my
task an easy one. For very shame I said to him, "Against my will,
sir stranger, do I lead thee hence, but Pentheus ordered it, who sent
me hither." As for his votaries whom thou thyself didst check,
seizing and binding them hand and foot in the public gaol,
all these have loosed their bonds
and fled into the meadows where they now are sporting, See the meaning of PLAY or SPORTING at Mount
Sinai. calling aloud on the Bromian
god. Their chains fell off their feet
of their own accord, and doors flew open without man's hand to help.
Many a marvel hath this stranger
brought with him to our city of
Thebes;
what yet remains must be thy care. PENTHEUS
Loose his hands; for now that I
have him in the net he is scarce swift enough to elude me. So, sir
stranger, thou art not ill-favoured from a
woman's point of view, thy hair is long because thou
hast never been a wrestler, flowing right down thy
cheeks most wantonly; thy skin is white to help thee gain thy end,
not tanned by ray of sun, but kept within the shade, as thou goest in
quest of love with beauty's
bait. Come, tell me first of thy
race. DIONYSUS
That needs no braggart's tongue,
'tis easily told; maybe thou knowest Tmolus by hearsay.
PENTHEUS
I know it, the range that rings the
city of Sardis round. DIONYSUS
Thence I come, Lydia is my native
home. PENTHEUS
What makes thee bring these
mysteries to Hellas? DIONYSUS
Dionysus, the son of Zeus,
initiated me. PENTHEUS
Is there a Zeus in Lydia, who
begets new gods? DIONYSUS
No, but Zeus who married
Semele in
Hellas. PENTHEUS
Was it by night or in the face of
day that he constrained
thee? DIONYSUS
'Twas face to face he intrusted
his mysteries to me. PENTHEUS
Pray, what special feature stamps thy rites? DIONYSUS
That is a secret to be hidden from
the uninitiated. PENTHEUS
What profit bring they to their
votaries? DIONYSUS
Thou must not be told, though 'tis
well worth knowing. PENTHEUS
A pretty piece of trickery, to excite my
curiosity! DIONYSUS
A man of godless life is an
abomination to the rites of the god. PENTHEUS
Thou sayest thou didst
see the god clearly; what was he like? DIONYSUS
What his fancy chose; I was not
there to order this. PENTHEUS
Another clever twist and turn of
thine, without a word of answer. DIONYSUS
He were a fool, methinks, who would
utter wisdom to a fool. PENTHEUS
Hast thou come hither first with
this deity? DIONYSUS
All foreigners already celebrate these mysteries with
dances. PENTHEUS
The reason being, they are far
behind
Hellenes in wisdom. DIONYSUS
In this at least far in advance,
though their customs differ. PENTHEUS
Is it by night or day thou
performest these devotions? DIONYSUS
By night mostly; darkness
lends solemnity. PENTHEUS
Calculated to entrap and corrupt
women. DIONYSUS
Day too for that matter may
discover shame. PENTHEUS
This vile quibbling settles thy
punishment. DIONYSUS
Brutish ignorance and
godlessness will settle thine. PENTHEUS
How bold our Bacchanal is growing! a
very master in this wordy
strife! DIONYSUS
Tell me what I am to suffer; what
is the grievous doom thou wilt inflict upon me? PENTHEUS
First will I shear off thy dainty tresses. DIONYSUS
My locks are sacred; for the god I let
them grow. [It is a shame
for a man to have long hair 1Co.11:14 ] PENTHEUS
Next surrender that thyrsus.
DIONYSUS
Take it from me thyself; 'tis the
wand of Dionysus I am bearing. PENTHEUS
In dungeon deep thy body will I
guard. DIONYSUS
The god himself will set me free,
whene'er I list. PENTHEUS
Perhaps he may, when thou standest
amid thy Bacchanals and callest on his name. DIONYSUS
Even now he is near me and
witnesses my treatment. PENTHEUS
Why, where is he? To my eyes he is
invisible. DIONYSUS
He is by my side; thou art a
godless man and therefore dost not see
him. PENTHEUS
Seize him! the fellow scorns me and
Thebes too. DIONYSUS
I bid you bind me not, reason
addressing madness. PENTHEUS
But I say "bind!" with better right
than thou. DIONYSUS
Thou hast no knowledge of
the life thou art
leading; thy very existence is now a
mystery to thee. PENTHEUS
I am Pentheus, son of Agave and
Echion. DIONYSUS
Well-named to be misfortune's
mate! PENTHEUS
Avaunt! Ho! shut him up within the
horses' stalls hard by, that for light he may have pitchy gloom.
