Dionysus and Pentheus

During His travels Dionysus ended up, in Thebes His ancestral home. He rightly expected to be welcomed back into the family of His beloved mother but He was wrong. The old king and father of Semele, Cadmus, had abdicated the throne. In his stead the nephew of Semele son of Agave ruled and his name was Pentheus. Pentheus was a very traditional, stoic ruler. He banished the seer Tiresias from Thebes calling him a fanciful lunatic. If Pentheus could not accept Tiresias how would he accept the wild rites of Dionysus this new god. Dionysus and His band of maenads arrived in Thebes while Pentheus was away in the countryside. It took no time at all for the freedom giving worship of Dionysus to spread like wild fire in the hearts of the oppressed Thebans. Almost everyone joined in on the celebrations including Cadmus and Agave. Tiresias returned to Thebes to join the festivities and worship the new god Dionysus. A few days later Pentheus returned and he was furious. He ordered the worshipers of Dionysus to be locked up and Dionysus Himself was to be executed the following day. Pentheus even went as far as to deny the divinity of Dionysus. In the jail the guards were amazed at how their shackles and even prison doors could not hold the new god. These tools of bondage simply fell apart in His presence. Not knowing what to do, the guards took Dionysus to Pentheus. Pentheus spat at Dionysus and called Him a cheap magician but Dionysus did not lash back. Instead the new god told Pentheus His story and told him that if he continued to insult and deny His worship then harm would befall him. Pentheus ignored Dionysus and ordered his guards to just keep watch over Dionysus instead of tying him to the wall and locking the door. Just before dawn there was a powerful earthquake and the walls of the prison fell. All the worshipers of Dionysus and Dionysus Himself escaped the prison and went into the mountains. Pentheus was even angrier than before with Dionysus and the lot. He decided to dawn the dress and wreath of maenad in order to get close enough to kill Dionysus and prove once and for all that He is just a mortal man. Pentheus crept up on the camp and watched from a bush as the women and men drank, danced,  and sang. He didn't see Dionysus at first but then around midnight the god appeared. His wild, unpredictable energy showed in His eyes but also you could see the sweetness and love the God had for the oppressed. Much like a bull and a mother Dionysus was strong and loving. Pentheus's anger blinded him to the soothing energy of Dionysus. He crept in closer and closer then once he was close enough to stab Dionysus and pulled out his sword. Dionysus was stabbed in the heart and fell to the ground but in that instant insanity took the worshipers. They turned on Pentheus and devoured him there under the pines. Everyone including Agave partook in this. Despite the horrible death of Pentheus it is said that he died laughing and shouting out "Look! Look he is no god!" After the madness left the maenads Agave found herself covered in her own sons blood. She mourned for days until she realized that Pentheus chose his path and that at least now he has peace in the Underworld instead of hate with her.

Lessons from the story

I just have to say that rewriting the myths gives you a much greater understanding than simply reading them. 

-Anger blinds us to the gifts of the Gods especially Dionysus 

-All the Gods are deserving of respect and worship

-Dionysus is best felt by the oppressed