Bacchae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
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Agave
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Share in the feast then.
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Agave
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The bull is young; his cheek is just growing downy under his soft-haired crest.
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Chorus
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Yes, his hair looks like a wild beast’s.
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Agave
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Bacchus, a wise huntsman,
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wisely set the Maenads against this beast.
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Chorus
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Our lord is a hunter.
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Agave
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Do you praise me?
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Agave
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Soon the Kadmeans—
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Chorus
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And your son Pentheus, too—
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Chorus
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Extraordinary.
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Chorus
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Are you proud?
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Chorus Leader
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Now show the citizens, wretched woman, the booty which you have brought in victory.
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Agave
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You who dwell in this fair-towered city of the Theban land, come to see this prey which we the daughters of Kadmos hunted down,
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not with thonged Thessalian javelins, or with nets, but with the fingers of our white arms. And then should huntsmen boast and use in vain the work of spear-makers? But we caught and
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tore apart the limbs of this beast with our very own hands. Where is my old father? Let him approach. And where is my son Pentheus? Let him take a ladder and raise its steps against the house so that he can fasten to the triglyphs this
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lion’s head which I have captured and brought here.
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Kadmos
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Follow me, carrying the miserable burden of Pentheus, follow me, slaves, before the house; exhausted from countless searches, I am bringing his body, for I discovered it in the folds of Kithairon,
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torn apart; I picked up nothing in the same place, and it was lying in the woods where discovery was difficult. For some one told me of my daughters’ bold deeds, when I had already come within the walls of the city on my return from the Bacchae with old Teiresias.
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I turned back to the mountain and now bring here my child who was killed by the Maenads. For I saw Autonoe, who once bore Actaeon to Aristaeus, and Ino with her, still mad in the thicket, wretched creatures.
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But some one told me that Agave was coming here with Bacchic foot, and this was correct, for I see her—no happy sight!
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Agave
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Father, you may make a great boast, that you have born daughters the best by far of all
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mortals. I mean all of us, but myself especially, who have left my shuttle at the loom and gone on to greater things, to catch wild animals with my two hands. And having taken him, I carry these spoils of honor in my arms, as you see,
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so that they may hang from your house. You father, receive them in your hands. Preening yourself in my catch, call your friends to a feast. For you are blessed, blessed, now that we have performed these deeds.
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Kadmos
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O grief beyond measuring, one which I cannot stand to see,
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that you have performed murder with miserable hands. Having cast down a fine sacrificial victim to the gods, you invite Thebes and me to a banquet. Alas, first for your troubles, then for my own. How justly, yet too severely,
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lord Bromius the god has destroyed us, though he is a member of our own family.
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Agave
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How morose and sullen in its countenance is man’s old age! I hope that my son is a good hunter, taking after his mother’s ways, when he goes after wild beasts
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together with the young men of Thebes. But all he can do is fight with the gods. You must admonish him, father. Who will call him here to my sight, so that he may see how lucky I am?
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Kadmos
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Alas, alas! When you realize what you have done
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you will suffer a terrible pain. But if you remain forever in the state you are in now, though hardly fortunate, you will not imagine that you are unfortunate.
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Agave
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But what of these matters is not right, or what is painful?
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Kadmos
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First cast your eye up to this sky.
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Agave
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All right; why do you tell me to look at it?
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Kadmos
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Is it still the same, or does it appear to have changed?
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Agave
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It is brighter than before and more translucent.
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Kadmos
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Is your soul still quivering?
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Agave
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I don’t understand your words. I have become somehow
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sobered, changing from my former state of mind.
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Kadmos
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Can you hear and respond clearly?
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Agave
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Yes, for I forget what we said before, father.
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Kadmos
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To whose house did you come in marriage?
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Agave
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You gave me, as they say, to Echion, the sown man.
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Kadmos
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What son did you bear to your husband in the house?
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Agave
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Pentheus, from my union with his father.
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Kadmos
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Whose head do you hold in your hands?
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Agave
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A lion’s, as they who hunted him down said.
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Kadmos
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Examine it correctly then; it takes but little effort to see.
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Agave
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Ah! What do I see? What is this that I carry in my hands?
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Kadmos
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Look at it and learn more clearly.
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Agave
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I see the greatest grief, wretched that I am.
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Kadmos
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Does it seem to you to be like a lion?
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Agave
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No, but I, wretched, hold the head of Pentheus.