Do thy dancing there, and these women whom thou bringest
with thee to share thy villainies I will either sell as slaves or make
their hands cease from this noisy
beating of drums, and set them to
work at the loom as servants of my
own. DIONYSUS
I will go; for that which
fate
forbids, can never befall me. For this thy mockery be sure
Dionysus will exact a recompense of thee-even the god whose existence
thou deniest; for thou art injuring him by
haling me to prison. Exit DIONYSUS, guarded, and
PENTHEUS. CHORUS
Hail to thee, Dirce, happy maid,
daughter revered of Achelous! within thy founts thou didst receive in
days gone by the babe of Zeus, what time his father caught him up
into his thigh from out the deathless flame, while thus he cried: "Go rest, my
Dithyrambus, there within thy father's womb; by this name, O
Bacchic god, I now proclaim thee to Thebes." But thou, blest Dirce,
thrustest me aside, when in thy midst I strive to hold my revels graced with crowns. Why dost thou scorn me? Why avoid me? [6] Dithurambos Harmatideô. Dithyrambos, son of Harmatides, was not the captain,
or general of the Thespians (cp. c. 222 supra). Dithyrambos, as a
proper name, is a little startling: it is primarily (like
Marôn) a title of Bakchos, cp. Eurip. Bakch. 526; it is secondarily a kind of
poetry or melody
(of which Arion
was inventor, cp. 1. 23). This Thespian is the only human person to whom the name is given.
His father ('Wagoner') may have been a musician --of the Dionysiac order (the dithyramb was always
in the 'Phrygian' mode, and decidedly orgiastic: Aristot. Pol. 5 (8). 7. 9 f.=1342 A-B). The dionysus infleunced clergy
hoped that John wore soft clothing of a king's catamite and that
Jesus would lament and dance the choral to prove that He was also a
homosexual: They are like unto
children sitting in the marketplace, and calling
one to another, and saying, We have piped
unto you, and ye have not danced;
we have mourned
to you, and ye have not
wept. Lu.7:32 The lament is derived from
the Greek base:
Thriambeuo ((g2358) three-am-byoo'-o; from a prol. comp. of the
base of 2360 and a der. of 680 (mean. a noisy iambus, sung in honor
of Bacchus); to make an acclamatory procession, i.e. (fig.) to
conquer or (by Hebr.) to give victory: - (cause) to triumph (over).
Because Jesus DRANK they
accused Him of being a winedrinker. Of course in His own way He
called them liars. By the clustered charm that Dionysus sheds o'er the
vintage I
vow there yet shall come a time when thou wilt turn thy thoughts to
Bromius. What furious rage the earth-born race displays, even Pentheus sprung of a
dragon
(serpent) of old, himself the son of earth-born Echion, a
savage monster in his very mien, not made in human mould, THOUGH I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Cor13:1
Sounding in Greek is: 1
Corinthians chapter 13:, 1 Corinthians chapter 13:, Echeo
(g2278) ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound. Echos
(g2279) ay'-khos; of uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"),
i.e. roar: fig. a rumor: - fame, sound. Hebrew Dictionary linked to
Strong Numbers Chalal (h2490) an
instructor/ of distance/space, start, commence; to redeem, to
desecrate, make void, to create a cavity, vacuum,
hollow, an empty space; a hollow/vacuum as a means to trap or bring
together, nature; a
vault, to make hollow: to wound, pierce, define, violate,
make
vulgar, wounded, slain,
dead, the action of resisting: to break, disregard; violating
instruction, to arrange/ an order of instruction; to assign, to
pipe, play
pipes Echo
1 Corinthians chapter
13:, in Greek mythology, a mountain
nymph, or oread. Ovid's Metamorphoses relates that Echo offended the
goddess Hera by keeping
her in conversation,
thus preventing her from spying on one of Zeus' amours. To punish
Echo, Hera deprived her of speech, except for the ability to
repeat the last words of another. Echo's hopeless love for
Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image, made her fade
away until all that was left of her was her voice. According to the Greek writer
Longus, Echo rejected
the advances of the god Pan; he thereupon drove the shepherds mad, and they tore
