PEN. Begone! confine him near the stable of horses that he may behold dim
darkness! There dance; and as for these women whom you bring with you, the
accomplices in your wickedness, we will either sell them away, or stopping
their hand from this noise and beating of skins, I will keep them as slaves
at the loom.
BAC. I will go--for what is not right it is not right to suffer; but as a
punishment for these insults Bacchus shall pursue you, who you say exists
not; for, injuring us, you put him in bonds.
CHOR. O daughter of Achelous, venerable Dirce, happy virgin, for thou didst
receive the infant of Jove in thy fountains when Jove who begat him saved
him in his thigh from the immortal fire; uttering this shout: Go, O
Dithyrambus, enter this my male womb, I will make you illustrious, O
Bacchus, in Thebes, so that they shall call you by this name. But you, O
happy Dirce, reject me having a garland-bearing company about you. Why dost
thou reject me? Why dost thou avoid me? Yet, I swear by the clustering
delights of the vine of Bacchus, yet shall you have a care for Bacchus.
What rage, what rage does the earth-born race show, and Pentheus once
descended from the dragon, whom the earth-born Echion begat, a fierce-faced
monster, not a mortal man, but like a bloody giant, an enemy to the Gods,
who will soon bind me, the handmaid of Bacchus, in halters, he already has
within the house my fellow-reveler, hidden in a dark prison. Dost thou
behold this, O son of Jove, Bacchus, thy prophets in the dangers of
restraint? Come, O thou of golden face, brandishing your thyrsus along
Olympus, and restrain the insolence of the blood-thirsty man. Where art
thou assembling thy bands of thyrsus-bearers, O Bacchus, is it near Nysa
which nourishes wild beasts, or in the summits of Corycus?[33] or perhaps
in the deep-wooded lairs of Olympus, where formerly Orpheus playing the
lyre drew together the trees by his songs, collected the beasts of the
fields; O happy Pieria, Evius respects you, and will come to lead the dance
with revelings having crossed the swiftly-flowing Axius, he will bring the
dancing Mænads, and [leaving] Lydia[34] the giver of wealth to mortals, and
the father whom I have heard fertilizes the country renowned for horses
with the fairest streams.
BAC. Io! hear ye, hear ye my song, Io Bacchæ! O Bacchæ!
CHOR. Who is here, who? from what quarter did the shout of Evius summon me?
BAC. Io, Io, I say again! I, the son of Semele, the son of Jove!
CHOR. Io! Io! Master, master! come now to our company. O Bromius! Bromius!
Shake this place, O holy Earth![35] O! O! quickly will the palace of
Pentheus be shaken in ruin--Bacchus is in the halls. Worship him. We
worship him. Behold these stone buttresses shaken with their pillars.
Bacchus will shout in the palace.
BAC. Light the burning fiery lamp; burn, burn the house of Pentheus.
SEM. Alas! Dost thou not behold the fire, nor perceive around the sacred
tomb of Semele the flame which formerly the bolt-bearing thunder of Jupiter
left?
SEM. Cast on the ground your trembling bodies, cast them down, O Mænads,
for the king turning things upside down is coming to this palace,
[Bacchus,] the son of Jupiter.
BAC. O barbarian women! have ye fallen to the ground thus stricken with
fear? Ye have felt, it seems, Bacchus shaking the house of Pentheus; but
lift up your bodies, and take courage, casting off fear from your flesh.
CHOR. O thou most mighty light to us of Evian Bacchic rites, how gladly do
I see thee, being before alone and desolate!
BAC. Ye came to despair, when I was sent in, as about to fall into the dark
prison of Pentheus.
CHOR. How not?--who was my guardian if you met with misfortune? but how
were you liberated, having met with an impious man?
BAC. I delivered myself easily without trouble.
CHOR. And did he not bind your hands in links of chains?
BAC. In this too I mocked him; for, thinking to bind me, he neither touched
nor handled me, but fed on hope; and finding a bull in the stable, where
having taken me, he confined me, he cast halters round the knees of that,
and the hoofs of its feet;[36] breathing out fury, stilling sweat from his
body, gnashing his teeth in his lips. But I, being near, sitting quietly,
looked on; and, in the mean time, Bacchus coming, shook the house, and
kindled flame on the tomb of his mother; and he, when he saw it, thinking
the house was burning, rushed to and fro, calling to the servants to bring
water,[37] and every servant was at work toiling in vain; and letting go
this labor, I having escaped, seizing a dark sword he rushes into the
house, and then Bromius, as it seems to me, I speak my opinion, made an
appearance in the palace, and he rushing toward it, rushed on and stabbed
at the bright air,[38] as if slaying me; and besides this, Bacchus afflicts
him with these other things; and threw down his house to the ground, and
every thing was shivered in pieces, while he beheld my bitter chains; and
from fatigue dropping his sword, he falls exhausted--for he being a man,
dared to join battle with a God: and I quietly getting out of the house am
come to you, not regarding Pentheus. But, as it seems to me, a shoe sounds
in the house; he will soon come out in front of the house. What will he say
after this? I shall easily bear him, even if he comes vaunting greatly, for
it is the part of a wise man to practice prudent moderation.
