So now that I've had a ton of other beings working on my blog for me while I was *ahem* preoccupied, I have to return to make this one last post summarizing all the cool stuff they said. *ahem* Here I go...

So I heard rumors of bad stuff going down in Thebes, people were insulting my mother's honor! They said that she never really made love to Zeus and that the whole reason she was struck down by lightning was because she lied about it. Now I can't let my dear mother's name be tarnished along with my own, because of these rumors they didn't consider me a real god at all and Pentheus forbid the people of Thebes from praising me as a god. Psh what a buttface amirite? So I went to Thebes and called for people to come to Mt. Cithaeron, and many maenads showed up (including my aunts Agaue, Autonoe, and Ino  ). Now Pentheus, returning to his palace, found Tiresias and Cadmus there, dressed in Bacchic robes of fawnskin and crowns of ivy, they were planning on going to Mr. Cithaeron to praise me. Pentheus was angry, he didn't believe in divine madness the idiot, he thought my maenads were just using me as an excuse to get drunk, be reckless, and sleep around, not that there's anything wrong with that at all but try tellin' Pentheus that... Anyways I was leading the maenads in a mortal guise and so Pentheus heard I was the leader and was encouraging Bacchic worship. He had me captured (I actually just let myself be captured) and locked up. So then he brought out the torture, this dude is a freak, but as I'm a god I evaded it every time. He tried to tie me, ended up tying a bull, he tried to stab me, he stabs a shadow, etc etc. So I'm sick and tired of this and make an earthquake and a fire. Pentheus is really freaked out and left weak and helpless. I try to convince him to just let people worship me, I mean Dionysus (human guise remember?) but he's stubborn as ever. Thank goodness at that moment a cowherd appeared and he told us that my maenads ripped apart his whole herd in their madness. Pentheus is (weirdly) excited by the story, and noticing this I offer to let him see the maenads up close. You know he was thinking of just sending soldiers but his overwhelming curiosity got the better of him, he took up my offer. So I dressed Pentheus in a wig and women's clothing (he looked like a fool with his beard) but he thought he looked nice, vain one isn't he? So anyways I placed him on a bent tree and let it up straight. As soon as it was up my maenads saw him, I turned back into my divine form and ordered them to kill Pentheus (nothing personal it's just business y'know?) So they started pulling all his limbs, including his mom LMAO. They ended up ripping his limbs and head off haha and I tricked Agaue, his mother, into thinking his head was the head of a lion, she returned to the castle boasting of her brave kill. Cadmus saw what the head really was and brought Agaue's mind back to reality. She was devastated and started crying and shiz. So I appear in my true form, I banish Agaue and say that Cadmus and his wife will turn into snakes and invade Greek lands with a horde of vikings. Aaaaand now I'm praised in Thebes THE END.

The Resolution is at the end of the story when Agaue returns to the castle with the head of Pentheus because it's proof that he's dead and so the conflict is over. It also give Dionysus a reason to banish Pentheus's family and any of his followers, therefore returning Dionysus to God status and bringing honor back to his mother Semele's name.

Hey I'm back! Talking about the climax of the story! I'd say it's when Dionysus finally overpowers Pentheus and he's killed by the maenads. It's like the clash between the two, the wild mirthful god and the strict, harsh nonbeliever. It's drawing the story of these two opposing forces, these two opposing beings, to a grand closure. The death of Pentheus was inevitable though because of Dionysus's mighty power, which he uses to not only kill Pentheus but to ban his family therefore gaining praise in Thebes. That's the climax, good bye thanks for listening!

Hello! Melpomene here again to discuss the conflict in the Bacchae. I would say the main conflict is that praising Dionysus is forbidden in Thebes and Dionysus aims to change that. It's a Pentheus vs. Dionysus Grecian style showdown of wit and skill. While Pentheus fights to keep law in his city, more and more maenads leave everyday. Dionysus amasses an army of them and further encourages Pentheus to eradicate him and his followers. So the main conflict is one between a disbeliever and a god, classic.

Hey there, Melpomene the muse of Tragedy here to delve deeper into the story the Bacchae

That hair is a tragedy!! 

Aphrodite's probably right.. *sigh* but um anyways I'm here to talk about the characters in the Bacchae. First off Dionysus, one of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, he is joyous, wrathful, mad, and very powerful. That makes him sound a bit scary but he's really a fun guy. He's tall, androgynous, and has dark eyes and long unruly hair. Oh why speak of the devi-
 

Melpomeneeee are you talking about me???

Yes! I was actually describing you and your role in the Bacch-
I don't care okay bye.

Um alright... anyways the next character is Pentheus, the king of Thebes and Semele's brother. He's very strict and believes that Dionysus isn't a real god. He will not hesitate to resort to trickery, treachery, and torture to get his way. He is tall and noble looking with long dark hair and fair skin, he's very vain about his looks.
Moving on to Tiresias and Cadmus, they're both old men who believe in Dionysus and seek to honor him. Cadmus is Semele's father and Tiresias is his dear friend. Tiresias is a blind man, but persistent. Both men know it will be difficult but they insist on honoring Semele's child.

Those are the main characters involved and I hope you enjoyed it, good bye until next time.

