Start not: her actions shall be holy, as, You hear, my spell is lawful: do not shun her, Until you see her die again; for then You kill her double: Nay, present your hand: When she was young you woo'd her; now, in age, Is she become the suitor? Compare also Much Ado about Nothing, v. 4. B. [51] ‛αφαγνιζειν h. l. non _purificare_ sed _desecrare_. Orcus enim, quando gladio totondisset Alcestidis capillos, eam diis manibus sacram dicaverat, quod diserte ‛ηγνισαι appellat noster, vide 75--77. Contraria igitur aliqua ceremonia desecranda erat, antequam Admeto ejus consuetudine et colloquio frui liceret. HEATH. * * * * * * THE BACCHÆ. * * * * PERSONS REPRESENTED, BACCHUS. CHORUS. TIRESIAS. CADMUS. PENTHEUS. SERVANT. MESSENGER. ANOTHER MESSENGER. AGAVE. * * * * * THE ARGUMENT. * * * * Bacchus, the son of Jove by Semele, had made Thebes, his mother's birth-place, his favorite place of abode and worship. Pentheus, the then reigning king, who, as others say, preferred the worship of Minerva, slighted the new God, and persecuted those who celebrated his revels. Upon this, Bacchus excited his mother Agave, together with the sisters of Semele, Autonoe and Ino, to madness, and visiting Pentheus in disguise of a Bacchanal, was at first imprisoned, but, easily escaping from his bonds, he persuaded Pentheus to intrude upon the rites of the Bacchants. While surveying them from a lofty tree, the voice of Bacchus was heard inciting the Bacchants to avenge themselves upon the intruder, and they tore the miserable Pentheus piecemeal. The grief and banishment of Agave for her unwitting offense conclude the play. * * * * * THE BACCHÆ.[1] * * * * BACCHUS.