Euripides Bacchae

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In Euripides’ play, “Bacchae”, Euripides reflects the Aristotelian principles well enough to be considered a “good” tragedy in Aristotle’s eyes. This is proven with the examples of the “imitation” of Pentheus’ death, the “reversal of the situation” when Dionysus switched from Pentheus’ prisoner to his aide in their quest to see the Bacchae, and the “recognition” of Pentheus’ mother when she realises what she has done to her son.
Aristotle reflects in his book, Poetics, the importance of imitation in tragedies: “It [tragedy] should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation” (ch. 13). Humans find beauty in the accuracy of death and pain, and like to feel such emotions safely, …show more content…

Yet, despite the gruesomeness of the death, as readers, it feels …show more content…

Part of what makes this an interesting play is the horrible death, or the “Scene of Suffering” as Aristotle would have called it. However what makes this nearly painful to read is the scene of recognition when Cadmus has to get Agave out of Dionysus’ trance to that she may see what became of her son. When, as Aristotle would say, the unravelling or the “denouement” arrives, the reader is forced to sit back and wait for the horrifying moment when Agave realises what she has done, which causes horror, followed by suspense, and finally ending with pity as the woman unrightfully was cast away and banished from her own father-land. The reader had expected to feel something such as pity or fear from the antagonist, Pentheus, “Yet I deserve it”, he said to Dionysus when referring to what was going to happen in a bit of mislead foreshadowing (Euripides, Fourth Episode), leading back to how recognition is important to developing the complicated plot, and furthering the amount of pain the reader experiences during this particular

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