About halfway through Euripides' Bacchae, a messenger describes to the stunned king of Thebes his encounter with the women who have left the city to practice their religious rites in the forest. Her narrative convincingly presents the fundamental opposition between nature and civilization inherent in the work by formalizing the interconnections between these mad women, the god Dionysus, and nature. Although Agave later becomes Dionysus' victim, this scene takes place in a distinct context where it parallels her role in relation to Thebes. Foreshadowing the city's eventual fate at the hands of the angry god, it sums up the play as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In this passage, the women's characters change dramatically, from languorous, peaceful creatures in harmony with their surroundings to frenzied facilitators of destruction. Their metamorphosis reflects the dual nature of Dionysus himself, the god who is "the most terrible and yet the gentlest to humanity (861)". Before detecting the menacing presence of men, women doze in the desert, adorn themselves with “writhing snakes” and leaves, and nurse untamable beasts. They seem to know the secrets of nature and benefit from its benevolence by simply tapping their wand or scratching the ground. When they begin their religious rites, the forest participates; "the whole mountain seems wild with divinity (726-7)." Their behavior changes radically when the women find the spy shepherds. They immediately become warriors on the offensive, causing the men to flee in terror, capitulating as completely as Pentheus did to the overwhelming power of Dionysus. Dismembering livestock (domestic and non-wild animals), burning and pillaging homes, and fighting villagers, the women are pushed to the extreme of violence as they punish anything that comes into conflict, even symbolically, with their new religion. The wands that spewed honey moments ago now inflict bloody wounds on the village's defenders. Nature itself is the ultimate model for these sudden and complete character changes. Like Demeter, who brings harvest or famine according to her whim, the initiates of Dionysus go from nurturers to killers. Whether the women behave peacefully or violently, there is a quality of resourcefulness associated with them throughout this scene. In the forest, water, wine, and honey spring unexpectedly from the earth, giving the reader a visceral sensation of liquid abundance. The milk swells both in the ground and in their breasts, indicating that the forest and the women are caught up in the same wild force of nature. This parameter cannot be controlled by simple men; when the shepherds attempt to capture the dancing women, the hunted quickly transform into hunters as they swoop down to the meadows (735-6) and fly like birds (748) towards their prey, which they overwhelm with number, speed and strength. Spears and flames cannot harm them; just as Dionysus throws off his chains and continues to destroy the city, the women pay little attention to attempts to restrain them as they sack the villages. They act like an unthinking collective will, and not like a lucid democracy. Unlike the orderly observance of the city's laws, their chaotic behavior follows no rules and their power has no limits. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this passage is the reversal of power between the sexes that the religion of Dionysus engenders. Under normal circumstances,.