Euripides: Bacchae (Duckworth Companions to Greek & Roman Tragedy) (Duckworth Companions to Greek & Roman Tragedy)

References to Dionysus in popular culture focus on the god as the incarnation of wild and decadent behaviour, by which humans are intrigued and appalled. The god as he is portrayed in Euripides’ Bacchae is, however, more complex, paradoxically transcending straightforward notions of the Dionysiac. Euripides’ Dionysus blurs the dividing line between many of the fundamental categories of ancient Greek life - male and female, Greek and barbarian, divine and human. This book explores his place in Athenian religion, what Euripides makes of him in the play, and the views of later writers and scholars.