by Euripides
ORESTES, PHRYGIAN, CHORUS.
ORES. Where is he that fled from my sword out of the palace?
PHRY. I supplicate thee, O king, falling prostrate before thee after the barbaric fashion.
ORES. The case before us is not in Ilium, but the Argive land.
PHRY. In every region to live is sweeter than to die, in the opinion of the wise.
ORES. Didst thou not raise a cry for Menelaus to come with succor?
PHRY. I indeed am present on purpose to assist thee; for thou art the more worthy.
ORES. Perished then the daughter of Tyndarus justly?
PHRY. Most justly, even had she three lives for vengeance.
ORES. With thy tongue dost thou flatter, not having these sentiments within?
PHRY. For ought she not? She who utterly destroyed Greece as well as the Phrygians themselves?
ORES. Swear, I will kill thee else, that thou art not speaking to curry favor with me.
PHRY. By my life have I sworn, which I should wish to hold a sacred oath.
ORES. Was the steel thus dreadful to all the Phrygians at Troy also?
PHRY. Remove thy sword, for being so near me it gleams horrid slaughter.
ORES. Art thou afraid, lest thou shouldest become a rock, as though looking on the Gorgon?
PHRY. Lest I should become a corse, but I know not of the Gorgon’s head.
ORES. Slave as thou art, dost thou fear death, which will rid thee from thy woes?
PHRY. Every one, although a man be a slave, rejoices to behold the light.
ORES. Thou sayest well; thy understanding; saves thee, but go into the house.
PHRY. Thou wilt not kill me then?
ORES. Thou art pardoned.
PHRY. This is good word thou hast spoken.
ORES. Yet we may change our measures.
PHRY. But this thou sayest not well.
ORES. Thou art a fool, if thou thinkest I could endure to defile me by smiting thy neck, for neither art thou a woman, nor oughtest thou to be ranked among men. But that thou mightest not raise a clamor came I forth out of the house: for Argos, when it has heard a noise, is soon roused, but we have no dread in meeting Menelaus, as far as swords go; but let him come exulting with his golden ringlets flowing over his shoulders, for if he collects the Argives, and brings them against the palace seeking revenge for the death of Helen, and is not willing to let me be in safety, and my sister, and Pylades my accomplice in this affair, he shall see two corses, both the virgin and his wife.
CHORUS.
Alas! alas! O fate, the house of the Atridæ again falls into another, another fearful struggle.
SEMICHOR. What shall we do? shall we carry these tidings to the city, or shall we keep in silence?
SEMICHOR. This is the safer plan, my friends.
SEMICHOR. Behold before the house, behold this smoke leaping aloft in the air portends something.
SEMICHOR. They are lighting the torches, as about to burn down the mansion of Tantalus, nor do they forbear from murder.
CHOR. The God rules the events that happen to mortals, whichsoever way he wills. But some vast power by the instigation of the Furies has struck, has struck these palaces to the shedding of blood on account of the fall of Myrtilus from the chariot.
But lo! I see Menelaus also here approaching the house with a quick step, having by some means or other perceived the calamity which now is present. Will ye not anticipate him by closing the gates with bolts, O ye children of Atreus, who are in the palace? A man in prosperity is a terrible thing to those in adversity, as now them art in misery, Orestes.
MENELAUS below, ORESTES, PYLADES, ELECTRA, HERMIONE above, CHORUS.
MEN. I am present, having heard the horrid and atrocious deeds of the two lions, for I call them not men. For I have now heard of my wife, that she died not, but vanished away, this that I heard was empty report, which one deceived by fright related; but these are the artifices of the matricide, and much derision. Open some one the door, my attendants I command to burst open these gates here, that my child at least we may deliver from the hand of these blood-polluted men, and may receive my unhappy, my miserable lady, with whom those murderers of my wife must die by my hand.
ORES. What ho there! Touch not these gates with thine hands: to Menelaus I speak, that thou towerest in thy boldness, or with this pinnacle will I crush thy head, having rent down the ancient battlement, the labor of the builders. But the gates are made fast with bolts, which will hinder thee from thy purpose of bringing aid, so that thou canst not pass within the palace.
