Scan barcode
A review by book_busy
Bacchae by Euripides
4.0
Euripides outwrites Sophocles in every capacity. His potrayal of women is so much more interesting and humanising. Agave would beat Jocasta in a fight every time. I think the themes of Bacchae are so universally relevant, much more so than the blind everyman of Oedipus. I think this exploration of civility versus barbarism and sexual repression versus sensual liberation is so interesting and visceral. And the ending... well, enough said there really.
1st re-read: Overall, this is such a fascinating but peculiar play. I wish I could somehow travel back in time to hear the musical accompaniment and costuming of the original chorus! Pentheus is still a whiny fool but I struggle to fully accept Dionysus as the ultimate protagonist as he is like a divine mirror of Pentheus . Still, Pentheus is my least favourite tragic hero which in a way makes his lack of autonomy throughout the play oddly satisfying. Agave is bland but pitiful and I find Euripides' portrayal of Tiresias as a motif very confounding.
1st re-read: Overall, this is such a fascinating but peculiar play. I wish I could somehow travel back in time to hear the musical accompaniment and costuming of the original chorus! Pentheus is still a whiny fool but I struggle to fully accept Dionysus as the ultimate protagonist as he is like a divine mirror of Pentheus . Still, Pentheus is my least favourite tragic hero which in a way makes his lack of autonomy throughout the play oddly satisfying. Agave is bland but pitiful and I find Euripides' portrayal of Tiresias as a motif very confounding.