The Young King: An Analysis Of Pentheus From Euripides’ "the Bakkai"

Pentheus the king of Thebes is characterized by incessant worrying and is consistently preoccupied with his image as king. This attitude causes Pentheus to experience peripeteia when he is murdered by the maenads, and experiences anagnoris when he realizes his fatal mistake. Therefore Pentheus is the classic tragic hero who exhibits the tragic flaw of insecurity.

            Pentheus exhibits insecurity by refusing Dionysos as a god in order to appear as a protecting King. Towards the opening of the Bakkai Dionysos says, “My purpose is to end the lies / told by semelés’ sisters, / who

had least right to speak them” (p. 370). This blatant statement about Dionysos purpose in Thebes shows the hostility he holds toward the cities royalty. Pentheus exhibits and understanding of this danger when he denounces Dionysos in the beginning of the play in order to assure himself that he is not doomed. Moreover Pentheus first offends Dionysos when he alleges, “something new and evil is at work here. / It harms our women, who desert their families / to prowl out there in the mountain forests” (p. 379). Despite not having any formal account of the maenads activities on the mountain Pentheus assumes their activities are evil and harmful to Thebes. He does this because he believes the maenads are indulging in the activities that he has been deprived of. Specifically when Pentheus states, “Who desert their families” he expresses his longing to shed his responsibilities for a time. He was deprived of these sexual activities because he was insecure about being viewed as a young pleasure driven king that would be detrimental for the city of Thebes. Furthermore Pentheus proclaims, “Here comes the Bakkhic savagery. Raging / out of control, burning its way here. / Now it’s close, if we don’t act now Greece will look at us with disgust” (p. 401). Indeed the Bakkic savagery was close because at this moment Dionysos begins advising Pentheus. This moment also represents a pivotal change in Pentheus mind set, as he begins to unleash some of his desires that he repressed because he was insecure about his image as king. Additionally Pentheus desire to not be looked on with disgust by the rest of Greece shows his insecurity about his ability to rule the city.

Additionally the tragic flaw of insecurity is represented when Pentheus displays envy for the maenads. He believes the maenads have been having sex, something that he has been deprived of because he was insecure about how he would be viewed in his role of king. Pentheus declares, “They claim possession by Bakkhos, the sudden god / is he a god? Whom they worship with a lewd / hypnotic dance” (p. 379). Pentheus’ description of the Maenads dance is particularly interesting when he calls it lewd but also hypnotic. This suggests he finds it

both repulsive and alluring, a classic dispute between the id and superego. This dispute causes confusion and ultimately insecurity within Pentheus. Again Pentheus maintains, “They exalt this activity by calling it / a maenad’s offering to the new god Bakkhos, / but it’s pure Aphrodite they adore”(p. 379). Pentheus’ entire speech on the Maenads is an argument in his unconscious, this particular quote displays his reasoning with himself. By using the worship of Aphrodite as an insult he expresses his insecurities about women and sex. And once again shows that he dislikes those who indulge in these pleasures that he has been deprived of because of his insecurity regarding the preservation of his image. Similarly Pentheus asserts, “Nor did you creamy skin just happen. / You hid it from the sun, to save its pale beauty / for hunting Aphrodite in the dark”(387). His slightly suggestive description shows envy. Pentheus believes that Dionysos has been lusting over the Maenads on the mountain and leaving Pentheus out of it. Pentheus becomes irrational because his desires have been repressed due to his insecurity about his image. Therefore he exaggerates the activities of the maenads and Dionysos in his head. Additionally there is a slightly homosexual tone to the description of the young curly haired boy that further suggest the insecurity and confusion of Pentheus.

Pentheus ignores the advice of Tiresius and Kadmos to accept Dionysos as a god. Because Pentheus is so preoccupied with his ability to rule Thebes he does no acknowledge the reasoning of Kadmos nor the advice of Tiresias. Kadmos amicably remarks, “Our Semelé then becomes a god’s mother, / a cult will honor her, and her good luck / will shower prestige on our whole family” (p. 382). Despite the sound reasoning of Kadmos, Pentheus continues with his shunning of Dionysos because he believes Kadmos to be old and tricked by Tiresias. Moreover Pentheus barks, “Don’t touch me with that crown! Go out there, / wallow in Bakkhos yourself. But don’t smear / your crazy squalor off on me” (p. 383). To Pentheus the crown represents a tainted image of someone who worships a false god. Throughout the play Pentheus’ main concern is his image because he is a young king that still has not won the favor of the people of Thebes. This outcry is an example of Pentheus extreme insecurity about his image as king.

Pentheust the king was tormented by preserving his new image as the ruler of Thebes. His repressed desires and insecurities sealed his fate. Therefore his tragic flaw is insecurity as it leads him to his death or peripeteia and the realization of his mistake or anagnoris.