Pentheus

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Pentheus
King of Thebes
Agave
Siblings	Epeiros
Children	Menoeceus

In

.

Much of what is known about the character comes from the interpretation of the myth in Euripides' tragic play, The Bacchae.

Mythological biography

The story of Pentheus' resistance to Dionysus and his subsequent punishment is presented by Euripides as follows. Cadmus, the king of Thebes, abdicated due to his old age in favour of his grandson Pentheus. Pentheus soon banned the worship of the god Dionysus, who was the son of his aunt Semele, and forbade the women of Cadmeia to partake in his rites. An angered Dionysus caused Pentheus' mother

in a Bacchic frenzy. Accordingly, Pentheus imprisoned Dionysus, thinking the man simply a follower, but his chains fell off and the jail doors opened for him.

Agave, lekanis lid, ca. 450 BC, Louvre

.

Dionysus lured Pentheus, disguised as a woman, out to spy on the Bacchic rites, where Pentheus expected to see sexual activities. The daughters of Cadmus saw him in a tree and thought him to be a wild animal. They pulled Pentheus down and tore him limb from limb (as part of a ritual known as the sparagmos). When his true identity was later discovered, officials exiled the women from Thebes. Some say that his own mother was the first to attack him, tearing his arm off and then tearing off his head. She placed the head on a stick and took it back to Thebes, but only realized whose head it was after meeting her father Cadmus.

The name "Pentheus", as Dionysus and Tiresias both point out, means "Man of Sorrows" and derives from πένθος, pénthos, sorrow or grief, especially the grief caused by the death of a loved one. His name appeared to mark him for tragedy. Pentheus was succeeded by his uncle Polydorus.

Before or possibly after Pentheus was killed, his wife gave birth to a son named

.

The story of Pentheus is also discussed by

of Maeonia, a sailor who confirms the divinity of Bacchus and tells how the crew of his ship ended up being turned into dolphins after trying to kidnap the young god.

Pentheus, convinced that Acoetes is lying, tries to throw him in jail, but when the guards try to shackle Acoetes, the chains fall off. In a rage, Pentheus ran to deal with Bacchus himself. He charged through the woods straight into a Bacchanalia. Driven to a frenzy the participants thought Pentheus was a boar and attacked him. His mother was the first one to spear him and then the group tore his flesh apart with their bare hands.

In Oppian's version, Dionysus's female followers ask the god to transform them into leopards, and he grants their request, while simultaneously changing Pentheus into a bull. The leopards then attack and tear apart the bull, killing Pentheus, as Oppian presents the metaphors and illusions from The Bacchae as literal.^[1]

In modern popular culture

King Pentheus appears in

Family tree of Theban Royal House

Royal house of Thebes family tree

v t e Solid lines indicate descendants. Dashed lines indicate marriages. Dotted lines indicate extra-marital relationships or adoptions. Kings of Thebes are numbered with bold names and a light purple background. Joint rules are indicated by a number and lowercase letter, for example, 5a. Amphion shared the throne with 5b. Zethus. Regents of Thebes are alphanumbered (format AN) with bold names and a light red background. The number N refers to the regency preceding the reign of the Nth king. Generally this means the regent served the Nth king but not always, as Creon (A9) was serving as regent to Laodamas (the 10th King) when he was slain by Lycus II (the usurping 9th king). The letter A refers to the regency sequence. "A" is the first regent, "B" is the second, etc. Deities have a yellow background color. Lycus (Regent) Zeus Zeus Ino Agave Echion 3. Polydorus Nycteis Antiope Autonoë Dionysus 2. Pentheus Epeiros 4. Labdacus 5a. Amphion 5b. Zethus Menoeceus Merope Polybus Hipponome Alcaeus Zeus Alcmene Amphitryon Perimede 7. Oedipus Megara Heracles Iphicles Anaxo Argea 8a. Polynices Pyrrha Lycus II A12. Peneleos (Regent) 10. Laodamas Demonassa 11. Thersander Opheltes 12. Tisamenus 14. Damasichthon 13. Autesion 15. Ptolemy Theras Argeia Aristodemus 16. Xanthos Eurysthenes Procles

References

1. ISBN 0-19-814730-9
   .
2. ^ "Discover the richness of northeast at NSD". Hindustan Times. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2023-08-24.

• Euripides, The Tragedies of Euripides translated by T. A. Buckley. Bacchae. London. Henry G. Bohn. 1850. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 3. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Ovid. Cadmus.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

• Media related to Pentheus at Wikimedia Commons

Regnal titles
Preceded by Cadmus	Thebes	Succeeded by Polydorus