Bacchic wand; droll sight enough! Father, it grieves me to see you two
old men so void of sense. Oh! shake that ivy from thee! Let fall the

thyrsus from thy hand, my mother's sire! Was it thou, Teiresias, urged
him on to this? Art bent on introducing this fellow as another new

deity amongst men, that thou mayst then observe the fowls of the air
and make a gain from fiery divination? Were it not that thy grey hairs

protected thee, thou shouldst sit in chains amid the Bacchanals, for
introducing knavish mysteries; for where the gladsome grape is found

at women's feasts, I deny that their rites have any longer good
results.

CHORUS
What impiety! Hast thou no reverence, sir stranger, for the gods

or for Cadmus who sowed the crop of earth-born warriors? Son of Echion
as thou art, thou dost shame thy birth.

TEIRESIAS
Whenso a man of wisdom finds a good topic for argument, it is no

difficult matter to speak well; but thou, though possessing a glib
tongue as if endowed with sense, art yet devoid thereof in all thou

sayest. A headstrong man, if he have influence and a capacity for
speaking, makes a bad citizen because he lacks sense. This new

deity, whom thou deridest, will rise to power I cannot say how
great, throughout Hellas. Two things there are, young prince, that

hold first rank among men, the goddess Demeter, that is, the earth,
calf her which name thou please; she it is that feedeth men with solid

food; and as her counterpart came this god, the son of Semele, who
discovered the juice of the grape and introduced it to mankind,

stilling thereby each grief that mortals suffer from, soon as e'er
they are filled with the juice of the vine; and sleep also he

giveth, sleep that brings forgetfulness of daily ills, the sovereign
charm for all our woe. God though he is, he serves all other gods

for libations, so that through him mankind is blest. He it is whom
thou dost mock, because he was sewn up in the thigh of Zeus. But I

will show thee this fair mystery. When Zeus had snatched him from
the lightning's blaze, and to Olympus borne the tender babe, Hera

would have cast him forth from heaven, but Zeus, as such a god well
might, devised a counterplot. He broke off a fragment of the ether

which surrounds the world, and made thereof a hostage against Hera's
bitterness, while he gave out Dionysus into other hands; hence, in

time, men said that he was reared in the thigh of Zeus, having changed
the word and invented a legend, because the god was once a hostage

to the goddess Hera. This god too hath prophetic power, for there is
no small prophecy inspired by Bacchic frenzy; for whenever the god

in his full might enters the human frame, he makes his frantic
votaries foretell the future. Likewise he hath some share in Ares'

rights; for oft, or ever a weapon is touched, a panic seizes an army
when it is marshalled in array; and this too is a frenzy sent by

Dionysus. Yet shalt thou behold him e'en on Delphi's rocks leaping
o'er the cloven height, torch in hand, waving and brandishing the

branch by Bacchus loved, yea, and through the length and breadth of
Hellas. Hearken to me, Pentheus; never boast that might alone doth

sway the world, nor if thou think so, unsound as thy opinion is,
credit thyself with any wisdom; but receive the god into thy realm,

pour out libations, join the revel rout, and crown thy head. It is not
Dionysus that will force chastity on women in their love; but this

is what we should consider, whether chastity is part of their nature
for good and all; for if it is, no really modest maid will ever fall

'mid Bacchic mysteries. Mark this: thou thyself art glad when
thousands throng thy gates, and citizens extol the name of Pentheus;

he too, I trow, delights in being honoured. Wherefore I and Cadmus,
whom thou jeerest so, will wreath our brows with ivy and join the

dance; pair of grey beards though we be, still must we take part
therein; never will I for any words of thine fight against heaven.

Most grievous is thy madness, nor canst thou find a charm to cure
thee, albeit charms have caused thy malady.

CHORUS
Old sir, thy words do not discredit Phoebus, and thou art wise

in honouring Bromius, potent deity.
CADMUS

My son, Teiresias hath given thee sound advice; dwell with us, but
o'erstep not the threshold of custom; for now thou art soaring

aloft, and thy wisdom is no wisdom. E'en though he be no god, as
thou assertest, still say he is; be guilty of a splendid fraud,

declaring him the son of Semele, that she may be thought the mother of
a god, and we and all our race gain honour. Dost thou mark the awful

fate of Actaeon? whom savage hounds of his own rearing rent in
pieces in the meadows, because he boasted himself a better hunter than

Artemis. Lest thy fate be the same, come let me crown thy head with
ivy; join us in rendering homage to the god.

PENTHEUS
Touch me not away to thy Bacchic rites thyself! never try to

infect me with thy foolery! Vengeance will I have on the fellow who
teaches thee such senselessness. Away one of you without delay! seek

yonder seat where he observes his birds, wrench it from its base
with levers, turn it upside down, o'erthrowing it in utter

confusion, and toss his garlands to the tempest's blast. For by so
doing shall I wound him most deeply. Others of you range the city

and hunt down this girl-faced stranger, who is introducing a new
complaint amongst our women, and doing outrage to the marriage tie.

And if haply ye catch him, bring him hither to me in chains, to be
stoned to death, a bitter ending to his revelry in Thebes.

Exit PENTHEUS.
TEIRESIAS

Unhappy wretch! thou little knowest what thou art saying. Now
art thou become a raving madman, even before unsound in mind. Let us

away, Cadmus, and pray earnestly for him, spite of his savage
temper, and likewise for the city, that the god inflict not a signal

vengeance. Come, follow me with thy ivy-wreathed staff; try to support
my tottering frame as I do thine, for it is unseemly that two old

men should fall; but let that-pass. For we must serve the Bacchic god,
the son of Zeus. Only, Cadmus, beware lest Pentheus' bring sorrow to

thy house; it is not my prophetic art, but circumstances that lead
me to say this; for the words of a fool are folly.

Exeunt CADMUS and TEIRESIAS.
CHORUS

O holiness, queen amongst the gods, sweeping on golden pinion o'er
the earth! dost hear the words of Pentheus, dost hear his proud

blaspheming Bromius, the son of Semele; first of all the blessed
gods at every merry festival? His it is to rouse the revellers to

dance, to laugh away dull care, and wake the flute, whene'er at
banquets of the gods the luscious grape appears, or when the winecup

in the feast sheds sleep on men who wear the ivy-spray. The end of all
unbridled speech and lawless senselessness is misery; but the life

of calm repose and the rule of reason abide unshaken and support the
home; for far away in heaven though they dwell, the powers divine

behold man's state. Sophistry is not wisdom, and to indulge in
thoughts beyond man's ken is to shorten life; and if a man on such

poor terms should aim too high, he may miss the pleasures in his
reach. These, to my mind, are the ways of madmen and idiots. Oh! to

make my way to Cyprus, isle of Aphrodite, where dwell the love-gods
strong to soothe man's soul, or to Paphos, which that foreign river,

never fed by rain, enriches with its hundred mouths! Oh! lead me,
Bromian god, celestial guide of Bacchic pilgrims, to the hallowed

slopes of Olympus, where Pierian Muses have their haunt most fair.
There dwell the Graces; there is soft desire; there thy votaries may

hold their revels freely. The joy of our god, the son of Zeus, is in
banquets, his delight is in peace, that giver of riches and nurse