[The soldiers move in to round up the chorus of Bacchae. As they do so, the ground begins to shake, thunder sounds, lightning flashes, and the entire palace starts to break apart]
DIONYSUS: [shouting from within the palace]
Io! Hear me, hear me as I call you.
Io! Bacchae! Io Bacchae!
CHORUS: [a confusion of different voices in the following speeches]
Who's that? Who is it? It's Dionysus' voice!
It's calling me. But from what direction?
DIONYSUS: [From inside the palace] Io! Io! I'm calling out again— [580]
the son of Semele, a child of Zeus! 720
CHORUS: Io! Io! Lord and master!
Come join our company,
Bromius, oh Bromius!
DIONYSUS: [From inside] Sacred lord of earthquakes, shake this ground.
[The earthquake tremors resume]
CHORUS VOICE 1: Ai! Soon Pentheus' palace
will be shaken into rubble.
CHORUS VOICE 2: Dionysus is in the house—revere him.
CHORUS VOICE 3: We revere him, we revere him. [590]
CHORUS VOICE 4: You see those stone lintels on the pillars—
they're splitting up. It's Bromius calling, 730
shouting to us from inside the walls.
DIONYSUS: [from inside the palace] Let fiery lightning strike right now—
burn Pentheus' palace—consume it all!
CHORUS VOICE 5: Look! Don't you see the fire—
there by the sacred tomb of Semele!
The flame left by that thunderbolt from Zeus,
when the lightning flash destroyed her,
all that time ago. Oh Maenads—
throw your bodies on the ground, down, down, [600]
for our master, Zeus' son, moves now 740
against the palace—to demolish it.
[Enter Dionysus, bursting through the palace front doors, free of all chains, smiling and supremely confident.]
DIONYSUS: Ah, my barbarian Asian women,
Do you lie there on the ground prostrate with fear?
It seems you feel Dionysus' power,
as he rattles Pentheus' palace.
Get up now. Be brave. And stop your trembling.
CHORUS LEADER: How happy I am to see you—
Our greatest light in all the joyful dancing.
We felt alone and totally abandoned.
DIONYSUS: Did you feel despair when I was sent away, 750 [610]
cast down in Pentheus' gloomy dungeon?
CHORUS LEADER: How could I not? Who'll protect me
if you run into trouble? But tell me,
how did you escape that ungodly man?
DIONYSUS: No trouble. I saved myself with ease.
CHORUS LEADER: But didn't he bind up your hands up in chains?
DIONYSUS: In this business I was playing with him—
he thought he was tying me up, the fool!
He didn't even touch or handle me,
he was so busy feeding his desires. 760
In that stable where he went to tie me up,
he found a bull. He threw the iron fetters
around its knees and hooves. As he did so,
he kept panting in his rage, dripping sweat [620]
from his whole body—his teeth gnawed his lip.
I watched him, sitting quietly nearby.
After a while, Bacchus came and shook the place,
setting his mother Semele's tomb on fire.
Seeing that, Pentheus thought his palace
was burning down. He ran round, here and there, 770
yelling to his slaves to bring more water.
His servants set to work—and all for nothing!
Once I'd escaped, he ended all that work.
Seizing a dark sword, he rushed inside the house.
Then, it seems to me, but I'm guessing now,
Bromius set up out there in the courtyard [630]
some phantom image. Pentheus charged it,
slashing away at nothing but bright air,
thinking he was butchering me. There's more—
Bacchus kept hurting him in still more ways. 780
He knocked his house down, right to the ground,
all shattered, so Pentheus has witnessed
a bitter end to my imprisonment.
He's dropped his sword, worn out, exhausted,
a mere mortal daring to fight a god.
So now I've strolled out calmly to you,
leaving the house, ignoring Pentheus.
Wait! It seems to me I hear marching feet—
no doubt he'll come out front here soon enough.
What will he say, I wonder, after this? 790
Well, I'll deal with him quite gently, [640]
even if he comes out breathing up a storm.
After all, a wise man ought to keep his temper.
[Pentheus comes hurriedly out of the palace, accompanied by armed soldiers]
PENTHEUS: What's happening to me—total disaster!
The stranger's escaped, and we'd just chained him up.
[Seeing Dionysus]
Ah ha! Here is the man—right here.
What's going on? How did you get out?
How come you're here, outside my palace?
DIONYSUS: Hold on. Calm down. Don't be so angry.
PENTHEUS: How did you escape your chains and get here? 800
DIONYSUS: Didn't I say someone would release me—
or did you miss that part?
