![]() ![]() To think those reports which came to us abroad are true! Pentheus is here to give back order and sanity. PENTHEUS: I shall have order! Let the city know at once ![]() But Pentheus is clearly the voice of reason, for his whole world changed under him while he was working for the benefit of his empire: I could not help visualizing Cecile B DeMiles’ version of The Ten Commandments where Moses urges pharaoh several times to accept the rule of god and pharaoh refuses. But Dionysos is a powerful orator, like all successful prophets, his preaching, and his skills of persuasion sway all except Pentheus. ![]() The king and his cousin, Pentheus, wants him arrested for sedition. In the play, the messiah factor is really strong with Dionysos claiming to be a god and having the power to exhibit his claims. What is familiar here are the elements of Greek tragedy, but not so much to forget that this is a rather unusual take with some characteristic Soyinka added to it. As I have not read the original play by Euripides, I can only comment by comparing this version to Soyinka’s work in general. ![]() Soyinka’s version of The Bacchae of Euripides is a divergence from his more locally-themed earlier plays. ![]()
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