Research Paper on:
Analyzing The Bacchae by Euripides'

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Bacchae (sometimes referred to as The Bacchante), which was first performed in 410 B.C. It is one of the first (if not the first) play which portrayed women not  as subservient creatures but as strong and powerful forces to be reckoned with. These women were aggressive combatants who exhibited what were regarded in the Greek patriarchy as exclusively  masculine characteristics. The masculine authority, represented by King Pentheus, sought to subdue the women so that that the gender balance would, once again, be tipped in the male favor,  as it had been maintained for all of recorded history. Unlike any other work of its time, The Bacchae thoughtfully explored the social order that was forged by the  masculine and feminine dynamic. It speculated on what would happen if this dynamic were to be challenged by the feminine gender and the repercussions of such a challenge. The  play involves a group of female religious followers who worship Dionysus or the Greek god of wine and revelry. Soon, the charismatic spirit possesses all the women of Thebes,  and as the Maenads, they abandon their homes and the masculine repression they represent and take to freely dancing in the streets before establishing their own enclave in the Cithaeron  wilderness. Young King Pentheus vows to keep his empire intact and dedicates himself to dismembering the religion and to eliminate the evil force of Dionysus, whom he perceives as  endeavoring to "entrap and corrupt women" (The Bacchae). The defiant women "caused many a wound and put their foes to utter rout... [were] chasing men, by some gods intervention"  (The Bacchae) These passages represent the prevailing sexist attitudes of ancient Greeks. Any woman who would attempt to defy the status quo was obviously being manipulated to do so