PENTHEUS: Who was it? [650]
You're always explaining things in riddles.
DIONYSUS: It was the one who cultivates for men
the richly clustering vine.
PENTHEUS: Ah, this Dionysus.
Your words are a lovely insult to your god.
DIONYSUS: He came to Thebes with nothing but good things.
PENTHEUS: [To soldiers] Seal off all the towers on my orders—
all of them around the city.
DIONYSUS: What for?
Surely a god can make it over any wall? 810
PENTHEUS: You're so wise, except in all those things
in which you should be wise.
DIONYSUS: I was born wise,
especially in matters where I need to be.
[Enter the Messenger, a cattle herder from the hills]
DIONYSUS: But first you'd better listen to this man,
hear what he has to say, for he's come here
from the mountains to report to you.
I'll still be here for you. I won't run off.
MESSENGER: Pentheus, ruler of this land of Thebes, [660]
I've just left Cithaeron, that mountain
where the sparkling snow never melts away. 820
PENTHEUS: What this important news you've come with?
MESSENGER: I saw those women in their Bacchic revels,
those sacred screamers, all driven crazy,
the ones who run barefoot from their homes.
I came, my lord, to tell you and the city
the dreadful things they're doing, their actions
are beyond all wonder. But, my lord,
first I wish to know if I should tell you,
openly report what's going on up there,
or whether I should hold my tongue. 830
Your mood changes so fast I get afraid— [670]
your sharp spirit, your all-too-royal temper.
PENTHEUS: Speak on. Whatever you have to report,
you'll get no punishment at all from me.
It's not right to vent one's anger on the just.
The more terrible the things you tell me
about those Bacchic women, the worse
I'll move against the one who taught them
all their devious tricks.
MESSENGER: The grazing cattle
were just moving into upland pastures, 840
at the hour the sun sends out its beams
to warm the earth. Right then I saw them—
three groups of dancing women. One of them [680]
Autonoe led. Your mother, Agave,
led the second group, and Ino led the third.
They were all asleep, bodies quite relaxed,
some leaning back on leafy boughs of pine,
others cradling heads on oak-leaf pillows,
resting on the ground—in all modesty.
They weren't as you described—all drunk on wine 850
or on the music of their flutes, hunting
for Aphrodite in the woods alone.
Once she heard my horned cattle lowing,
your mother stood up amid those Bacchae,
then called them to stir their limbs from sleep.
They rubbed refreshing sleep out of their eyes, [690]
and stood up straight there—a marvelous sight,
to see such an orderly arrangement,
women young and old and still unmarried girls.
First, they let their hair loose down their shoulders, 860
tied up the fawn skins (some had untied the knots
to loosen up the chords). Then around those skins
they looped some snakes, who licked the women's cheeks.
Some held young gazelles or wild wolf cubs
and fed them on their own white milk, the ones [700]
who'd left behind at home a new-born child
whose breasts were still swollen full of milk.
They draped themselves with garlands from oak trees,
ivy and flowering yew. Then one of them,
taking a thyrsus, struck a rock with it, 870
and water gushed out, fresh as dew. Another,
using her thyrsus, scraped the ground. At once,
the god sent fountains of wine up from the spot.
All those who craved white milk to drink
just scratched the earth with their fingertips—
it came out in streams. From their ivy wands [710]
thick sweet honey dripped. Oh, if you'd been there,
if you'd seen this, you'd come with reverence
to that god whom you criticize so much.
Well, we cattle herders and shepherds met 880
to discuss and argue with each other
about the astonishing things we'd seen.
And then a man who'd been in town a bit
and had a way with words said to us all,
"You men who live in the holy regions
of these mountains, how'd you like to hunt down
Pentheus' mother, Agave—take her [720]
away from these Bacchic celebrations,
do the king a favour?" To all of us
he seemed to make good sense. So we set up 890
an ambush, hiding in the bushes,
lying down there. At the appointed time,
the women started their Bacchic ritual,
brandishing the thyrsus and calling out
to the god they cry to, Bromius, Zeus' son.
The entire mountain and its wild animals
were, like them, in one Bacchic ecstasy.
As these women moved, they made all things dance.
Agave, by chance, was dancing close to me.
Leaving the ambush where I'd been concealed, 900
I jumped out, hoping to grab hold of her. [730]
But she screamed out, "Oh, my quick hounds,
men are hunting us. Come, follow me.
Come on, armed with that thyrsus in your hand."
We ran off, and so escaped being torn apart.
