The Supernatural in the Tragedies of Euripides 8i 



Bacch. 1344-49: 



A. At6fi;cre, \icra6iJ.ea&a cr', riSiKrjKafjiev. 



A. 6x1/' e/xatJe!?' r/fxas, ore 6' kxpriv, ovk ySere. 



A. kyvcoKa^xev ravr'- dXX' kwe^epxet Xiav. 



A. Kal yap irpos vp,oiv ^eos 7e7(is v^pL^6p.rjv. 



A. opyas icpkirei d^eovs ovx buoiovcrd^at, jSporoZs. 



A. TrdXat raSe Zeuy ovfjLos eirevevcrev irariip. 



A. " Dionysus, we beseech thee ! — we have sinned." 



D. " Too late ye know me, who knew not in your hour." 



A. " We know it — but thy vengeance passeth bounds." 



D. " I am a God : ye did despite to me." 



A. " It fits not that in wrath Gods be as men." 



D. " Long since my father Zeus ordained this so." 



Dionysus possesses prophetic knowledge and predicts future 

 events. No doubt, some verses of Dionysus' speech have been lost 

 at the end of the play. The portion preserved begins w^ith his 

 prophecy of the weird transformation of Cadmus : 



Bacch. 1330 £f. : 



dpcLKcov yevrjatL fxera^aXchv, k. t. X. 

 Xpr]<^IJ-os ws Xe7et Aios, k. t. X. 



" Thou to a serpent shalt be changed ; thy wife, etc. 

 . . . Zeus' oracle saith, etc." 



Teiresias, the prophet of Apollo, describes Dionysus as a God 

 possessed of oracular power and prophetic madness : 



Bacch. 298-99 : 



HavTis d' 6 dal/j.coi' o5e- to yap jSaKX^vcnfxov 

 Kal TO fxavtuides fJ.avTLKi]v iroWi]v exei. 



" A prophet is this God : the Bacchic frenzy 

 And ecstacy are full-fraught with prophecy." 



cf . also Hec. 1267 : 



6 Qp7]^l jiavTis el-Ke Au)vvaos rdSe. 



Dramatically appropriate in the lips of the aged seer Teiresias 

 is the conservative tone in which he protests against rationalizing 

 and speculating about the Gods, as if our reason were capable of 

 dealing with the question, vv. 200 ff . 



" 'Tis not for us to reason touching Gods. 

 Traditions of our fathers, old as time, 



