![]() ![]() When Dionysus tells her she's banished she complains the god is "merciless" (313). ![]() Agave isn't sorry at all for spurning Dionysus to begin with. The thing is it doesn't really count because Dionysus is the one that took over her mind and made her do it. She definitely has a moment of recognition, when she realizes that the bloody head she's holding is actually her son's and not a lion's. You do see a bit of an anagnorisis with Agave. ![]() At the end of the play, he's completely unrepentant. Dionysus set out to show everybody who's boss and that's just what he's done. Causing Agave to rip her son Pentheus's head off? A job well done. Making all the ladies of Thebes go crazy and dismember cattle? Awesome. He's happy as a bug in a rug about the horror he's caused. However, Dionysus, the protagonist of The Bacchae, isn't sorry one bit. Basically, it's the part of the play where the hero goes, "Oh my gosh, I really messed up." According to Aristotle, the anagnorisis is supposed to happen to the play's protagonist. This is Greek for a moment of realization or recognition. If you listen to Aristotle, tragedies are supposed to end with the hero having an anagnorisis. The ending of The Bacchae is remarkable because nobody learns anything. ![]()
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