\b0 The tragic story of \b \cf4 \ATXht11616 Pentheus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 began when his cousin\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10 Dionysus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , having conquered Asia, decided to return to his native\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht12006 Thebes\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 to establish his cult there. Despite the cautious advice of his grandfather \b \cf4 \ATXht10301 Cadmus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and the warnings of the soothsayer\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht12012 Tiresias\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , Pentheus was opposed to the orgiastic rites of the cult, which he considered improper, and treated Dionysus as an impostor and charlatan. He even tried to put him in
chains, but the god freed himself from the bonds and set the royal palace on fire. To put an end to the situation, Pentheus went personally to\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10325 Mount Cithaeron\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 with the aim of surprising the women of Thebes w
ho were taking part in the rites, but they caught sight of him hidden among the branches of a pine tree. Seized by the frenzy of the Bacchic ecstasy, they tore him to pieces with their bare hands. The first to attack him was his own mother\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10116 Agave\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 who, mistaking him for a mountain lion, tore off his head and bore it back proudly to Thebes, impaled on a thyrsus.