PEN. I have suffered terrible things, the stranger has escaped me, who was
lately coerced in bonds. Hollo! here is the man; what is this? how do you
appear near my house, having come out?
BAC. Stay your foot; and substitute calm steps for anger.
PEN. How come you out, having escaped your chains?
BAC. Did I not say, or did you not hear, that some one would deliver me?
PEN. Who? for you are always introducing strange things.
BAC. He who produces the rich-clustering vine for mortals.
PEN. This is a fine reproach you charge on Bacchus; I order ye to close
every tower all round.
BAC. Why? do not Gods pass over walls too?
PEN. You are wise, wise at least in all save what you should be wise in.
BAC. In what I most ought, in that I was born wise; but first learn,
hearing his words who is come from the mountain to bring a message to you;
but we will await you, we will not fly.
MESSENGER. Pentheus, ruler o'er this Theban land, I come, having left
Cithæron, where never have the brilliant flakes of white snow fallen.[39]
PEN. But bringing what important news are you come?
MESS. Having seen the holy Bacchæ, who driven by madness have darted their
fair feet from this land, have I come, wishing to tell you and the city, O
king, what awful things they do, things beyond marvel; and I wish to hear
whether in freedom of speech I shall tell you the matters there, or whether
I shall repress my report, for I fear, O king, the hastiness of thy mind,
and your keen temper, and too imperious disposition.[40]
PEN. Speak, as you shall be in all things blameless as far as I am
concerned; for it is not meet to be wrath with the just; and in proportion
as you speak worse things of the Bacchæ, so much the more will we punish
this man who has taught these tricks to the women.
MESS. I was just now driving up to the heights the herd of calves, when the
sun sends forth his rays warming the land, and I see three companies of
dances of women, of one of which Autonoe was chief; of a second, thy
mother, Agave; and Ino led the third dance; and they were all sleeping,
relaxed in their bodies, some resting their locks against the leaves of
pine, and some laying their heads at random on the leaves of oak in the
ground, modestly, not, as you say, that, drunk with the goblet and the
noise of the flute, they solitary hunt Venus through the wood. But thy
mother standing in the midst of the Bacchæ, raised a shout, to wake their
bodies from sleep, when she heard the lowing of the horned oxen; but they,
casting off refreshing sleep from their eyes, started upright, a marvel to
behold for their elegance, young, old, and virgins yet unyoked, And first
they let loose their hair over their shoulders; and arranged their
deer-skins, as many as had had the fastenings of their knots unloosed, and
they girded the dappled hides with serpents licking their jaws--and some
having in their arms a kid, or the wild whelps of wolves, gave them white
milk, all those who, having lately had children, had breasts still full,
having left their infants, and they put on their ivy chaplets, and garlands
of oak and blossoming yew; and one having taken a thyrsus, struck it
against a rock, whence a dewy stream of water springs out; another placed
her wand on the ground, and then the God sent up a spring of wine. And as
many as had craving for the white drink, scratching the earth with the tips
of their fingers, obtained abundance of milk; and from the ivy thyrsus
sweet streams of honey dropped, so that, had you been present, beholding
these things, you would have approached with prayers that God whom you now
blame. And we came together, herdsmen and shepherds, to reason with one
another concerning this strange matter, what terrible things and worthy of
marvel they do; and some one, a wanderer about the city, and practiced in
speaking, said to us all, O ye who inhabit the holy downs of the mountains,
will ye that we hunt out Agave, the mother of Pentheus, back from the
revels, and do the king a pleasure? And he seemed to us to speak well, and
hiding ourselves, we lay in ambush in the foliage of the thickets; and
they, at the appointed hour, waved the thyrsus in their solemnities,
calling on Bacchus with united voice, the son of Jove, Bromius; and the
whole mountain and the beasts were in a revel; and nothing was unmoved by
their running; and Agave was bounding near to me, and I sprang forth, as
wishing to seize her, leaving my ambush where I was hidden. But she cried
out, O my fleet hounds, we are hunted by these men; but follow me, follow,
armed with thyrsi in your hands. We then flying, avoided the tearing of the
Bacchæ, but they sprang on the heifers browsing the grass with unarmed
hand, and you might see one rending asunder a fatted lowing calf, and
others rent open cows, and you might see either ribs, or a cloven-footed
hoof, tossed here and there, and hanging beneath the pine-trees the
fragments were dripping, dabbled in gore; and the fierce bulls before
showing their fury with their horns, were thrown to the ground, overpowered
by myriads of maiden hands; and quicker were the coverings of flesh torn
asunder by the royal maids than you could shut your eyes; and like birds
raised in their course, they proceed along the level plain, which by the
streams of the Asopus produce the fertile crop of the Thebans, and falling
on Hysiæ and Erythræ,[41] which, are below Cithæron, they turned every
thing upside down; they dragged children from the houses; and whatever they
put on their shoulders stuck there without chains, and fell not on the dark
plain, neither brass nor iron; and they bore fire on their tresses, and it
burned not; but some from rage betook themselves to arms, being plundered
by the Bacchæ, the sight of which was fearful to behold, O king! For their
pointed spear was not made bloody, but the women hurling the thyrsi from
their hands, wounded them, and turned their backs to flight, women
[defeating] men; not without the aid of some God. And they went back again
to whence they had departed, to the same fountains which the God had caused
to spring up for them, and they washed off the blood; and the snakes with
their tongues cleaned off the drops from their cheeks. Receive then, O
master, this deity, whoever he be, in this city, since he is mighty in
other respects, and they say this too of him, as I hear, that he has given
mortals the vine which puts an end to grief,--for where wine exists not
there is no longer Venus, nor any thing pleasant to men.[42]
CHOR. I fear to speak unshackled words to the king, but still they shall be
spoken; Bacchus is inferior to none of the Gods.
