Bacchae (Hackett Classics)

by Euripides

Death makes judgment sound, hears no excuses. When you face the gods, remember your mortality, if you’d live a painless life.

Tell me, I want to know exactly how he died. He was unjust, he was a fountain of injustice.

“I have brought him to you, girls—the one [1080] who ridiculed me and my worship. Now you must pay him back.”

He reached out to her cheek, miserable Agavê’s, and said, “I am yours, Mother, your child Pentheus. You gave me birth in the house of Echion. [1120] Pity me, Mother. I have made mistakes. But do not kill your own son because of them.” She was foaming at the mouth, face twisted, eyes rolling, not thinking as she ought to think. She was possessed by Bacchus and did not believe him.

Grabbing his left wrist with her hands, she braced her foot against his ribs—what a horrible fate for him— and tore off his shoulder—but not by brute strength. The god made it come off easily in her hands.

But this is the highest glory: have a sound mind and reverence for whatever belongs to gods. This too is the most wise of all pursuits a human being can follow.

And Pentheus—did he have any part in my mindless folly?

He did turn out like you—with no reverence for the god. And so he tied everyone together in one injury [to the god]— you women, and himself.

If there is anyone who despises the divine, {55} he should look at this man’s death and believe in gods.

You, Cadmus, will be transformed into a serpent, while your wife will turn into a wild animal, changed to the form of a snake—

If you had known how to keep your minds sound—which you did not wish to do—you would have had good fortune, and the son of Zeus would have been your ally.

Anger does not become a god. You should not be like a human being.

Many are the shapes the gods will take, many the surprises they perform. [1390] What was thought likely did not transpire, and what was unlikely the god made easy. That is how this matter ended.