Pages 20 through 25 of Bacchae by Euripides
The reason that Bacchae by Euripides was chosen as a set text to be
examined on is because it is a classic ancient Greek performance. It
offers us a look at how the Greeks lived in a completely different
culture to ours. It also shows us how important religion was to them
and how they worshipped different gods to us; it is very interesting
because this is how theatre started off in ancient Greece. From
choosing a piece of drama this old, we can see how our theatre today
has developed from previous ideas and techniques. Another benefit of
using the Bacchae is that it is the first ancient Greek play I have
studied and so offers challenge, the Greek way of life is a whole new
culture to get used to.
The scene that I have chosen to act out from the play is between pages
20 and 25 of the play and it is the part of the play in which Pentheus
and Dionysos first meet each other. I have chosen this scene because I
believe that it is a very important part of the play. It is a scene
that contains a lot of stichomythia between the two very important
characters in the play. This scene is a scene that would be enjoyable
to act out, and also I feel that it is one of my favourite scenes in
the play.
I will be playing Pentheus in the scene I have chosen to act out from
the Bacchae. Also I will be playing Pentheus in the devised scene that
me and the other three members of my group for the devised scene will
be writing and acting out. Although for the scene from the original
script I will be working in a group of two, in the devised scene I
will be working in a group of four, this is for a wider range of
Bacchae characters to use in the devised piece. The content of this
scene will include a dialogue between the original Bacchae characters
of Pentheus, Dionysos, Agave and Kadmos.The scenes, which we will
include, will be a scenario in which Dionysos visits the house of
Pentheus, A fight scene between Pentheus and Dionysus with music in
the background and Kadmos Narrating the scene. The devised piece will
end with the realisation that whilst fighting, Pentheus and Dionysos
where approached by Kadmos, when the old man tried to stop the
fighting, just as in the Bacchae he was ignored. A stray fist leads to
the death of Kadmos and the ultimate betrayal on the behalf of
A significant aspect of the play is the acting and wardrobe, because it helps demonstrate the personalities of the characters.
Act 1 scene 5 is very important in the play because it is when Romeo
the main theme of the play. With out this scene in the play I don’t
preparing us for the tragedy. I will be focusing on Act 3 Scene 1 and
acts of the play, and I'm looking forward to writing it in the way I
Act 3, Scene 1 in 'Romeo and Juliet' is very important to the play as
in the play. The theme of love is a young man (Romeo) from one family
powerful story. This scene is as important as Act 2 Scene 2 or Act 4
opinions in Act 1, Scene 2. The aim of this is to build the suspense
place in Act 3 scene 3 proves that it is very important to the rest of
Many different interpretations can be derived from themes in Euripides's The Bacchae, most of which assume that, in order to punish the women of Thebes for their impudence, the god Dionysus drove them mad. However, there is evidence to believe that another factor played into this confrontation. Because of the trend of male dominance in Greek society, women suffered in oppression and bore a social stigma which led to their own vulnerability in becoming Dionysus's target. In essence, the Thebian women practically fostered Dionysian insanity through their longing to rebel against social norms. Their debilitating conditions as women prompted them to search for a way to transfigure themselves with male qualities in order to abandon their social subordination.
Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ The Bacchae are indubitably plays of antitheses and conflicts, and this condition is personified in the manifestation of their characters, each completely opposed to the other. Both tragedians reveal tensions between two permanent and irreconcilable moral codes; divine law represented by Antigone and Dionysus and human law represented by Creon and Pentheus. The central purpose is evidently the association of law which has its consent in political authority and the law which has its consent in the private conscience, the association of obligations imposed on human beings as citizens and members of state, and the obligations imposed on them in the home as members of families. Both these laws presenting themselves in their most crucial form are in direct collision. Sophocles and Euripides include a great deal of controversial material, once the reader realizes the inquiries behind their work. Inquiries that pertain to the very fabric of life, that still make up the garments of society today.
Without Act 2 Scene 2 the whole play makes no sense. This is the scene
The two scenes that the essay will be focusing on are Act 1 Scene 1
Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R., (2003). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton- Mifflin. pp. 146- 170.