her to pieces. Gaea (Earth) buried her limbs but allowed her to
retain the power of song. (Britannica Members Ovid Metamorphoses 7.346. 1
Corinthians chapter 13:, but like some murderous giant pitted
against heaven; for he means to bind me, the handmaid of Bromius, in
cords forthwith, and e'en now he keeps my fellow-reveller pent
within his palace, plunged in a gloomy
dungeon. Dost thou mark this, O
Dionysus, son of Zeus, thy prophets struggling 'gainst resistless
might? Come, O king, brandishing thy golden thyrsus along the slopes
of Olympus; restrain the pride of this bloodthirsty wretch! Oh! where
in Nysa, haunt of beasts, or on the peaks of Corycus art thou, Dionysus,
marshalling with thy wand the revellers? or haply in the thick forest depths
of Olympus, where erst Orpheus with his
lute
gathered trees to his
minstrelsy, and beasts that range the
fields. Ah blest Pieria! Evius honours thee, to
thee will he come with his Bacchic
rites to lead the dance, and thither will he
lead the circling
Maenads, crossing the swift current
of Axius and the Lydias, that giveth wealth and happiness to man,
yea, and the father of rivers, which, as I have heard,
enriches with his waters fair a land of steeds. DIONYSUS
Within What ho! my Bacchantes, ho! hear my
call, oh! hear. CHORUS
Who art thou? what Evian cry is this that
calls me? whence comes it? DIONYSUS
What ho! once more I call, I the
son of Semele, the child of Zeus. CHORUS II
My master, O my master,
hail! CHORUS III
Come to our revel-band, O
Bromian god. CHORUS IV
Thou solid earth! CHORUS
Most awful shock! CHORUS VI
O horror! soon will the palace of
Pentheus totter and fall. CHORUS VII
Dionysus is within this
house. CHORUS VIII
Do homage to him. CHORUS IX
We do! I do! CHORUS
Did ye mark yon architrave of stone
upon the columns start asunder? CHORUS XI
Within these walls the
triumph-shout of Bromius himself will rise. DIONYSUS
Kindle the blazing torch with
lightning's fire, abandon to the flames the halls of Pentheus.
CHORUS XII
Ha! dost not see the flame, dost
not clearly mark it at the sacred tomb of Semele, the lightning flame
which long ago the hurler of the bolt left there? CHORUS XIII
Your trembling limbs prostrate, ye
Maenads, low upon the ground. CHORUS XIV
Yea, for our king, the son of Zeus,
is assailing and utterly confounding this house. Enter DIONYSUS. DIONYSUS
Are ye so stricken with terror that
ye have fallen to the
earth, O foreign dames? Ye saw then, it
would seem, how the Bacchic god made Pentheus' halls to quake; but
arise, be of good heart, compose your trembling limbs. CHORUS
O chiefest splendour of our
gladsome Bacchic sport, with what joy I see thee in my loneliness! DIONYSUS
Were ye cast down when I was
led into the house, to be plunged into the gloomy dungeons of Pentheus? CHORUS
Indeed I was. Who was to protect
me, if thou shouldst meet with mishap? But how wert thou set free
from the clutches of this godless wretch? DIONYSUS
My own hands
worked out my own
salvation, easily and
without trouble. CHORUS
But did he not lash fast thy hands
with cords? DIONYSUS
There too I mocked him; he thinks he
bound me, whereas he never touched or caught hold of me, but
fed himself on fancy. For at the stall, to which he brought me for a gaol,
he found a bull, whose legs and hoofs he straightly tied, breathing out
fury the while, the sweat trickling from his body, and he biting his
lips; but I from near at hand sat calmly looking on. Meantime came the Bacchic god and made the
house quake, and at his mother's
tomb relit the fire; but
Pentheus,
seeing this, thought his palace was ablaze, and hither and thither he
rushed, bidding his servants bring
water; but all in vain was every
servant's busy toil. Thereon he let this labour be awhile, and,
thinking maybe that I had escaped, rushed into the palace with his
murderous sword unsheathed. Then did Bromius-so at least it
seemed to me; I only tell you what I thought-made a phantom in the
hall, and he rushed after it in headlong haste, and stabbed the lustrous air,
thinking he wounded me. Further the Bacchic god did other
outrage to him; he dashed the building to the ground, and there it
lies a mass of ruin, a sight to make him rue most bitterly my bonds.
