Pentheus's Flaw in Bacchae

Nikki Huett

October 4, 2018

Dr. Jacobs

Great Books I

                                                       Pentheus’s Flaw in The Bacchae

  In the play Bacchae by Euripides, we have a character, King Pentheus, who presents himself as the antagonist, as he is the one against the main character, Dionysus. While he has many traits relating to being an antagonist (like trying to stop the main characters from getting what they want), I happen to think he turns out being a tragic hero instead. Like any other human being, naturally, he has flaws and weaknesses. His major flaw is the unfortunate decision to try to overcome a god. Throughout the play, the audience sees him striving to permanently capture Dionysus and, at last, failing. His failure for his dedicated task shows that he is no match up against a god and could potentially foreshadow his eventual, gruesome death.

When we first meet Pentheus, he is addressing his hate for Dionysus. From the first time reading, it is obvious to any reader that, since he is not favoring Dionysus, Pentheus is the antagonist. Or so one would first think. He goes on complaining how the women of Thebes have fallen for the god and basically started a cult worshipping him. This disrupts the king’s desired pure, civil order so he is disgusted by this cult. “He carried this new disease / to our women, put this filth in our bedrooms” (344-345). When one of Pentheus’s soldiers captures Dionysus, Dionysus is in human form, so Pentheus is unaware that he is the real god. Because of this manipulation, Dionysus is always one step ahead of Pentheus and, humorously enough, makes Pentheus think he is the one that is a step ahead. Even when Dionysus manages to escape his grasps, Pentheus states “That foreigner got away. / The one I overpowered a few minutes ago and put in chains”(642-643). The reason cannot be a true antagonist in my eyes is because of how he acts. He is constantly whining to get what he wants and threatens others with violence. Though the latter is a violent act, this does not make him evil as a strong antagonist should be, it makes him a weak one.

The frustrating part of reading the lines of Pentheus is how superior he thinks he is to everyone else, even though he succumbs to all of Dionysus’s tricks. This draws him even further from being labeled as an antagonist. As a mortal, it is obvious that Pentheus will never overpower Dionysus, physically. Mentally, though, Pentheus still does not reach the amount of intelligence that the god has. Dionysus’s power does come into play in dissuading others, but Pentheus continues to act arrogant without being under mind control. For example, towards the end of the play, we have Dionysus convince Pentheus that he should dress as a woman to safely watch the women dance on Mt. Kithairon. From how the audience has seen Pentheus act beforehand, it can be inferred that he is not under Dionysus’s spell, even though this plan turns out being another trick by Dionysus. It seems that he is not being controlled, but he truly thinks this is a good decision. “Take me through the middle of Thebes./ I am the only man who dares to do this” (961-962). In a way, the audience could pity him because he is so unbeknownst of what his future holds. As much as Pentheus wants to do right by his kingdom, his temper and arrogance led, eternally, to his downfall.

In conclusion, Pentheus, as a human being, has flaws and zero power compared to that of the immortal gods so he was never going to be a worthy opponent against the god, Dionysus. Due to his inefficiency of being a king with the right mindset and dealing with a god who constantly manipulates people around him (even if he realized Dionysus was actually Dionysus), Pentheus should not fall under the trope of an antagonist. He was just an unfortunate man trying to serve his kingdom the way he wanted. Pentheus’s actions are proved to not favor him in the end. He surely suffers a tragic death reserved for a tragic man.