Ovo izdanje je bruka, sramota, glupilo, groza, rajzbojništvo, blasfemija, neoprostiva grehota, nenadoknadiva šteta i najbrutalnije poniženje za: srpski jezik na koji je prevedena, (novo) grčki jezik sa koga je prevedena, starogrčki jezik na kome je pisana, sve profesore koji su ovoj osobi što se naziva prevodiocem predavale u svim školama, grčku tragediju kao kulturoški pojam, Dionisa kao božanstvo. Ma, sve!
Ne, nije pogrešno. Sve je suprotno od smisla, ideje, suštine, namere, poente i zakona Kosmosa uopšte!
Urednika koji je ovo odobrio i izdao treba zatvoriti u sobu u kojoj gore svi zapaljeni primerci ovog užasa kojim je vrhunska antička tragedija sa ozbiljnim filozofskim pitanjima i jednom od najkontraverznijim tema antičkog nasleđa svedena na nivo skeča nekakvih vikend satanista!

Oh, zašto sam ovo morala da vidim! :(

This is a marvelous play and one of my favorites. Anne Carson's new translation is poetic and lovely, but in some places I think she takes the modernization a little too far and some words feel anachronistic and jarring.

DNA testinin olmaması sebebiyle Zeus evladı olduğuna inanmayanların hayatını kaydıran Dionysos, Thebai’ye musallat olur ve bu hikayede yanan Kadmos’un olaylarla tamamen ilgisiz karısı, Ares’ün kızı Harmonia olur. Son ana kadar adı bile geçmeyen kadını niye yılana dönüştürdün ki? Adaletin bu mu Bromios?

This was all kinds of amazing. Maybe I'm so impressed because it's the first time I've ever read Euripides. (Predictably enough, I'm dazzled by tragedy).

The version I read is the translation of Bacchae by Richard Lattimore (I know goodreads says I read another edition, but I just really like this cover!)

Translation of a work, especially when the language is so far away from contemporary English-- not just linguistically, but also in terms of a difference in epoch and culture of two millennium-- can make or break a work. The language Lattimore shapes into his English translation is a carnal poetry, beating like a drum to the same rhythm of the shuddering violence and shock of the original. You can still feel the passion of this play, as vivid as ever, 2,500 years later. That's quite a feat. Then again, it's sort of hard not to be entranced by a play where a mother "maddened by the breath of god" of a vengeful Dionysus, literally tears her son apart with her bare hands and mounts his head on her thyrsus because she thought it was a lion's. But bad translations can suffocate even the most alive of stories, so I'm very thankful to Lattimore. I bet Anne Carson probably does a good translation of this too, but I couldn't find a copy of her Bakkhai floating around.

My two favorite sentences from this were:

"When you set chains on me, you manacle a god." (Dionysus in disguise, being very dramatic before he throws his eventual temper tantrum that includes the razing of a palace and incitement of a family to dismember their son).

Also:
"Poor child,/ like a white swan warding it's weak father,/ why do you clasp those white arms around my neck?" (This is said by Cadmus to his muderess daughter, once they know they're both exiled).

Like I said, amazing.

İçinde Dionysos olunca okuması da ayrı bir zevk veriyor.

Ummm okay wine dude plz chill *backs away from Greek mythology*

This play's value today lies entirely in the fact that it was historically influential, and as a look into Greek culture. There is absolutely no reason to read it for any sort of entertainment or insight for the modern reader - it's basically a hundred pages of nothing but, "Dionysius is amazing".  Antigone lead me to expect Greek classics to have actual moral dilemmas and reasons to be invested in the protagonist (or even, like, a real protagonist to be invested in), but based on this play and what I now know about Greek classics, Antigone is the exception rather than the rule.

This is really hard to rate because it's so unusual.

This story is highly influenced by a religion that is almost all but lost, and it's unusual—even for Greek tragedies—that a god, Dionysus, is perhaps the protagonist.

It's incredibly violent.

It's a revenge play of sorts.

It hints at esoteric rituals and initiations.

It's a tragedy.

Short observations:

The mania of the maenads, apart from the violence, reminds me of Pentecostal churches... the drums, playing with snakes, the ecstatic revelry of being "taken by the spirit."

Is this one of the earliest cross-dressing stories? "Presenting" is a theme here. Pentheus accuses Dionysus of being feminine in dress and hair length, and later, Dionysus convinces Pentheus to dress in the clothes of a maenad (female worshipers of Dionysus) to observe them.

Pentheus wasn't likable, but I felt pity for Agave and Cadmus at the end.

I don't think feminist theory is the accurate way to take this play, but it's interesting to think about, considering what women “get up to” outside of society.

I read about the god so many are talking about. Interestingly, if I think at the god of the religion of my parents, I feel the automatic urge (?) to write it with a capital G. When thinking about Dionysos, one among other gods, it felt completely naturally to write the word god with a small starting letter.
I got lucky to find this version from Paul Woodruff, somehow translated in a readable way. Like this, it is a quick read. Quick and intense, because Euripides touches a lot of hardcore themes. Moreover the rituals are very descriptive.
I don't possess the knowledge to analyze this tragedy but it is a great piece of work which you simply read breathlessly. But at least now I know what Nietzsche is talking about when he talks about this god and his religion.
Nick Cave could be some sort of my Dionysos. Especially when he plays songs like "Jubelee Street" or "O'Malley's Bar" or "Do you love me".

A farla da padrone in questa tragedia sono: la follia e il delirio dettate dall'estasi, la brutalità e il misticismo. La storia di Penteo risulta oltremodo cupa e suggestiva, perciò la consiglio caldamente ai cultori del genere. Non attribuisco il massimo della valutazione perché trovo che questo dramma sia leggermente sottotono paragonato al capolavoro euripideo: Medea.

Dal libro:

n  n    Il tempo è breve;
chi insegue l'immenso
perde l'attimo presente.n  n

Τι να πω γι' αυτό το υπέροχο έργο του Ευριπίδη, το κύκνειο του άσμα, μια από τις μοναδικές τραγωδίες που ασχολούνται εξ' ολοκλήρου με τον Διόνυσο και τις τελετές του. Αιματηρή αλλά και διδακτική. Κωμική σε κάποια σημεία και εκστατική σε άλλα, με ένα τραγικό τέλος. Μου άρεσε που υπάρχει αντικριστά το αρχαίο με το νέο κείμενο για άμεση σύγκριση καθώς και εκτεταμένος σχολιασμός που βοηθά στο να έχεις μια πληρέστερη κατανόηση του έργου. Περισσότερα λόγια είναι περιττά.

I had low expectations, but that was freaking bonkers and I loved it. Dionysus>>>