Looking at Bacchae

Bacchae is one of the most troubling yet intriguing of Greek tragedies. Written during Euripides'' self-imposed exile in Macedonia, it tells of the brutal murder and dismemberment of Pentheus by his mother and aunts who, driven temporarily insane, have joined the Bacchae (devotees of the god Dionysus, or Bacchus). The startling plot, driven by Dionysus'' desire to punish his family for refusing to...