MEN. Ha! what is this? I see the blaze of torches, and these stationed on the battlements, on the height of the palace, and the sword placed over the neck of my daughter to guard her.
ORES. Whether is it thy will to question, or to hear me?
MEN. I wish neither, but it is necessary, as it seems, to hear thee.
ORES. I am about to slay thy daughter if thou wish to know.
MEN. Having slain Helen, dost thou perpetrate murder on murder?
ORES. For would I had gained my purpose not being deluded, as I was, by the Gods.
MEN. Thou hast slain her, and deniest it, and speakest these things to insult me.
ORES. It is a denial that gives me pain, for would that —
MEN. Thou had done what deed? for thou callest forth alarm.
ORES. I had hurled to hell the fury of Greece.
MEN. Give back the body of my wife, that I may bury her in a tomb.
ORES. Ask her of the Gods; but I will slay thy daughter.
MEN. The matricide contrives murder on murder.
ORES. The avenger of his father, whom thou gavest up to die.
MEN. Was not the blood of thy mother formerly shed sufficient for thee?
ORES. I should not be weary of slaying wicked women, were I to slay them forever.
MEN. Art thou also, Pylades, a partaker in this murder?
ORES. By his silence he assents, but if I speak, it will be sufficient.
MEN. But not with impunity, unless indeed thou fliest on wings.
ORES. We will not fly, but will set fire to the palace?
MEN. What! wilt thou destroy thy father’s mansion?
ORES. Yes, that thou mayest not possess it, will I, having stabbed this virgin here over the flames.
MEN. Slay her; since having slain thou shalt at least give me satisfaction for these deeds.
ORES. It shall be so then.
MEN. Alas! on no account do this!
ORES. Be silent then; but bear to suffer evil justly.
MEN. What! is it just for thee to live?
ORES. Yes, and to rule over the land.
MEN. What land!
ORES. Here, in Pelasgian Argos.
MEN. Well wouldst thou touch the sacred lavers!
ORES. And pray why not?
MEN. And wouldst slaughter the victim before the battle!
ORES. And thou wouldst most righteously.
MEN. Yes, for I am pure as to my hands.
ORES. But not thy heart.
MEN. Who would speak to thee?
ORES. Whoever loves his father.
MEN. And whoever reveres his mother.
ORES. — Is happy.
MEN. Not thou at least.
ORES. For wicked women please me not.
MEN. Take away the sword from my daughter.
ORES. Thou art false in thy expectations.
MEN. But wilt thou kill my daughter?
ORES. Thou art no longer false.
MEN. Alas me! what shall I do?
ORES. Go to the Argives, and persuade them.
MEN. With what persuasion?
ORES. Beseech the city that we may not die.
MEN. Otherwise ye will slay my daughter?
ORES. The thing is so.
MEN. O wretched Helen! —
ORES. And am I not wretched?
MEN. I brought thee hither from the Trojans to be a victim.
ORES. For would this we
re so!
MEN. Having endured ten thousand toils.
ORES. Except on my account.
MEN. I have met with dreadful treatment.
ORES. For then, when thou oughtest, thou wert of no assistance.
MEN. Thou hast me.
ORES. Thou at least hast caught thyself. But, ho there! set fire to the palace, Electra, from beneath: and thou, Pylades, the most true of my friends, light up these battlements of the walls.
MEN. O land of the Danai, and inhabitants of warlike Argos, will ye not, ho there! come in arms to my succor? For this man here, having perpetrated the shocking murder of his mother, brings destruction on your whole city, that he may live.
APOLLO.