At last from sheer fatigue he dropped his sword and fell fainting;
for he a mortal frail, dared to wage war upon a
god; but I meantime quietly left the house and am
come to you, with never a thought of Pentheus. But methinks he will
soon appear before the house; at least there is a sound of steps
within. What will he say, I wonder, after this? Well, be his fury
never so great, I will lightly bear it; for 'tis a wise man's way to school
his temper into due control. Enter PENTHEUS. PENTHEUS
Shamefully have I been treated; that stranger, whom but now I made
so fast in prison, hath escaped me. Ha! there is the man! What means
this? How didst thou come forth, to appear thus in front of my
palace? DIONYSUS
Stay where thou art; and moderate
thy fury. PENTHEUS
How is it thou hast escaped thy
fetters and art at large? DIONYSUS
Did I not say, or didst thou not
hear me, "There is one will loose me." PENTHEUS
Who was it? there is always
something strange in what thou sayest. DIONYSUS
He who makes the clustering vine to
grow for man. PENTHEUS
(I scorn him and his vines!)
DIONYSUS
A fine taunt indeed thou hurlest
here at Dionysus! PENTHEUS
To his servants Bar every tower that hems us in, I order you. DIONYSUS
What use? Cannot gods pass even
over walls? PENTHEUS
How wise thou art, except where thy
wisdom is needed! DIONYSUS
Where most 'tis needed, there am I
most wise. But first listen to yonder messenger and hear what he
says; he comes from the hills with tidings for thee; and I will await
thy pleasure, nor seek to fly. Enter MESSENGER. Messenger. PENTHEUS
What urgent news dost bring
me? MESSENGER
I have seen, O king, those
frantic Bacchanals, who darted in frenzy from this land with
bare white feet, and I am come to tell thee and the city the wondrous
deeds they do, deeds passing strange. But I fain would hear, whether
I am freely to tell all I saw there, or shorten my story; for I fear
thy hasty temper, sire, thy sudden bursts of wrath and more than
princely rage. PENTHEUS
Say on, for thou shalt go
unpunished by me in all respects; for to be angered with the upright
is wrong. The direr thy tale about the Bacchantes, the heavier
punishment will I inflict on this fellow who brought his secret
arts amongst our women. I was just driving the herds of
kine to a ridge of the hill as I fed them, as the sun shot forth his
rays and made the earth grow warm; when lo! I see three
revel-bands of women; Autonoe was chief of one, There they lay asleep, all tired out; some were
resting on branches of the pine, others had laid their heads in
careless ease on oak-leaves piled upon the ground, observing all modesty;
not, as
thou
sayest, seeking to gratify
their lusts alone amid the woods, by
wine and
soft flute-music
maddened. Anon in their midst
thy mother
uprose and cried aloud to wake them from their sleep, when she heard
the lowing
of my horned kine. And up they started to their feet, brushing from their
eyes sleep's quickening dew, a wondrous sight of grace and modesty,
young and old and maidens yet unwed. First o'er their shoulders
they let stream their hair;
then all did gird their fawn-skins
up, who hitherto had left the
fastenings loose, girdling the dappled
hides with snakes that licked their cheeks.
