The Bacchae of Euripides Part 18

Pp. 120-124, ll. 810 ff.--This scene of the 'hypnotising'--if one may use the word--of Pentheus probably depends much on the action, which, however, I have not ventured to prescribe. Pentheus seems to struggle against the process all through, to be amazed at himself for consenting, while constantly finding fresh reasons for doing so.

P. 121, l. 822, Am I a woman, then?]--The robe and coif were, in the original legend, marks of the Thracian dress worn by the Thracian followers of Dionysus, and notably by Orpheus. The tradition became fixed that Pentheus wore such a robe and coif; and to the Greeks of Euripides' time such a dress seemed to be a woman's. Hence this turn of the story (cf. above, p. 167).

P. 125, ll. 877-881.--The refrain of this chorus about the fawn is difficult to interpret. I have practically interpolated the third line ("To stand from fear set free, to breathe and wait"), in order (1) to show the connection of ideas; (2) to make clearer the meaning (as I understand it) of the two Orphic formulae, "What is beautiful is beloved for ever," and "A hand uplifted over the head of Hate." If I am wrong, the refrain is probably a mere cry for revenge, in the tone of the refrain, "Hither for doom and deed," on p. 132. It is one of the many pa.s.sages where there is a sharp antagonism between the two spirits of the Chorus, first, as furious Baccha.n.a.ls, and, secondly, as exponents of the idealised Bacchic religion of Euripides, which is so strongly expressed in the rest of this wonderful lyric.

P. 127, l. 920, Is it a Wild Bull, this?]--Pentheus, in his Bacchic possession, sees fitfully the mystic shapes of the G.o.d beneath the human disguise. This second-sight, the exaltation of spirit, and the feeling of supernatural strength come to Pentheus as they came to the two Old Men. But to them the change came peacefully and for good; to Pentheus it comes by force, stormily and for evil, because his will was against the G.o.d.

P. 131, l. 976, O hounds raging and blind.]--_i.e._ Spirits of Madness.

This lyric prepares us for what follows, especially for Agave's delusion, which otherwise might have been hard to understand. I have tried to keep the peculiar metre of the original, the dochmiac, with a few simple licences. The scheme is based on u-- --u-- or --uu --u-- the latter being much commoner.

P. 133, ll. 997-1011.--The greater part of this chorus is generally abandoned as unintelligible and corrupt. The last ten lines ("Knowledge, we are not foes," &c.) will, I think, make sense if we accept a very slight conjecture of my own, [Greek: aenton], "let them blow", instead of the impossible [Greek: aei ton]. The four lines before that ("A strait pitiless mind," &c.) are an almost literal translation of the MS.

reading, which, however, is incorrect in metre, and therefore cannot be exactly what Euripides wrote.

P. 134, l. 1036, And deem'st thou Thebes so beggared.]--The couplet is incomplete in the MS. But the sense needed is obvious.

P. 137, l. 1120, Let it not befall through sin of mine, &c.]--This note of unselfish feeling, of pity and humanity, becomes increasingly marked in all the victims of Dionysus towards the end of the play, and contrasts the more vividly with the G.o.d's pitilessness. Cadmus is always gentle, and always thinking of the sufferings of others; and, indeed, so is Agave, after her return to reason, though with more resentment against the oppressor.

Pp. 139-143, ll. 1165-1200.--This marvellous scene defies comment. But I may be excused for remarking (1) that the psychological change of the chorus is, to my mind, proved by the words of the original, and does not in the least depend on my interpolated stage directions; (2) the extraordinary exultation of Agave is part of her Bacchic possession. It is not to be supposed that, if she had really killed a lion, such joy would be the natural thing.

P. 141, _after_ l. 1183, _The Leader tries to speak_, &c.]--It is also possible that by some error of a scribe two lines have been omitted in the MS. But I think the explanation given in the text more probable and more dramatic.

P. 142, l. 1195, And Pentheus, O Mother?]--The Leader mentions Pentheus, I suppose, in order deliberately to test Agave's delusion, to see if she is indeed utterly unconscious of the truth.

P. 146, l. 1267, More shining than before, &c.]--The sight of the pure heaven brings back light to her mind--that is clear. But does she mean that the sky is brighter because of her madness which still remains, or that it is brighter now, after having been darkened in her madness?

P. 149, l. 1313, And now I fare forth in dishonour.]--He has not yet been sentenced to exile, though he might well judge that after such pollution all his family would be banished. But probably this is another mark of the unrevised state of the play.

P. 151, l. 1330, For thou must change and be a Serpent Thing, &c.]--A prophecy like this is a very common occurrence in the last scenes of Euripides' tragedies. "The subject of the play is really a long chain of events. The poet fixes on some portion of it--the action of one day, generally speaking--and treats it as a piece of vivid concrete life, led up to by a merely narrative introduction (the Prologue), and melting away into a merely narrative close. The method is to our taste undramatic, but it is explicable enough. It falls in with the tendency of Greek art to finish, not with a climax, but with a lessening of strain" (_Greek Literature_, p. 267).

The prophecy was that Cadmus and Harmonia should be changed into serpents and should lead a host of barbarian invaders--identified with an Illyrian tribe, the Encheleis--against h.e.l.las; they should prosper until they laid hands on the treasures of Delphi, and then be destroyed.

Herodotus says that the Persians were influenced by this prophecy when they refrained from attacking Delphi (Hdt. ix. 42).