My son, Teiresias hath given thee sound advice; dwell with us, but o'erstep not the threshold of custom; for now thou art soaring aloft, and thy wisdom is no wisdom.E'en though he be no god, as thou assertest, still say he is; be guilty of a splendid fraud, declaring him the son of Semele, that she may be thought the mother of a god, and we and all our race gain honour.Dost thou mark the awful fate of Actaeon? whom savage hounds of his own rearing rent in pieces in the meadows, because he boasted himself a better hunter than Artemis.Lest thy fate be the same, come let me crown thy head with ivy; join us in rendering homage to the god.
PENTHEUS
Touch me not away to thy Bacchic rites thyself! never try to infect me with thy foolery! Vengeance will I have on the fellow who teaches thee such senselessness.Away one of you without delay! seek yonder seat where he observes his birds, wrench it from its base with levers, turn it upside down, o'erthrowing it in utter confusion, and toss his garlands to the tempest's blast.For by so doing shall I wound him most deeply.Others of you range the city and hunt down this girl-faced stranger, who is introducing a new complaint amongst our women, and doing outrage to the marriage tie.
And if haply ye catch him, bring him hither to me in chains, to be stoned to death, a bitter ending to his revelry in Thebes.
Exit PENTHEUS.
TEIRESIAS
Unhappy wretch! thou little knowest what thou art saying.Now art thou become a raving madman, even before unsound in mind.Let us away, Cadmus, and pray earnestly for him, spite of his savage temper, and likewise for the city, that the god inflict not a signal vengeance.Come, follow me with thy ivy-wreathed staff; try to support my tottering frame as I do thine, for it is unseemly that two old men should fall; but let that-pass.For we must serve the Bacchic god, the son of Zeus.Only, Cadmus, beware lest Pentheus' bring sorrow to thy house; it is not my prophetic art, but circumstances that lead me to say this; for the words of a fool are folly.
Exeunt CADMUS and TEIRESIAS.
CHORUS
O holiness, queen amongst the gods, sweeping on golden pinion o'er the earth! dost hear the words of Pentheus, dost hear his proud blaspheming Bromius, the son of Semele; first of all the blessed gods at every merry festival? His it is to rouse the revellers to dance, to laugh away dull care, and wake the flute, whene'er at banquets of the gods the luscious grape appears, or when the winecup in the feast sheds sleep on men who wear the ivy-spray.The end of all unbridled speech and lawless senselessness is misery; but the life of calm repose and the rule of reason abide unshaken and support the home; for far away in heaven though they dwell, the powers divine behold man's state.Sophistry is not wisdom, and to indulge in thoughts beyond man's ken is to shorten life; and if a man on such poor terms should aim too high, he may miss the pleasures in his reach.These, to my mind, are the ways of madmen and idiots.Oh! to make my way to Cyprus, isle of Aphrodite, where dwell the love-gods strong to soothe man's soul, or to Paphos, which that foreign river, never fed by rain, enriches with its hundred mouths! Oh! lead me, Bromian god, celestial guide of Bacchic pilgrims, to the hallowed slopes of Olympus, where Pierian Muses have their haunt most fair.
There dwell the Graces; there is soft desire; there thy votaries may hold their revels freely.The joy of our god, the son of Zeus, is in banquets, his delight is in peace, that giver of riches and nurse divine of youth.Both to rich and poor alike hath he granted the delight of wine, that makes all pain to cease; hateful to him is every one who careth not to live the life of bliss, that lasts through days and nights of joy.True wisdom is to keep the heart and soul aloof from over-subtle wits.That which the less enlightened crowd approves and practises, will I accept.
Re-enter PENTHEUS.Enter SERVANT bringing DIONYSUS bound.
SERVANT
We are come, Pentheus, having hunted down this prey, for which thou didst send us forth; not in vain hath been our quest.We found our quarry tame; he did not fly from us, but yielded himself without a struggle; his cheek ne'er blanched, nor did his ruddy colour change, but with a smile he bade me bind and lead him away, and he waited, making my task an easy one.For very shame I said to him, "Against my will, sir stranger, do I lead thee hence, but Pentheus ordered it, who sent me hither." As for his votaries whom thou thyself didst check, seizing and binding them hand and foot in the public gaol, all these have loosed their bonds and fled into the meadows where they now are sporting, calling aloud on the Bromian god.Their chains fell off their feet of their own accord, and doors flew open without man's hand to help.Many a marvel hath this stranger brought with him to our city of Thebes; what yet remains must be thy care.
PENTHEUS
Loose his hands; for now that I have him in the net he is scarce swift enough to elude me.So, sir stranger, thou art not ill-favoured from a woman's point of view, which was thy real object in coming to Thebes; thy hair is long because thou hast never been a wrestler, flowing right down thy cheeks most wantonly; thy skin is white to help thee gain thy end, not tanned by ray of sun, but kept within the shade, as thou goest in quest of love with beauty's bait.
Come, tell me first of thy race.
DIONYSUS
That needs no braggart's tongue, 'tis easily told; maybe thou knowest Tmolus by hearsay.
PENTHEUS
I know it, the range that rings the city of Sardis round.
DIONYSUS
Thence I come, Lydia is my native home.
PENTHEUS
What makes thee bring these mysteries to Hellas?
DIONYSUS
Dionysus, the son of Zeus, initiated me.
PENTHEUS
Is there a Zeus in Lydia, who begets new gods?
DIONYSUS
No, but Zeus who married Semele in Hellas.
PENTHEUS
Was it by night or in the face of day that he constrained thee?
DIONYSUS
'Twas face to face he intrusted his mysteries to me.
PENTHEUS
Pray, what special feature stamps thy rites?
DIONYSUS
That is a secret to be hidden from the uninitiated.