But then those Bacchic women, all unarmed,
went at the heifers browsing on the turf,
using their bare hands. You should have seen one
ripping a fat, young, lowing calf apart—
others tearing cows in pieces with their hands. 910
You could've seen ribs and cloven hooves [740]
tossed everywhere—some hung up in branches
dripping blood and gore. And bulls, proud beasts till then,
with angry horns, collapsed there on the ground,
dragged down by the hands of a thousand girls.
Hides covering their bodies were stripped off
faster than you could wink your royal eye.
Then, like birds carried up by their own speed,
they rushed along the lower level ground,
beside Asopus' streams, that fertile land 920
which yields its crops to Thebes. Like fighting troops, [750]
they raided Hysiae and Erythrae,
below rocky Cithaeron, smashing
everything, snatching children from their homes.
Whatever they carried their shoulders,
even bronze or iron, never tumbled off
onto the dark earth, though nothing was tied down.
They carried fire in their hair, but those flames
never singed them. Some of the villagers,
enraged at being plundered by the Bacchae, 930
seized weapons. The sight of what happened next, [760]
my lord, was dreadful. For their pointed spears
did not draw blood. But when those women
threw the thrysoi in their hands, they wounded them
and drove them back in flight. The women did this
to men, but not without some god's a**istance.
Then they went back to where they'd started from,
those fountains which the god had made for them.
They washed off the blood. Snakes licked their cheeks,
cleansing their skin of every drop. My lord, 940
you must welcome this god into our city,
whoever he is. He's a mighty god [770]
in many other ways. The people say,
so I've heard, he gives to mortal human beings
that vine which puts an end to human grief.
Without wine, there's no more Aphrodite—
or any other pleasure left for men.
CHORUS LEADER: I'm afraid to talk freely before the king,
but nonetheless I'll speak—this Dionysus
is not inferior to any god. 950
PENTHEUS: This Dionysian arrogance, like fire,
keeps flaring up close by—a great insult
to all the Greeks. We must not hesitate.
[To one of his armed attendants]
Go to the Electra Gates. Call out the troops, [780]
the heavy infantry, all fast cavalry.
Tell them to muster, along with all those
who carry shields—all the archers, too,
the men who pull the bowstring back by hand.
We'll march out against these Bacchae.
In this whole business we will lose control, 960
if we have to put up with what we've suffered
from these women.
DIONYSUS: You've heard what I had to say,
Pentheus, but still you're not convinced.
Though I'm suffering badly at your hands,
I say you shouldn't go to war against a god.
You should stay calm. Bromius will not let you [790]
move his Bacchae from their mountains.
PENTHEUS: Don't preach to me! You've got out of prison—
enjoy that fact. Or shall I punish you some more?
DIONYSUS: I'd sooner make an offering to that god 970
than in some angry fit kick at his whip—
a mortal going to battle with a god.
PENTHEUS: I'll sacrifice all right—with a slaughter
of those women, just as they deserve—
in the forests on Cithaeron.
DIONYSUS: You'll all run.
What a disgrace! To turn your bronze shields round,
fleeing the thyrsoi of those Bacchic women!
PENTHEUS: [turning to one of his armed attendants, as if to go]
It's useless trying to argue with this stranger— [800]
whatever he does or suffers, he won't shut up.
DIONYSUS [calling Pentheus back]
My lord! There's still a chance to end this calmly. 980
PENTHEUS: By doing what? Should I become a slave
to my own slaves?
DIONYSUS: I'll bring the women here—
without the use of any weapons.
PENTHEUS: I don't think so.
You're setting me up for your tricks again.
DIONYSUS: What sort of trick, if I want to save you
in my own way?
PENTHEUS: You've made some arrangement,
you and your god, so you can always dance
your Bacchan*lian orgies.
DIONYSUS: Yes, that's true.
I have made some arrangement with the god.
PENTHEUS: [to one of his armed servants]
You there, bring me my weapons.
[to Dionysus] And you, 990
No more talk! Keep quiet!
DIONYSUS: Just a minute! [810]
[moving up to Pentheus]
How'd you like to gaze upon those women out there,
sitting together in the mountains?
PENTHEUS: I'd like that.
Yes, for that I'd pay in gold—and pay a lot.
DIONYSUS: Why is that? Why do you desire it so much?
PENTHEUS: I'd be sorry to see the women drunk.
DIONYSUS: Would you derive pleasure from looking on,
viewing something you find painful?
PENTHEUS: Yes, I would—
if I were sitting in the trees in silence.
DIONYSUS: But even if you go there secretly, 1000
they'll track you down.
PENTHEUS: You're right.
I'll go there openly.
DIONYSUS: So you're prepared,
are you, to make the trip? Shall I lead you there?