Menelaus, cease from thy irritated state of mind; I Phœbus the son of Latona, in thy presence, am addressing thee. Thou too, Orestes, who standest over that damsel with thy sword drawn, that thou mayest know what commands I bring with me. Helen indeed, whom thou minded to destroy, working Menelaus to anger, didst fail of thy purpose, she is here, whom ye see wrapt in the bosom of the sky, preserved, and not slain by thy hands. Her I preserved, and snatched from thy sword, commanded by my father Jove. For being the daughter of Jove, it is right that she should live immortal. And she shall have her seat by Castor and Pollux in the bosom of the sky, the guardian of mariners. But take to thyself another bride, and lead her home, since for the beauty of this woman the Gods brought together the Greeks and Trojans, and caused deaths, that they might draw from off the earth the pride of mortals, who had become an infinite multitude. Thus is it with regard to Helen; but thee, on the other hand, Orestes, it behooveth, having passed beyond the boundaries of this land, to inhabit the Parrhasian plain during the revolution of a year, and it shall be called by a name after thy flight, so that the Azanes and Arcadians shall call it Oresteum: and thence having departed to the city of the Athenians, undergo the charge of shedding thy mother’s blood laid by the three Furies. But the Gods the arbiters of the cause shall pass on thee most sacredly their decree on the hill of Mars, in which it behooveth thee to be victorious. But Hermione, to whose neck thou art holding the sword, it is destined for thee, Orestes, to wed, but Neoptolemus, who thinks to marry her, shall never marry her. For it is fated to him to die by the Delphic sword, as he is demanding of me satisfaction for his father Achilles. But to Pylades give thy sister’s hand, as thou didst formerly agree, but a happy life now coming on awaits him. But, O Menelaus, suffer Orestes to reign over Argos. But depart and rule over the Spartan land, having it as thy wife’s dowry, who exposing thee to numberless evils always was bringing thee to this. But what regards the city I will make all right for him, I, who compelled him to slay his mother.
ORES. O Loxian prophet, thou wert not then a false prophet in thine oracles, but a true one. And yet a fear comes upon me, that having heard one of the Furies, I might think that I have been hearing thy voice. But it is well fulfilled, and I will obey thy words. Behold I let go Hermione from slaughter, and approve her alliance, whenever her father shall give her.
MEN. O Helen, daughter of Jove, hail! but I bless thee inhabiting the happy mansions of the Gods. But to thee, Orestes, do I betroth my daughter at Phœbus’s commands, but illustrious thyself marrying from an illustrious family, be happy, both thou and I who give her.
APOL. Now depart each of you whither we have appointed, and dissolve your quarrels.
MEN. It is our duty to obey.
ORES. I too entertain the same sentiments, and I receive with friendship thee in thy sufferings, O Menelaus, and thy oracles, O Apollo.
APOL. Go now, each his own way, honoring the most excellent goddess Peace; but I will convey Helen to the mansions of Jove, passing through the pole of the shining stars, where sitting by Juno, and Hercules’s Hebe, a goddess, she shall ever be honored by mortals with libations, in conjunction with the Tyndaridæ, the sons of Jove, presiding over the sea to the benefit of mariners.
CHOR. O greatly glorious Victory, mayest thou uphold my life, and cease not from crowning me!
BACCHAE
Translated by Theodore Alois Buckley
Composed during Euripides’ final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon, this play was first performed posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigenia at Aulis and Alcmaeon in Corinth. Bacchae was most likely first directed by Euripides’ son and the drama won first prize in the City Dionysia festival competition. The play concerns the mythological story of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agauë, who refuse to worship the god Dionysus and are therefore duly punished.
The Dionysus in Euripides’ play is portrayed as a young god, angry that his mortal family, the royal house of Cadmus, has denied him a place of honour as a deity. As the play opens, Dionysus appears on stage to tell the audience who he is and his reasons for coming to Thebes. He explains the story of his birth and how the god Zeus had come down from Mount Olympus to lie with his mother. When she became pregnant, however, none of her family believed her story regarding her child’s father. Zeus’ wife, Hera, angry by his betrayal, disguised herself as an old nurse and convinced Semele to ask Zeus to appear to her in his true form. Zeus appeared to Semele as a lightning bolt and therefore killed her instantly. At the moment of her death however, Hermes saved the unborn Dionysus. To hide the baby from Hera, Zeus had the fetus sewn into his thigh until the child was ready to be born. However, Semele’s family — her sisters Agave, Autonoe, and Ino, and her father, Cadmus — still doubted her story regarding the identity of the baby’s father. Dionysus now explains that he has come to Thebes to vindicate his mother and establish his cult, though at first he meets grave resistance from the disbelieving King Pentheus.