PEN. Already like fire does this insolence of the Bacchæ extend thus near,
a great reproach to the Greeks. But I must not hesitate; go to the Electra
gates, bid all the shield-bearers and riders of swift-footed horses to
assemble, and all who brandish the light shield, and twang with their hand
the string of the bow, as we will make an attack upon the Bacchæ; but it is
too much, if we are to suffer what we are suffering at the hands of women.
BAC. O Pentheus, you obey not at all hearing my words; but although
suffering ill at your hands, still I say that you ought not to take up arms
against a God, but to rest quiet; Bromius will not endure your moving the
Bacchæ from their Evian mountains.
PEN. You shall not teach me; but be content,[43] having escaped from
prison, or else I will again bring punishment upon you.
BAC. I would rather sacrifice to him than, being wrath, kick against the
pricks; a mortal against a God.
PEN. I will sacrifice, making a great slaughter of the women, as they
deserve, in the glens of Cithæron.
BAC. You will all fly, (and that will be shameful,) so as to yield your
brazen shields to the thyrsi of the Bacchæ.
PEN. We are troubled with this impracticable stranger, who neither
suffering nor doing will be silent.
BAC. My friend, there is still opportunity to arrange these things well.
PEN. By doing what? being a slave to my slaves?
BAC. I will bring the women here without arms.
PEN. Alas! you are contriving some trick against me.
BAC. Of what sort, if I wish to save you by my contrivances?
PEN. You have devised this together, that ye may have your revelings
forever.
BAC. And indeed, know this, I agreed on it with the God.
PEN. Bring hither the arms! and do you cease to speak.
BAC. Hah! Do you wish to see them sitting on the mountains?
PEN. Very much, if I gave countless weight of gold for it.
BAC. But why? have you fallen into a great wish for this?
PEN. I should like to see them drunk grievously [for them].
BAC. Would you then gladly see what is grievous to you?
PEN. To be sure, sitting quietly under the pines.
BAC. But they will track you out, even though you come secretly.
PEN. But [I will come] openly, for you have said this well.
BAC. Shall I then guide you? and will you attempt the way?
PEN. Lead me as quickly as possible; for I do not grudge you the time.
BAC. Put on then linen garments on your body.
PEN. What then, shall I be reckoned among women, being a man?
BAC. Lest they slay you if you be seen there, being a man.
PEN. You say this well, and you have been long wise.
BAC. Bacchus taught me this wisdom.
PEN. How then can these things which you advise me be well done?
BAC. I will attire you, going into the house.
PEN. With what dress--a woman's? but shame possesses me.
BAC. Do you no longer wish to be a spectator of the Mænads?
PEN. But what attire do you bid me put on my body?
BAC. I will spread out your hair at length on your head.
PEN. And what is the next point of my equipment?
BAC. A garment down to your feet; and you shall have a turban on your head.
PEN. Shall you put any thing else on me besides this?
BAC. A thyrsus in your hand, and the dappled hide of a deer.
PEN. I can not wear a woman's dress.
BAC. But you will shed blood if you join battle with the Bacchæ.
PEN. True; we must first go and see.
BAC. That is wiser at least than to hunt evils with evils.
PEN. And how shall I go through the city escaping the notice of the
Cadmeans?
BAC. We will go by deserted roads, and I will guide you.
PEN. Every thing is better than for the Bacchæ to mock me.
BAC. We will go into the house and consider what seems best.
PEN. We can do what we like; my part is completely prepared. Let us go; for
either I will go bearing arms, or I will be guided by your counsels.