PENTHEUS: Let's go, and with all speed. I've got time. [820]
DIONYSUS: In that case, you must clothe your body
in a dress—one made of eastern linen.
PENTHEUS: What! I'm not going up there as a man?
I've got to change myself into a woman?
DIONYSUS: If they see you as a man, they'll k** you.
PENTHEUS: Right again. You always have the answer. 1010
DIONYSUS: Dionysus taught me all these things.
PENTHEUS: How can I best follow your suggestion?
DIONYSUS: I'll go inside your house and dress you up.
PENTHEUS: What? Dress up in a female outfit?
I can't do that—I'd be ashamed to.
DIONYSUS: You're still keen to see the Maenads, aren't you?
PENTHEUS: What sort of clothing do you recommend?
How should I cover up my body? [830]
DIONYSUS: I'll fix up a long hair piece for your head.
PENTHEUS: All right. What's the next piece of my outfit? 1020
DIONYSUS: A dress down to your feet—then a headband,
to fit just here, around your forehead.
PENTHEUS: What else? What other things will you provide?
DIONYSUS: A thyrsus to hold and a dappled fawn skin.
PENTHEUS: No. I can't dress up in women's clothes!
DIONYSUS: But if you go fighting with these Bacchae,
you'll cause bloodshed.
PENTHEUS: Yes, that's true.
So first, we must go up and spy on them.
DIONYSUS: Hunt down evil by committing evil—
that sounds like a wise way to proceed. 1030
PENTHEUS: But how will I make it through the city
without the Thebans noticing me? [840]
DIONYSUS: We go by deserted streets. I'll take you.
PENTHEUS: Well, anything's easier to accept
than being made a fool by Bacchic women.
Let's go into the house. I'll think about what's best.
DIONYSUS: As you wish. Whatever you do, I'm ready.
PENTHEUS: I think I'll go in now. It's a choice
of going with weapons or taking your advice.
[Exit Pentheus into the palace. Dionysus turns to face the chorus]
DIONYSUS: My women! that man's now entangled in our net. 1040
He'll go to those Bacchae, and there he'll die.
That will be his punishment. Dionysus,
you're not far away. Now it's up to you.
Punish him. First, make sure he goes insane [850]
with some crazed fantasy. If his mind is strong,
he'll not agree to put on women's clothes.
But he'll do it, if you make him mad.
I want him made the laughing stock of Thebes,
while I lead him through the city, mincing
as he moves along in women's clothing, 1050
after he made himself so terrifying
with all those earlier threats. Now I'll be off,
to fit Pentheus into the costume
he'll wear when he goes down to Hades,
once he's butchered by his mother's hands.
He'll come to acknowledge Dionysus,
son of Zeus, born in full divinity, [860]
most fearful and yet most kind to men.
[Exit Dionysus]
CHORUS: Oh, when will I be dancing,
leaping barefoot through the night, 1060
flinging back my head in ecstasy,
in the clear, cold, dew-fresh air—
like a playful fawn
celebrating its green joy
across the meadows—
joy that it's escaped the fearful hunt—
as she runs beyond the hunters,
leaping past their woven nets— [870]
they call out to their hounds
to chase her with still more speed, 1070
but she strains every limb,
racing like a wind storm,
rejoicing by the river plain,
in places where no hunters lurk,
in the green living world
beneath the shady branches,
the foliage of the trees.
What is wisdom? What is finer
than the rights men get from gods—
to hold their powerful hands 1080
over the heads of their enemies? [880]
Ah yes, what's good is always loved.
The power of the gods
is difficult to stir—
but it's a power we can count on.
It punishes all mortal men
who honour their own ruthless wills,
who, in their fits of madness,
fail to reverence the gods.
Gods track down every man 1090
who scorns their worship,
using their cunning to conceal
the enduring steady pace of time. [890]
For there's no righteousness
in those who recognize or practice
what's beyond our customary laws.
The truth is easy to acknowledge:
whatever is divine is mighty,
whatever has been long-established law
is an eternal natural truth. 1100
What is wisdom? What is finer
than the rights men get from gods—
to hold their powerful hands
over the heads of their enemies? [900]
Ah yes, what's good is always loved.
Whoever has escaped a storm at sea
is a happy man in harbour,
whoever overcomes great hardship
is likewise another happy man.
Various men out-do each other 1110
in wealth, in power,
in all sorts of ways.
The hopes of countless men
are infinite in number.
Some make men rich;
some come to nothing.
So I consider that man blessed
who lives a happy life [910]
existing day by day.