Euripides: Bacchae

Returning to Thebes under the guise of a stranger, Dionysus—young, alluring, ambiguous—confronts his rigid cousin Pentheus, the king of Thebes. Seeking vengeance against the royal house of Cadmus that denies him honor, Dionysus draws the women of Thebes into the woods of Mount Kithairon, leading them to earthly pleasures, ecstatic ritual, and wild abandon. Coerced by pride (and curiosity), Pentheus is lured into a deadly encounter with the god, revealing (and reveling in) his forbidden fascinations.

Through haunting choral odes, the play explores the nature of wisdom and the tension between the affirmation of life and what lies outside our control.

Come, partake, and please read ahead and be prepared to discuss Euripides’ Bacchae in detail.