The Bacchae

Euripides turned to playwriting at a young age, achieving his first victory in the Athens’ City Dionysia dramatic competitions in 441 BC. He would be awarded this honor three more times in his life, and once more posthumously. His plays are often ironic, pessimistic, and display radical rejection of classical decorum and rules. In 408 BC, Euripides left war-torn Athens for Macedonia, upon the invitation of King Archelaus, and there he spent his last years as a confidant of the king. In his final years, he produced “The Bacchae”, which in modern times has become one of the most frequently preformed plays from classical antiquity. Winner of the first prize of the Athens’ City Dionysia dramatic competition, the play is a tragedy based on the Greek myth of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave. When Dionysus appears at the palace of Thebes to attest that he is the son of Zeus, the sisters of his mortal mother, Semele, do not believe him. He proceeds to establish a cult of followers in Thebes and exact vengeance on all those who deny his godly status. Considered one of the greatest of all dramas from classical antiquity, this play’s popularity and critical acclaim stands as a testament to the profound dramatic talent of Euripides. This edition includes a biographical afterword.