Under Dionysus’ spell, Pentheus says Dionysus is “trying to spoil” him when Dionysus suggests he will be brought back to Thebes in his mother’s arms. Not only is Pentheus threatened by the fact that the bacchants are worshipping Dionysus, he is threatened by the newfound freedom and wildness of them. Pentheus’ jealousy feeds into subconscious feelings of nervousness that he will lose the worship of the Theban people to his cousin. His obsession with sex, money, women, and power all stem from the need to keep his power. The hierarchy that he is apart of has contributed to overwhelming patriarchal need that he has. The bacchants and their mountaintop orgies and raw meat-eating threaten this patriarchy that he finds comfort in. But, he continues to deny the divinity of
Under Dionysus’ spell, Pentheus says Dionysus is “trying to spoil” him when Dionysus suggests he will be brought back to Thebes in his mother’s arms. Not only is Pentheus threatened by the fact that the bacchants are worshipping Dionysus, he is threatened by the newfound freedom and wildness of them. Pentheus’ jealousy feeds into subconscious feelings of nervousness that he will lose the worship of the Theban people to his cousin. His obsession with sex, money, women, and power all stem from the need to keep his power. The hierarchy that he is apart of has contributed to overwhelming patriarchal need that he has. The bacchants and their mountaintop orgies and raw meat-eating threaten this patriarchy that he finds comfort in. But, he continues to deny the divinity of