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Kadmos
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Yes, much lamented before you recognized him.
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Agave
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Who killed him? How did he come into my hands?
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Kadmos
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Miserable truth, how inopportunely you arrive!
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Agave
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Tell me. My heart leaps at what is to come.
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Kadmos
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You and your sisters killed him.
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Agave
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Where did he die? Was it here at home, or in what place?
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Kadmos
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Where formerly dogs divided Actaeon among themselves.
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Agave
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And why did this ill-fated man go to Kithairon?
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Kadmos
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He went to mock the god and your revelry.
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Agave
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But in what way did we go there?
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Kadmos
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You were mad, and the whole city was frantic with Bacchus.
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Agave
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Dionysus destroyed us—now I understand.
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Kadmos
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Being insulted with insolence, for you did not consider him a god.
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Agave
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And where is the body of my dearest child, father?
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Kadmos
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I have traced it with difficulty and brought it back.
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Agave
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Are its joints laid properly together?
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Agave
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What part did Pentheus have in my folly?
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Kadmos
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He, like you, did not revere the god, who therefore joined all in one ruin, both you and this one here, and thus destroyed the house and me,
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, who am bereft of my male children and see this offspring of your womb, wretched woman, most miserably and shamefully slain. He was the hope of our line—you, child, who supported the house, son of my daughter,
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an object of fear to the city; seeing you, no one wished to insult the old man, for you would have given a worthy punishment. But now I, great Kadmos, who sowed and reaped
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a most glorious crop, the Theban people, will be banished from the house without honor. Dearest of men—for though you are dead I still count you among my dearest, child—no longer will you embrace me, calling me grandfather, touching my chin with your hand, child, and
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saying: Who wrongs you, old man, who dishonors you? Who vexes and troubles your heart? Tell me, father, so that I can punish the one who does you wrong. But now I am miserable, while you are wretched, your mother is pitiful, and wretched too are your relatives.
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If anyone scorns the gods, let him look to the death of this man and acknowledge them.
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Chorus Leader
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I grieve for you, Kadmos. Your daughter’s child has a punishment deserved indeed, but grievous to you.
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Agave
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Father, for you see how much my situation has changed ...
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Dionysus
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. . . changing your form, you will become a dragon, and your wife, Harmonia, Ares’ daughter, whom you though mortal held in marriage, will be turned into a beast, and will receive in exchange the form of a serpent. And as the oracle of Zeus says, you will drive along with your wife a chariot of heifers, ruling over barbarians.
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You will sack many cities with a force of countless numbers. And when they plunder the oracle of Apollo, they will have a miserable return, but Ares will protect you and Harmonia and will settle your life in the land of the blessed.
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That is what I, Dionysus, born not from a mortal father, but from Zeus, say. And if you had known how to be wise when you did not wish to be, you would have acquired Zeus’ son as an ally, and would now be happy.
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Kadmos
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Dionysus, we beseech you, we have acted injustly.
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Dionysus
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You have learned it too late; you did not know it when you should have.
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Kadmos
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Now we know, but you go too far against us.
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Dionysus
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Yes, for I, a god by birth, was insulted by you.
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Kadmos
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Gods should not resemble mortals in their anger.
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Dionysus
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My father Zeus approved this long ago.
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Agave
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Alas! A miserable exile has been decreed for us, old man.
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Dionysus
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Why then do you delay what must necessarily be?
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Kadmos
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Child, what a terrible disaster we have all come to—unhappy you, your sisters, and unhappy me. I shall reach a foreign land
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as an aged immigrant. Still it is foretold that I shall bring into Hellas a motley barbarian army. Leading their spears, I, having the fierce nature of a serpent, will bring my wife Harmonia, daughter of Ares, to the altars and tombs of Hellas.
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I will neither rest from my troubles in my misery, nor will I sail over the downward flowing Acheron and be at peace.
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Agave
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O father, I will go into exile deprived of you.
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Kadmos
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Why do you embrace me with your hands, child,
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like a swan for its exhausted gray-haired parent?
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Agave
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For where can I turn, banished from my father-land?
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Kadmos
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I do not know, child; your father is a poor ally.
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Agave
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Farewell, house, farewell, city of my forefathers. In misfortune I leave you,
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a fugitive from my chamber.
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Kadmos
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Go now, child, to the land of Aristaeus . . .
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Agave
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I grieve for you, father.