Pentheus violated which law

Apollo represents rationality, law, order, harmony and philosophical enlightenment. Dionysus is the god of wine and pleasure and represents all that is irrational, chaotic, and physically pleasing.

Dionysus takes possession of the women of Thebes who have denied his godly descent from Zeus. He dresses them as bacchanals and sends them to the mountains to learn the rites of Bacchus, so that his prestige will be greater than that of Apollo in Thebes. A rumor reaches Pentheus that there is another controlling his people, specifically the women. His immediate reaction is outrage and Pentheus returns to Thebes to find that the women have indeed left their homes for the mountains, where they are said to "frisk in mock ecstasies Pentheus considers himself to be the protector of civilized society and does not want the Bacchae to disrupt the civic order and duty to which they are bound.

Pentheus hostile response to the erotic liberation of the women by Dionysis is due to the closely held belief that sexual energy should be repressed within the c He is unable to save his city and those who advised him to act differently to Dionysus are punished or destroyed.

The Bacchae leaves us with a world in Dionysian control. There is no law or reason and ethical norms have disappeared. Dionysus will move on to the next city and conduct the same disruption there.

Pentheus resistance is futile and serves only as a warning that it is futile to resist chaos. A well placed shield of Apollonian rational is easily cast aside by the madness of Dionysus ritual. The lesson Pentheus refused to learn is this: the ecstasy of wine and pleasure must be embraced to counter the rigid nature society demands or there is the risk of being torn apart by the demands of both.

References Euripides V. The Bacchae. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Get Access. Better Essays. Comparison Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde Words 4 Pages. Read More. Powerful Essays.

This is similar because Dionysus goes out of his way to make Pentheus feel important and that he can succeed, which merely sets him up for a bigger fall in the end. A leader should not think his or her own views superior, since one can always gain knowledge from someone else. In the beginning of the play, Cadmus and Teirisius tell Pentheus about their belief in the Bacchae. Go worship your Bacchus, but do not wipe your madness off on me.

Application: The President organizes committees before coming to a decision on an issue. This way he gets opposing viewpoints before choosing the solution which benefits the most people. Better to Crawl Forward Than to Run in the Wrong Direction Through Pentheus, Euripides makes the point that in leading others, effectiveness in the wrong direction is worse than ineffectiveness in the right direction.

Euripides also uses Dionysus to show the negative leadership quality of effectiveness in the wrong direction. In this Dionysus is being assertive because he is taking charge of his own life, but his intents are not moral. Application: A student who cheats on papers and receives passing grades on them. Dionysus: "I'm your lady's maid. I'm all yours now. Your girdles loose, And your skirts all uneven at the ankles.

Here, both Dionysus and Pentheus are taking on feminine roles. Dionysus play acts at being a lady in waiting, while Pentheus acts like a straight up princess. This blurring of the lines between male and female is another example of the way that Dionysus shatters the carefully ordered social structure of Thebes. Chorus: "Let Justice sworded walk To strike through the throat and kill this godless ruthless lawless man" It's interesting that the Chorus describes Pentheus as lawless.

He'd probably say the same the thing about them. The Chorus, like Tiresias and Cadmus, adhere to a different set of laws than Pentheus — the laws of the divine. Leader: "Tell it all. Explain exactly how he died-- this perverse man, this purveyor of perversion. Pentheus constantly accuses the Bacchants of perverting the order of society, with their crazed revelries.

Here, however, we see the Chorus call him the pervert. They see Pentheus's lack of fealty to Dionysus as the true perversion of what is right and good. Pentheus: "Have mercy on me, Mother, and because of my mistakes do not kill your son--your son. Many Greek tragedies center around the violation of a pretty fundamental law.

One of the most popular no-no's for a tragedian to write about was one family member killing another. Oedipus killed his father. Clytemnestra killed her husband. Orestes killed his mother. The list goes on.