Ion 4⭐️Women of Troy 5⭐️Helen 3⭐️The Bacchae 3.5⭐️

The Bacchae is one of the most disturbing plays in the ancient Greek genre. Euripides delves into the religiousity of the time with the " beware of spying on secret rites". The other three plays, Ion, The Women of Troy and Helen, are noble but not as good.

The translation done by Philip Vellacott in 1954 was later revised in the 1970s; originally Vellacott had modified the structure of the plays so that they were prose instead of verse, a change which he later reverted. Both editions are comparatively sterile and accessible, with his translation of Βάκχαι's being the least so. There's a very funny moment when Pentheus first meets Dionysos. Here's what Pentheus says, and I quote verbatim:Well, my man: you have a not unhandsome figure—for attracting...

Finished this yesterday and RTC of each play breakdown and my thoughts on each. Overall, this was one of the most enjoyable compilation of Euripides plays with most of the plays rating a 4 or 4.5****Rtc

49. The Bacchae and Other Plays : Ion, The Women of Troy, Helen, The Bacchae by EuripidesTranslated by Philip Vellacott, 1954, revised 1973format: 249 page Penguin Classics paperbackacquired: from my libraryread: Aug 7-11rating: 4 stars These are all late plays from Euripides. They show a lot of developed complexity compared to the collection of earlier plays I read previously. His understated satire is still prominent, but has become much more sophisticated and not entirely negative. His play s...

I wanted to read The Bacchae because I had a sense that it had something to do with Dostoevsky's Demons , which I recently finished. It did, in the sense that both works tell the story of a city visited by Dionysian frenzy. In Euripides's drama, the frenzy is Dionysus's revenge on the women of Thebes for insulting his mother by claiming that she lied when she said that Zeus was his father. The dramatic conflict centers on Pentheus, king of the city and grandson of its founder, who wants to su...

The Bacchae- I have seen the holy Bacchae, who like a flight of spearsWent streaming bare-limbed, frantic, out of the city gate.- What, woman? What was that you said? Do you exultWhen such a cruel fate has overtaken the king?- I am no Greek.I sing my joy in a foreign tune. - When bull led man to the ritual slaughter-ring. He'd have been my god, were I Greek (or one of these foreign women). Even without him, I believe that his forces or his spheres, unacknowledged, are dangerous; whether religiou...

bacchanal anyone?? jkjk........unless ?

My edition has four plays: Ion, The Women of Troy, Helen, and The Bacchae.Ion -- The orphan Ion tries to discover his origins. The play begins with a prologue by Hermes, the messenger god, who arrives at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. He recounts the tale of how Creusa, the mother of Ion, was raped by Apollo and secretly gave birth to a son. She abandoned him and Apollo sent Hermes to bring the boy to Delphi. I thought this was not as interesting as the other three plays. The Women of Troy -- T...

3.5yeah anne carson should be the only person allowed to translate greek tragedies

This collection included Ion, The Women of Troy, Helen, and The Bacchae. I have reviewed these plays individually, so I won't discuss them here again. Let me just say that overall these plays were great, in particular the last three; in fact, I was so impressed by Euripides that I ordered the complete 5-volume edition of his plays as published by the University of Chicago Press. I will definitely be reading (and reviewing) the rest of his works at some point in the near future. Links to reviews:...

The Bacchae by Euripides does well at showing two extremes the Dionysian’s and Apollinian’s in society. In this time period it is a patriarchal society. The God, Dionysus comes into the city to spread his love of wine and parties. He quickly gained followers who became entranced by the new found freedom they felt by being around him. Dionysus brings out the wild side of the women in society who have been restricted in the past. Pentheus the king of Thebes, is frustrated with Dionysus. He sees Di...

just read the bacchae!very unhinged, fucking bonkersbook 3 for my drama & transgression: from prometheus to faust module

Beautifully written, even in translation. It depends heavily on knowledge of works like those of Homer and ancient Greek mythology, but even with only a superficial idea one should be able to enjoy the plays for what they are. The aspect which made Euripides stand out for me personally was his use of plots which question the relationship between the human experience against godly explanations. His mixing of rationality and mythology is certainly worth analysis.

