Scenes from Euripides: Bacchae

Euripides is one of the most important writers of ancient Greece, but his works are less frequently read today than those of Sophocles or Aeschylus. Euripides's plays were often at the center of violent disputes among ancient critics; some denounced them as impious and immoral, while others condemned them for their lack of dignity. His dramas are still highly praised for their psychological insight and many writers use them as models for modern drama. The Bacchae is the only complete tragedy to survive from antiquity. Dionysus (or Bacchus), a son of Zeus and Semele, priest-king of a cult in which wine was used sacramentally, has been banished by Athena to Asia Minor.