The Bacchae quotes

Pentheus' first line about Bacchism, S1

"I hear of new evils in the city"

Pentheus' first line about women, ep1

"our women have abandoned their homes"

Pentheus' suspicions about the women, ep1

"the women creep off to hide in secret places and serve the lusts of men"

Pentheus' threat to Dionysus, ep1

"I will put a stop to him pounding his thyrsus and tossing his hair - by cutting his head from his body!"

Tiresias about Pentheus' sanity, ep1

"You are mad, agonisingly mad"

Pentheus' plan for Dionysus, ep1

"This is how I will hurt him most"

Pentheus' threat about Dionysus' intelligence, ep2

"You will pay the price for your vile cleverness!"

Pentheus' hubris, ep2

"I have more authority than you"

Dionysus on Pentheus' name ('man of sorrows'), ep2

"You are well-named for disaster"

Soldier about Pentheus' tyranny, ep3

"I fear the swiftness of your moods, lord, and your temper, which is excessively king-like"

Pentheus on punishing the maenads, ep3

"I will sacrifice a great slaughter of women, as they deserve"

Pentheus' ego and arrogance, ep3

"Anything is better than the bacchants laughing at me"

Pentheus on Dionysus' control, ep4

"I am in your hands"

Pentheus' perverted imaginings, ep3

"I imagine they are... in the sweet clutches of lovemaking!"

Messenger's pity for Pentheus, ep4

"Poor Pentheus" "poor man"

Pentheus' last plea to Agave, ep4

"Take pity on me, mother, and do not kill me, your son, for my mistakes!"

Pentheus' death described, ep4

"Pentheus screaming as long as he had breath, and the bacchants howling in triumph"

Cadmus' description of Pentheus' body parts, exodus

"pitiful burden of Pentheus"

Cadmus on Pentheus' death, exodus

"most shamefully and terribly killed"

Dionysus' goal for Pentheus, prologue

"I will prove to him and all the Thebans that I am a god"

Dionysus' goal for after Thebes, prologue

"When I have put things right here, I will move onto another land, and reveal myself there also"

Dionysus on Pentheus' actions, prologue

"Pentheus, who now fights with gods - with me! - leaving me out of his sacrifices, and making no mention of me in his prayers"

Pentheus' description of Dionysus, ep1

"effeminate foreigner"

Dionysus on Pentheus paying for his actions, ep2

"You will pay, for your ignorance and irreverence to the god!"

Dionysus using dramatic irony about Dionysus' power, ep2

"The god himself will free me, whenever I wish"

Dionysus' warning, ep2

"I give clear warning to those whose minds are not clear"

Dionysus on Pentheus' ignorance, ep2

"You do not know what your life is, nor what you are doing, nor who you are"

Dionysus describing shaming Pentheus with the bull, ep3

"This is exactly how I humiliated him"

Dionysus when Pentheus was tying up the bull, ep3

"I was close by, sitting peacefully and watching"

Dionysus giving Pentheus another chance, ep3

"Although I have been shamefully treated by you, nonetheless I tell you that you must not take up arms against the god"

Dionysus on Pentheus opposing him, ep3

"though only a man, he dared to fight with a god"

Dionysus wanting to punish Pentheus, ep3

"he will be punished by death...Let us take vengeance on him!" "I want him to be laughed at"

Dionysus turning Pentheus insane, ep3

"In his right mind he will never... but veering beyond the bounds of sanity he will"

Dionysus on himself, ep3

"Dionysus, son of Zeus, is fully a god: most terrible, and yet most gentle to mankind"

Dionysus on Pentheus' being tried, ep4

"I am bringing this young man to his great trial, and the winner will be myself, and Bromios"

Dionysus when Cadmus begs, exodus

"You are late in recognising me; when you should have seen me, you did not"

Dionysus when Cadmus accuses him of being severe, exodus

"Yes, for I am a god, and I was insulted by you."

Cadmus on his mortality, ep1

"I do not scorn the gods, since I am mortal myself"

Cadmus persuading Pentheus to lie for the good of the family, ep1

"Tell a lie in a good cause:...honour may come to our whole family"

Cadmus on Dionysus' justice, exodus

"He has destroyed us; with justice, yes, but excessively hard"

Cadmus explaining why Dionysus had Pentheus killed, exodus

"For he was insulted, outraged; because you didn't consider him a god"

Cadmus begging Dionysus, exodus

"we beg you - we have done wrong"

Cadmus on Dionysus' punishment, exodus

"you punish too severely"

Cadmus about gods' anthropomorphism, exodus

"It is not right that gods should resemble mortals in their passions"

Tiresias about the men in Thebes, ep1

"for we alone have sense; the others are wrong"

Tiresias about philosophy, ep1

"We do not hold intellectual debates on the gods"

Tiresias about old and new, ep1

"No logic will overthrow the traditions we have received from our fathers"

Pentheus accusing Tiresias of impiety, ep1

"so that you can make money from augury and sacrifice!"

Tiresias on sophistry, ep1

"A fine orator whose ability is based on confidence is a bad citizen"

Tiresias on using force, ep1

"Do not be so sure that force dominates mankind"

Agave on the killing, exodus

"That honour is mine"

Agave about Pentheus the lion, exodus

"He is young, this cub"

Messenger and Chorus on Agave, exodus

"poor woman"

Agave defying gender roles, exodus

"I left the shuttles by my loom, and have come to something greater"

Agave's anagnorisis about Pentheus, exodus

"I see the most terrible pain; I am lost!"

Agave's anagnorisis about Dionysus, exodus

"Dionysus destroyed us; now I understand"

Chorus on the maenads, parabasis

"where a throng of women waits, far from their shuttles and looms"

Chorus on the ground on Mount Cithaeron, parabasis

"the ground flows with milk, the ground flows with wine, it flows with nectar of bees"

Chorus chastising Pentheus, ep1

"Blasphemy! Stranger, have you no respect for the gods...?"

Chorus on bad qualities, stasimon 1

"unbridled mouths and lawless folly end in disaster"

Chorus on Pentheus' actions, stasimon 2

"soon he will bind me in chains"

Chorus' fear of Pentheus, ep3

"I am afraid to speak freely in front of the king"

Chorus on divine power, stasimon 3

"Divine power is certain. It corrects mortals who worship arrogance"

Chorus on Pentheus' judgement, stasimon 4

"unjust judgement and lawless order"

Chorus advising the audience, stasimon 4

"reject ways that lay outside of justice, and honour the gods"

Chorus advising on the right saction, stasimon 4

"reject ways that lie outside of justice, and honour the gods"

Chorus celebrating Pentheus' death, ep5

"No longer I cower in fear of chains!"

Chorus on Cadmus and Pentheus, exodus

"I grieve for your fate, Cadmus, but your grandson has received the punishment he deserves"

Chorus on the improbable, exodus

"god finds a way for improbable, so did these events unfold"

Descriptions of women in Bacchic rituals, ep3

"relaxed", "carelessly", "decently"

Description of mothers in Bacchic rituals, ep3

"whose breasts were swollen, having left their babies behind"

The maenads' strength, ep3

"tearing fully grown cows to pieces" "women overcoming men!"

Messenger advising audience, ep5

"The best thing is to know one's place and revere the divine"