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Essay / Ancient Myths: The Bacchae of Euripides - 1509
In ancient myths, it always seems that for the most part, mothers adore their male child and do not have the same importance for the female child. However, this is not the case for Agave, mother of Pentheus. In “Bacchae,” Agave is so caught up in a curse placed on her by her nephew Dionysus that she completely loses sight of what is truly important, her son. In the end, Agave ends up cutting off her own son's head, a variation of the everyday myth. In "Demeter and Persephone", although Persephone is female, it seems that Demeter cares and protects her daughter more than Agave ever did for her "male" child. Agave doesn't even talk about her daughter Epirus; another clue to the importance of women in ancient myths. Unlike Agave, we have Frigg, from "Bacchae", who goes to the ends of the earth like Demeter to make sure they have done everything in their power to keep Balder and Persephone safe and out of danger. Frigg, Balder's mother, and Demeter, Persephone's mother, are both powerful mothers who will stop at nothing to keep their children safe and protected. They are to Balder and Persephone as a bear is to its cubs when someone bothers them. When it comes to being devoted, kind, and selfless, Demeter and Frigg are better mothers than Agave. Without the way Agave had mistreated her sister Semele, none of what happened to Pentheus would have happened. Because of Agave and her father, Semele was killed and Dionysus was left without a mother. When Dionysus returned, Agave did not recognize her nephew's divinity because she did not believe he was the son of Zeus. This made Dionysus furious and he decided to take revenge on his family to make them pay for what happened to his mother... middle of paper ...... old Loki about it. Agave seemed to care, but ultimately all he cared about was her alone. The fact that she lost her home and disappeared seemed to be more important than the loss of her son; from which she recovered fairly quickly. Demeter goes against all odds to get her daughter back and is afraid of doing nothing or confronting anyone who gets in her way. When it comes to being devoted, kind, and selfless, Demeter and Frigg are better mothers than Agave. Works Cited Euripides and Paul Woodruff. Bacchae. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 1999. Print Rosenberg, Donna. “Demeter and Persephone.” World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Pub. Group, 1994. 14-20. Print. Rosenberg, Donna. World mythology “The Death of Balder”: an anthology of the great myths and epics. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Pub. Group, 1994. 218-223. Print.