The Temperment Of Constraint: The Myth Of The Bacchae

Nathan Stone
Professor Peek
CL CV 241
16 May 2018 The Temperment of Constraint

The myth of The Bacchae attempts to offer a solution to the inquiry of whether or not there is room for irrational behavior within an organized society, and further, within an organized mind. It shows a clash between the need for order, constraint, civilism, and the need for freedom, primal and unbound. The message that the god Dionysus has is that there is room for irrationality, but also that primality must be within a society if it wants to be stable and flourish, else, the people will be ripped apart. The myth shows the need for a balance between the two extremes, one leading to the oppression of a people and mind, the other leading to a passion-filled life,

When Dionysus is disguised, Pentheus repeatedly scolds and scoffs at the oddities of him, trying to cast a dehumanizing view upon him with phrases such as “He’ll soon regret the day he brought his filthy foreign practices to our city in the West” and insulting his feminine traits, "Hm, my man--not a bad figure, eh? At least for the ladies; Nice ringlets, too… no good for wrestling, though". Pentheus tries to further Dionysus as far away as possible from being considered one of their own. The influx of new practices that Dionysus has brought in is seen as a threat. The desire of Pentheus to preserve control blinds rational

The myth offers an anecdote on the bridling of such a strong power as seen through the encounter of a seemingly captured Dionysus in the court of Pentheus. Despite how hard Pentheus tries to have his prisoner tied up, he finds it impossible to do so. Finally, resorting to hitting Dionysus with a knife, unleashes an earthquake that shakes the palace leaving Pentheus in a stupor. This highlights the old saying of the tighter a gripping one is to have, the more sand he loses. In this case, the more restricted a society gets, the more people will be rebellious. Through the fear of loss of control (in this case, the growing loss of control Pentheus is experiencing over the women), Pentheus desires to find out what the women are doing in the forest as so, he seeks to restrain the women. As such, the power of the primal instincts of mankind (in this case womankind) are shown. The women of the forest rip the tree he is hidden in out of the ground, and rip him into pieces. A great display of tremendous power, an echo of the attempt to control Dionysus, the embodiment of such