Others fondled in their arms gazelles or savage
whelps of wolves, and suckled them-young mothers
these with babes at home, whose breasts were still full of milk;
crowns
they wore of ivy or of oak or blossoming convolvulus. And one took
her thyrsus and struck it into the earth, and forth there gushed a
limpid spring; and another plunged her wand into the lap of earth
and there the god sent up a fount of wine; and all who
wished for draughts of
milk had but to scratch the soil with
their finger-tips and there they had it in abundance, while from
every ivy-wreathed staff sweet rills of honey trickled.
Hadst thou been there and seen this, thou
wouldst have turned to pray to the
god, whom now thou dost disparage. Anon we
herdsmen and shepherds met to discuss their strange and wondrous
doings; then one, who wandereth oft to town
and hath a trick of
speech, made harangue in
the midst,
"O ye who dwell upon the hallowed
mountain-terraces! shall we chase Agave, mother of Pentheus,
from her Bacchic rites, and thereby do our prince a service?"
We liked his speech, and placed ourselves in
hidden ambush among the leafy thickets; they at the appointed time
began to wave the
thyrsus for their Bacchic rites, calling on
Iacchus (Iacchus or Bacchus, honored by all, deviser of
our festal song and
dance - (worship facilitator),
the Bromian god, the son of Zeus, in united chorus, and the
whole mount and the wild creatures re-echoed their cry; all nature
stirred as they rushed on. Now Agave chanced to come
springing near me, so up I leapt from out my ambush where I lay
concealed, meaning to seize her. But she cried out, "What ho! my nimble hounds (homosexual priests),
here are men upon our track; but follow me, ay, follow, with the
thyrsus in
your hand for weapon." And when the messengers of John
were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John,
What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with
the wind? Lu.7:24 But what went ye
out for to see? A man clothed in soft (clothes of a Catamite=male
prostitute) raiment?
Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately
(effeminate), are in kings courts. Luke 7:25 And the Lord said, Whereunto
then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they
like? Luke 7:31 They are like unto children
sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying,
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to
you, and ye have not wept. Luke 7:32 For John the Baptist came
neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Luke 7:33 The Son of man is come eating
and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber,
a friend of publicans and sinners Luke 7:34 But wisdom is
justified of all her children. Luke 7:35 Thereat we fled, to escape being torn in
pieces by the Bacchantes; but they,
with hands that bore no weapon of steel, attacked our cattle as they
browsed. Then wouldst thou have seen Agave mastering some sleek lowing calf, while others rent the heifers limb from
limb. Before thy eyes there would have been hurling of ribs and hoofs
this way and that; and strips of flesh, all blood-bedabbled, dripped
as they hung from the pine-branches. Wild bulls,
that glared but now with rage along their horns,
found themselves tripped up, dragged down to earth by countless
maidens'
hands.
The flesh upon their limbs was
stripped therefrom quicker than thou couldst have closed thy royal
eye-lids. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset
me round. Psalm 22:12 They
gaped upon me with their
mouths, as a
ravening and a roaring lion. Psalm 22:13
I am poured out
like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax;
it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Psalm 22:14 Then off they sped, like birds that skim the
air, to the plains beneath the hi
somethines darting his
eyes about;
sometimes throwing his
hands hither and thither,
while you revile those who
do not take a part in your pursuits.
Dionysus
Cadmus
Pentheus
Agave
Teiresias
First Messenger
Second Messenger
Servant
Scene
Before the Palace of Pentheus at Thebes. Enter DIONYSUS.
saying that Semele, when she became a mother by some mortal
lover,
art yet devoid thereof in all thou sayest.
he makes his frantic votaries
foretell the future.
Only, Cadmus, beware lest Pentheus' bring sorrow to thy house;
His it is
to rouse the revellers to
dance, to laugh away dull care,
.......and wake the
flute,
.......whene'er at banquets of the
gods the luscious grape appears,
.......or when the winecup in the feast
sheds sleep on men who wear the ivy-spray.
....... the powers divine behold man's state.
which was thy real object in coming to Thebes;
Pentheus, ruler of this realm of Thebes! I am come from
Cithaeron,
where the dazzling flakes of pure white snow ne'er cease to
fall.
thy mother Agave of the second,
while Ino's was the third.