The Bacchae is a family tragedy, but as any audience will attest, it is more singularly Agaue's tragedy, which is all the more remarkable given that the queen only appears on stage for one scene. In fact, besides Pentheus, the Cadmus family (Cadmus and Agaue) only appears in the first and last scenes, while the core of the drama exclusively involves Dionysus and Pentheus. By keeping the Cadmus family at the periphery of the main action, Euripides uses them as background, frame and context. They

The Bacchae written by Euripides, is a play written with the intent of making people aware of how a society cannot be constricted and controlled. Specifically the female population of society. Euripides wrote this play to question the status quo. Using Dionysus and Pentheus as the two opposing forces of society. Having them battle it out, with one being very controlling and the other being very laid back and just wanting to have fun. These opposing forces show how in order for society to flouris...

My edition contained 4 plays of Euripides - Ion, The Trojan Women, Helen and The Bacchae. I had mixed feelings about them and thought that each play went downhill, in the order that I read them above. Overall, still a fantastic worth while read.

I can't believe this was written so long ago. Different millennium, same blame game for rape victims.

What is more terrible - a world with vengeful gods, or a world without them?

The Bacchae, written by Euripedes, is a great tragedy work that uses the plays complicated society structure to demonstrate the battle between the two extremes: too much freedom and too much control. The first half of the play details Pentheus and his control over Thebes, and by the end we discover that too much freedom and celebration displayed by Dionysius left the play a tragedy. As the audience, we discover the battle between Appollinian and Dionysian perspectives are the cause for the stru

The Bacchae, in all of its ancient Greek wisdom, is quite possibly one of the earliest stories of a youth movement. Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy, is on a quest to bring liberation to the people of Thebes, contrary to the goal of the antagonist Pentheus, who is the reigning king. Pentheus' goal is to dominate the masses and above all else censor and control everything which goes on in his kingdom. Disguised as a peasant, Dionysus begins telling tales of liberation and dancing to the people o...

This volume collects Bacchae, Iphigenia among the Taurans, Iphigenia at Aulis and Rhesus.BacchaeSo much can be said about this play and I'm interested to see what better minds have to say about it. As a complex tragedy on madness and reason as well as the divine and mortal this play is able to, at the same time, blur the lines between opposites in the mind while clarifying the distinction through morality.Iphigenia among the TauransAn excellent play on the presumed dead Iphigenia who survived th...

Reading Response to the BacchaeThe Bacchae, written by Euripides, is a greek tragedy that was very interesting to read. The story takes place in ancient Thebes and encompasses the balance between control and chaos. Pentheus, the ruler, demonstrates complete control and order of the society. Dionysus and the maenads represent the new chaos and celebration. The Apollonian(Pentheus) versus the Dionysian(Dionysus/maenads) side of society was the main ongoing struggle in the story. These two extremes...

In Bacchae the god Dionysus arrives in Greece from Asia intending to introduce his orgiastic worship there. He is disguised as a charismatic young Asian holy man and is accompanied by his women votaries, who make up the play’s chorus. He expects to be accepted first in Thebes, but the Thebans reject his divinity and refuse to worship him, and the city’s young king, Pentheus, tries to arrest him. In the end Dionysus drives Pentheus insane and leads him to the mountains, where Pentheus’s own mothe...

Such a good collection of plays, a lot of my new favourites in this book now. Ion- Solid play. Interesting premise but expecting something with more pathos/dramatic. Also tf was that slave who was intent on fire/death/murdering someone lol. Women of Troy- timeless classic, very much underappreciated I think. I could see the events happening in the Ukrainian war or any war tbh. Beautifully written, and people say Euripides is a misogynist...Helen- interesting concept and just in general a good st...

I interrupted my reading of Nietzche’s The Birth of Tragedy in order to read this, since Nietzsche makes much of the distinction between Euripides and the earlier Greek tragedians, Aeschylus and Sophocles (with whom I was somewhat more familiar). (NB: I only read The Bacchae and did not delve into the other plays included in this volume.)

I read the Philip Vellacott translation of Bacchae and adored it so much better than the one by Anne Carson that I read before this, which while poetic, was more experimental and stylistically complex. I wouldn't recommend starting off with the Anne Carson translation if it's your first time reading Euripides' Bacchae or if you're not yet familiar with Anne's work and style.

easily 5⭐️euripides’ dramatic and heart-wrenching plots combined with davies’ brilliant and easy to read translation makes me forget that this was something written over a thousand years ago and not something more modern. my favourite play was either orestes or iphigenia at aulis, i love the drama honestly, all of these plays are amazing.

what if we kissed at the bacchanalia…haha jk…unless…

Phoenician Women - 3/5Orestes - 4/5The Bacchae - 5/5Iphigenia at Aulis - 3/5Rhesus - 2/5