The Bacchae

            Dionysus, as a relatively new god to the Pantheon of greek deities, was not easily welcome into the greek culture. For that reason he arrives in Thebes in human disguise to impose his worship. The daughters of Kadmos question his divine nature and for punishment they go insane and they stray in mountain Kitheron, as maenads. Only king Kadmos and Teiresias accept the new worship.

            Pentheus, Kadmos’ grand – son (and Agavi’s son who was one of the two Kadmos’ daughters punished by Dionysus), arrests Dionysus and imprisons him. Dionysus escapes and destroys the palace with an earthquake. Dionysus persuades Pentheus to go to Kitheron and find out that he had misunderstood his worship. Pentheus mounts to Kitheron dressed like a maenad  and gets killed and torn to pieces by his own mother (Agavi), who did not recognized him. Agavi returns to Thebes with Pentheus’ head in hands, believing she’s holding a lion’ head. Kadmos makes her realize what she’d done.

            Finally Dionysus appears as a god now (from the Theologion) and punishes the guilty ones with exile. In that way he imposed his worship in Thebes.