Euripedes

Euripides is another one of the three great tragic poets. There is not much known about his personal life because he never made his life very public. Nevertheless, he was not regarded as one of the three great tragic poets without reason. His tragedies were all very popular and he is famous for his use of realism in his plays. Euripides’ use of realism make his plays seem more modern in contrast to other ancient Greek plays. For example, his play The Bacchae, exhibits themes such as the role of women relative to men and the theme of acceptance which are topics that are seen in realism in more modern literature. The Bacchae is about the return of the god Dionysus to his homeland of Thebes where he learns that it is now prohibited to worship him and as a result, Dionysus decides to punish the entire city. There’s a part in The Bacchae where Dionysus states, “Onwards! My women Tmolus, you bulwark of Lydia, you, my sisterhood of worshipers whom I led from foreign lands to be in my company in rest and march..(1. Prologue. 54-58)”. This quote illustrates a significant difference from other tragedies being written at the time. In this quote the women have the backing of a god to rebel against their normal roles as housewives and instead go worship him. Although he was speaking to the maenads (his worshipers) Dionysus also made the women of Thebes put their social roles to the side to worship him instead. Women are seen as submissive in this play, however, the idea of women rebelling against not only their husbands but also their leaders, such as kings, was something that was unheard of at the time.