Bacchae: the perversity of a subvert ritual

Abstract

This article proposes to account for the ritual elements across the Bacchae of Euripides. A special reference will be made to the prologue hymnic structure and to the elements that subvert the sacrifice of Penteo and that overlap it with the hunt range. In this way, it is established that the prologue consists of a hymn dedicated to Dionysus, executed by the same god, that the particularity of this artifice anticipates the double role that Bacchus will occupy, and the impious
quality of the facts that will be narrated. Consequently, the tragedy would seem to bring to light the representation of a cult as an example or the representation of an exemplary punishment, but in any case, evoking the own theatrical practice.