There is a passage in Euripides’ “Bacchae” where the king, Pentheas, has a conversation with Dionysus, the god of wine and merriment. Pentheas is all for power and control, and indeed tries to subjugate Dionysus, not knowing that he is dealing with a god. Dionysus uses his seductive humour but cannot win him over in the beginning – in the end, however, Dionysus wins (he is a god, after all) and leads Pentheas into the woods to his destruction (his is torn apart by the Bacchae, whose priestess is his own mother). The whole conversation is a power struggle between the human (who identifies with his authority as ruler) and the god, who is all for surrendering one’s earthly power to the divine.
There is a passage in Euripides’ “Bacchae” where the king, Pentheas, has a conversation with Dionysus, the god of wine and merriment. Pentheas is all for power and control, and indeed tries to subjugate Dionysus, not knowing that he is dealing with a god. Dionysus uses his seductive humour but cannot win him over in the beginning – in the end, however, Dionysus wins (he is a god, after all) and leads Pentheas into the woods to his destruction (his is torn apart by the Bacchae, whose priestess is his own mother). The whole conversation is a power struggle between the human (who identifies with his authority as ruler) and the god, who is all for surrendering one’s earthly power to the divine.
Brilliant association ! Thanks for sharing.