Pentheus
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
Could not find Penthea in Logeion dictionaries.
Penthea proper-name adjective neuter nominative plural, proper-name adjective neuter vocative plural, proper-name adjective feminine nominative singular, proper-name adjective feminine ablative singular, proper-name adjective feminine vocative singular, proper-name adjective neuter accusative plural of Pentheus
- son of Echion and Agave, grandson of Cadmus, and king of Thebes; having treated with contempt the rites of Bacchus, he was torn in pieces by his mother and her sisters when under the influence of the god, Ov. M. 3, 514; Prop. 3, 17 (4, 16), 24; 3 (4), 22, 33; Ov. Tr. 5, 3, 40; Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 73; id. C. 2, 19, 14.—Hence,
- A Penthēĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Pentheus, Penthean: mater, Sid. Carm. 22, 94.—
- B Penthēus, a, um, adj., = Πενθεῖος, of or belonging to Pentheus, Penthean, Stat. Th. 2, 575.—
- C Penthīdes, ae, m., = Πενθείδης, a male descendant of Pentheus, Ov. Ib. 449 and 609.
(Πενθεύς), a son of Echion and Agave, the daughter of Cadmus. (Eur. Phoen. 4.942; Paus. 9.5.2.) He was the successor of Cadmus as king of Thebes, and being opposed to the introduction of the worship of Dionysus in his kingdom, he was torn to pieces by his own mother and two other Mainades, Ino and Autonoe, who in their Bacchic frenzy believed him to be a wild beast, (Ov. Met. 3.513, &c.; Eur. Ba. 1215; Philost. Imag. 1.1; Apollod. 3.5.2 ; Hyg. Fab. 184; Serv. ad Aen. 4.469; Nonnus, Dionys. 45.46; Oppian, Cyneg. 4.289.) The place where Pentheus suffered death, is said to have been Mount Cithaeron, but according to some it was Mount Parnassus. Pentheus is said to have got upon a tree, for the purpose of witnessing in secret the revelry of the Bacchic women, but on being discovered by then, he was torn to pieces. (Eur. Ba. 816, 954, 1061, &c.; Theocrit. 26.10.) According to a Corinthian tradition, the women were afterwards commanded by an oracle to find out that tree, and to worship it like the god Dionysus himself; and out of the tree two carved images of the god were made accordingly. (Paus. 2.2.6.) [L.S]
(Πενθεύς). The son of Echion by Agavé, daughter of Cadmus. He was the successor of Cadmus as king of Thebes, and on the introduction of the Bacchic worship resisted it. It is said that Pentheus concealed himself in a tree in order to witness secretly the orgies of the Bacchanals, and on being discovered by them was taken for a wild beast, and torn in pieces by his own mother and his two sisters, Ino and Autonoë, in their Bacchic frenzy. The scene of this occurrence was said to be Mount Cithaeron or Mount Parnassus. The story forms the subject of the Bacchae of Euripides. (See Euripides.) The Corinthians had a tradition that the tree in which Pentheus hid was afterwards carved into images of the god Dionysus and worshipped (Pausan. ii. 6, 6). Hence some have tried to connect the story of Pentheus with the primitive tree-worship.
- Paus. 9.2.4, Paus. 9.5.4
- king of Thebes, son of Echion and Agave, tries to stop the Bacchic orgies: Apollod. 3.5.2
- is torn to pieces by his mother: Apollod. 3.5.2
- insults Dionysus and is torn to pieces by Bacchanals on Mount Cithaeron: Paus. 1.20.3, Paus. 2.2.7, Paus. 9.2.4, Paus. 9.5.4