(via 500px / Are You Listening To Me! By Sue Demetriou)

(via 500px / Are you listening to me! by Sue Demetriou)

People say I’m mad. I say I’m Maenad. LOL

I'm gonna poke you in the third eye with my Thyrsus.

Friendly “Little” Rat Snake by ChicaD58 on Flickr.

Pentheus and Dionysos

In Greek mythology, Pentheus was a king of Thebes. He was the son of Echion. Agave, Pentheus’ mother, was the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia.

Much of what is known about the character comes from the interpretation of the myth in Euripides’ tragic play, The Bacchae.

When Cadmus, the king of Thebes, renounced the throne due to his old age, his grandson Pentheus took over the duties as king. Pentheus soon banned the worship of the god Dionysos, who was the son of his aunt Semele, and did not allow the women of Thebes to join in his rites.

 Dionysos’ words from Euripides, Bacchae 25 ff (trans. Buckley) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :

Now Kadmos has given his honor and power to Pentheus, his daughter’s son, who fights against the gods as far as I am concerned and drives me away from sacrifices, and in his prayers makes no mention of me, for which I will show him and all the Thebans that I was born a god.

In a frenzy called upon by Dionysos, the women of Thebes (including Pentheus’ mother and aunts) rushed out to Mount Cithaeron to worship the god. Then Dionysos disguised himself as a priest of Bakkhai, and Pentheus tried to arrest him (he thought him nothing more than a follower of Dionysos), but the shackles fell off, and Dionysos escaped, only to seek out Pentheus once more. Dionysos convinced Pentheus that instead of slaughtering all the frenzied women, he should first give in to his own curiosity and spy on them (because Pentheus expected to see them engaged in sexual activities). Dionysos proceeded to dress Pentheus in women’s clothing, so the women would not notice there was a man in their midst.

When they arrived at the mountain, Pentheus hid in a tree, but it didn’t take long for Dionysos’ worshippers to become aware of him. Dionysos then told the women that the man in the tree was the one who had blasphemed the god and his sacred rituals, and that they should punish him. The women, in their Bacchic frenzy, ripped Pentheus down from the tree, and Pentheus’ mother, Agave, who was first to reach him, ripped his head off, while the others tore off his limbs.

It was after Pentheus’ horrible fate, that everyone acknowledged Dionysos as a god.