BAC. O women! the man is in the toils,[44] and he will come to the Bacchæ,
where, dying, he will pay the penalty. Now, Bacchus, 'tis thine office, for
you are not far off. Let us punish him; but first drive him out of his
wits, inspiring vain frenzy, since, being in his right mind, he will not be
willing to put on a female dress, but driving him out of his senses he will
put it on; and I wish him to furnish laughter to the Thebans, being led in
woman's guise through the city, after[45] his former threats, with which he
was terrible. But I will go to fit on Pentheus the dress, which, having
taken, he shall die, slain by his mother's hand. And he shall know Bacchus,
the son of Jupiter, who is in fact to men at once the most terrible, and
the mildest of deities.[46]
CHOR. Shall I move my white foot in the night-long dance, honoring Bacchus,
exposing my neck to the dewy air, sporting like a fawn in the verdant
delights of the mead, when it has escaped a fearful chase beyond the watch
of the well-woven nets, (and the huntsman cheering hastens on the course of
his hounds,) and with toil like the swift storm[47] rushes along the plain
that skirts the river, exulting in the solitude apart from men, and in the
thickets of the shady-foliaged wood? What is wisdom, what is a more
glorious gift from the Gods among mortals than to hold one's hand on the
heads of one's enemies? What is good is always pleasant; divine strength is
roused with difficulty, but still is sure, and it chastises those mortals
who honor folly, and do not extol the Gods in their insane mind. But the
Gods cunningly conceal the long foot[48] of time, and hunt the impious man;
for it is not right to determine or plan any thing beyond the laws: for it
is a light expense to deem that that has power whatever is divine, and that
what has been law for a long time has its origin in nature. What is wisdom,
what is a more noble gift from the Gods among men, than to hold one's hand
on the heads of one's enemies? what is honorable is always pleasant. Happy
is he who has escaped from the wave of the sea, and arrived in harbor.[49]
Happy, too, is he who has overcome his labors; and one surpasses another in
different ways, in wealth and power. Still are there innumerable hopes to
innumerable men, some result in wealth to mortals, and some fail, but I
call him happy whose life is happy day by day.
BAC. You, who are eager to see what you ought not, and hasty to do a deed
not of haste, I mean Pentheus, come forth before the house, be seen by me,
having the costume of a woman, of a frantic Bacchant, as a spy upon your
mother and her company! In appearance, you are like one of the daughters of
Cadmus.
PEN. And indeed I think I see two suns,[50] and twin Thebes, and
seven-gated city; and you seem to guide me, being like a bull, and horns
seem to grow on your head. But were you ever a beast? for you look like a
bull.
BAC. The God accompanies us, not propitious formerly, but now at truce with
us. You see what you should see.
PEN. How do I look? Does not my standing seem like that of Ino, or of
Agave, my mother?
BAC. I seem to see them as I behold you; but this lock of hair of yours is
out of its place, not as I dressed it beneath the turban.
PEN. Moving it within doors backward and forward, and practicing Bacchic
revelry, I disarranged it.
BAC. But we who ought to wait upon you will again rearrange it. But hold up
your head.
PEN. Look, do you arrange it, for we depend on you.
BAC. And your girdle is loosened, and the fringes of your garments do not
extend regularly round your legs.
PEN. They seem so to me, too, about the right foot at least; but on this
side the robe sits well along the leg.
BAC. Will you not think me the first of your friends when, contrary to your
expectation, you see the Bacchæ acting modestly?
PEN. But shall I be more like a Bacchant holding the thyrsus in my right
hand, or in this?
BAC. You should [hold it in] your right hand, and raise it at the same time
with your right foot; and I praise you for having changed your mind.
PEN. Could I bear on my shoulders the glens of Cithæron, Bacchæ and all?
BAC. You could if you were willing; but you had your mind unsound before;
but now you have such as you ought.
PEN. Shall we bring levers, or shall I tear them up with my hands, putting
my shoulder or arm under the summits?
BAC. No, lest you ruin the habitations of the Nymphs, and the seats of Pan
where he plays his pipes.
PEN. You speak well,--it is not with strength we should conquer women; but
I will hide my body among the pines.
BAC. Hide you the hiding in which you should be hidden, coming as a crafty
spy on the Mænads.
PEN. And, indeed, I think to catch them in the thickets, like birds in the
sweet nets of beds.
BAC. You go then as a watch for this very thing; and perhaps you will catch
them, if you be not caught first.
PEN. Conduct me through the middle of the Theban land, for I am the only
man of them who would dare these things.
BAC. You alone labor for this city, you alone; therefore the labors, which
are meet,[51] await you. But follow me, I am your saving guide, some one
else will guide you away from thence.
PEN. Yes, my mother.
BAC. Being remarkable among all.
PEN. For this purpose do I come.