Okay so I usually don't do these blogs myself but I was the only one who was actually there so here goes(I had to sober up for this so you better pay attention). I remember the hills.. they were a deep green color, and the grass swayed about in the wind, it smelled like grass too, sweet and loamy. The tree's quivered and shook their leaves about in the breeze. I remember my maenads were there, talking among themselves and feasting. Then the palace, it had lots of arches (idk why but I guess Pentheus had a thing for arches). It was mostly stone, really bright, and smelled like flowers... I'm not sure what kind though? It felt a little restrictive there were so many rules and it was so dusty, I really didn't like it. I think I much prefer the time we were in the woods to the palace.. so yeah that kinda sums it up I'm gonna go have a drink.

Hello! I'm Thalia! The muse of comedy!

And I'm Euterpe, muse of music.

We're here to talk about Dionysus's appearance and

influence in both ancient and modern culture!

One of my favorite is the song "Dionysus" inspired

 by the god himself, and composed by Jocelyn Pook

The chanting background reminds me of those Dionysian

 rites the maenads go through, don't you think so Thalia??

Erm... yes? I was going to talk about the many 

appearances of Dionysus in theater, movies and books.

He appeared in the Percy Jackson series as a camp counselor

played by Luke Camilleri in the Lightning Thief, and Stanley

Tucci in The Sea of Monsters. And some people even 

think that Willy Wonka may be a Dionysian character.

(Luke Camilleri)

(Stanley Tucci)

Really? That's fascinating!

Dionysus also inspired many great artists, such as Michelangelo,

Titian, and Leonardo da Vinci. Shown below is a work done by

Titian depicting Dionysus falling in love with his future wife, 

Ariadne, while accompanied by his band of satyrs and maenads.

Truly gorgeous work I say.

I highly agree. 

So that about sums up this post...

            Bye everybody! We hope you enjoyed it!

Mnemosyne here ,again, Dionysus is too hungover to type out a blog at the moment so I'll be filling in for him. He wanted me to tell the story "The Bacchae".

*ahem* When Dionysus went back to Thebes, disguised as a peasant and with his bacchants in tow, he was aiming to clear his mother's reputation as a liar. Semele's father Cadmus gave control of the kingdom to Pentheus, who decided that the worship of Dionysus was not to be allowed in the city of Thebes. This angered Dionysus, who then drove Semele's sisters, Agave, Autonoe, and Ino mad, sending them to Mt. Cithaeron to preform Dionysian rites. Pentheus does not believe in the divine madness and is convinced the women are simply drunk, so he orders the royal guards to capture Dionysus and his maenads, whom he see's as being the root of the problem (although he is not aware it is Dionysus at all.) Dionysus lets himself be caught easily, so Pentheus would be fooled into thinking he was weak. Pentheus tried torturing Dionysus but to no avail, in the end an earthquake occurs and a fire starts in the palace, making Pentheus weak and confused. Dionysus speaks to Pentheus and tries to get him to change his mind, but at that moment a cowherd busts into the room, panicking and stuttering out his story. 

Sir, sir I've just seen something terrible! The maddened women of Cadmus were in the forest drinking milk and honey and dancing with joy, but when they caught sight of me they were consumed by murderous intentions and chased after me, baying for my blood! I managed to escape but all my cattle were ripped to pieces! And worst of all, one of the mad women was your beloved mother, Agaue!!

Way to interrupt the story...

Anyways, Pentheus was intrigued by the cowherds story, and noticing this, Dionysus asked Pentheus if he wanted a chance to see the maenads for himself. Pentheus's curiosity gets the best of him and he agrees to accept Dionysus's offer. He dresses in a wig and long skirts and ventures into the forest, where Dionysus places him in a fir tree to watch the maenads. When he is spotted by the maenads Dionysus orders them to attack the imposter, and they rip him apart with their bare hands. When Agaue returns with the torn off head of her son she is confused and boasts about a lion she has killed. Cadmus returns her mind to normal and she weeps. Then Dionysus turns into his true form and banishes Agaue from Thebes, turning Cadmus and his wife into snakes. Thebes celebrates and worships Dionysus from then on-

Hey Mnemosyne, could you mind keeping it down?? I have a terrible *hic* headache.

By Zeus's Thunder, what are we to do with you...

Heyy I'm Dionysus and this is my blog ;D You may think you've heard my name before, and you probably have (I'm suuuuper famous lol) I'm one of the twelve gods of Mt. Olympus, the god of ecstasy, wine, theatre, and merrymaking. I'm a super fun guy with an amazing beautiful wife Ariadne

Look how pretty she is gosh I'm lucky, but even though I have her I still need some extra company, that's where my posse comes in. Mostly satyrs and ladies we wander around the hillside havin' fun and bein' cool. My mom was a mortal, so you may be wondering how I'm a full god, but I have wine to make and parties to attend so I'll let Mnemosyne finish up this post!

Hello, Mnemosyne goddesss of memory and storytelling here to talk about Dionysus's birth. Zeus impregnated Semele, the daughter of Cadmus of Thebes, and Hera became jealous and enraged. So Hera came down to Earth and challenged Semele to prove Zeus was the father of her child. Semele made Zeus swear to the river Styx that he would do whatever she asked of him, he promised and she told him to reveal his god form so she could peer upon him in all his glory. He knew this would be too much for the mortal and begged her to change her mind but Hera's words had planted doubt deep within Semele's heart. So Zeus chose his smallest lightning bolt and showed his true form. Semele evaporated from the power and Zeus had barely enough time to snatch the child from her womb before she was just a pile of ash. Zeus sewed the child into his thigh so he could finish developing, and as he was born from Zeus's thigh he became a fully fledged god, although it was not for many years before he joined the 12 on Mount Olympus.