The The Bacchae reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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The Bacchae

The Bacchae is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It premiered posthumously at the Dionysia in 406 BC, where it won first prize.

In The Bacchae, Theban Maenads murder King Pentheus after he bans the worship of Bacchus because the Maenads deny Pentheus' divinity. Bacchus, Pentheus' cousin, himself lures Pentheus to the woods, where the Maenads tear him apart and his corpse is mutilated by his own mother, Agave.

Bacchae was another name for the Maenads, female followers of Bacchus.

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