‘Pentheus torn apart by Ino and Agave’, lekanis lid, c. 450-450 BC
Another contemporary depiction of Pentheus’ death
CONTENTS
PERSONS REPRESENTED,
THE ARGUMENT.
THE BACCHÆ.
‘Triumph of Bacchus’ by Ciro Ferri
‘The Triumph of Bacchus’ by Charles Joseph Natoire
PERSONS REPRESENTED,
BACCHUS.
CHORUS.
TIRESIAS.
CADMUS.
PENTHEUS.
SERVANT.
MESSENGER.
ANOTHER MESSENGER.
AGAVE.
THE ARGUMENT.
Bacchus, the son of Jove by Semele, had made Thebes, his mother’s birth-place, his favorite place of abode and worship. Pentheus, the then reigning king, who, as others say, preferred the worship of Minerva, slighted the new God, and persecuted those who celebrated his revels. Upon this, Bacchus excited his mother Agave, together with the sisters of Semele, Autonoe and Ino, to madness, and visiting Pentheus in disguise of a Bacchanal, was at first imprisoned, but, easily escaping from his bonds, he persuaded Pentheus to intrude upon the rites of the Bacchants. While surveying them from a lofty tree, the voice of Bacchus was heard inciting the Bacchants to avenge themselves upon the intruder, and they tore the miserable Pentheus piecemeal. The grief and banishment of Agave for her unwitting offense conclude the play.
THE BACCHÆ.
BACCHUS.
I, Bacchus, the son of Jove, am come to this land of the Thebans, whom formerly Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, brought forth, delivered by the lightning-bearing flame. And having taken a mortal form instead of a God’s, I am present at the fountains of Dirce and the water of Ismenus. And I see the tomb of my thunder-stricken mother here near the palace, and the remnants of the house smoking, and the still living name of Jove’s fire, the everlasting insult of Juno against my mother. But I praise Cadmus, who has made this place hallowed, the shrine of his daughter; and I have covered it around with the cluster-bearing leaf of the vine. And having left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, and the sun-parched plains of the Persians, and the Bactrian walls; and having come over the stormy land of the Medes, and the happy Arabia, and all As
ia which lies along the coast of the salt sea, having fair-towered cities full of Greeks and barbarians mingled together; and there having danced and established my mysteries, that I might be a God manifest among men, I have come to this city first of the Grecian [cities,] and I have raised my shout first in Thebes of this land of Greece, fitting a deer-skin on my body, and taking a thyrsus in my hand, an ivy-clad weapon, because the sisters of my mother, whom, it least of all became, said that I, Bacchus, was not born of Jove; but that Semele, having conceived by some mortal, charged the sin of her bed upon Jove, a trick of Cadmus; on which account they said that Jove had slain her, because she told a false tale about her marriage. Therefore I have now driven them from the house with frenzy, and they dwell on the mountain, insane of mind; and I have compelled them to wear the dress of my mysteries. And all the female seed of the Cadmeans, as many as are women, have I driven maddened from the house. And they, mingled with the sons of Cadmus, sit on the roofless rocks beneath the green pines. For this city must know, even though it be unwilling, that it is not initiated into my Bacchanalian rites, and that I plead the cause of my mother, Semele, in appearing manifest to mortals as a God whom she bore to Jove. Cadmus then gave his honor and power to Pentheus, born from his daughter, who fights against the Gods as far as I am concerned, and drives me from sacrifices, and in his prayers makes no mention of me; on which account I will show him and all the Thebans that I am a God. And having set matters here aright, manifesting myself, I will move to another land. But if the city of the Thebans should in anger seek by arms to bring down the Bacchæ from the mountain, I, general of the Mænads, will join battle. On which account I have changed my form to a mortal one, and transformed my shape into the nature of a man. But, O ye who have left Tmolus, the bulwark of Lydia; ye women, my assembly, whom I have brought from among the barbarians as assistants and companions to me; take your drums, your native instruments in the Phrygian cities, the invention of the mother Rhea and myself, and coming beat them around this royal palace of Pentheus, that the city of Cadmus may see it. And I, with the Bacchæ, going to the dells of Cithæron, where they are, will share their dances.