Otherness in Euripides' Bacchae and Soyinka's Bacchae Both Euripides and Wole Soyinka focus on a fundamental ethical imperative in their works: welcome the stranger among you. The acceptance of Dionysus as god, as “an essence that neither excludes nor will be excluded” is emphasized (Soyinka 1). Pentheus is punished severely for excluding, for refusing to recognize or submit to the divine authority of Dionysus. To carve out a place for himself (in the pantheon, in the minds of the people), the divinity of Dionysus manifests itself in an overtly political way: his effect on those who worship him. This struggle for acceptance first finds voice in the confrontation between Pentheus and Tiresias in each work. While Euripedes is required to respond to the specific challenges posed by Dionysus to Greek society, Soyinka attempts to trace Dionysian influences into the future, beyond the existence of a historically linked god or culture. Soyinka is more attentive to the transcendent qualities that separate Dionysus from everyone else. By examining this early conflict in each work, it may be possible to determine how (if at all) Soyinka expands on the ethical dilemma first created by Euripedes. In Euripedes' work, Pentheus perceives Dionysus as a challenge to the status quo. Dionysus is a threat politically, morally and spiritually to Thebes. Pentheus uses images of corruption and contamination, anarchy and absolute evil to characterize Dionysus. Pentheus has the power of defender of traditional notions of justice and truth. Likewise, Soyinka's Pentheus is driven by an overwhelming sense of order. This order must also be applied at the expense of individual freedoms. "I will have order! Let the city know... midway through the paper... that you also meet (or reunite) with a second unknown: our inner self. While both playwrights elaborate their arguments more fully as that each work proceeds, the fundamental thematic foundations have been laid by this initial conflict between Pentheus and Teiresias. Reconciliation and inclusion are introduced and promoted by their debate and absolutism, in its many forms, is ultimately punished by extending its. concept of Dionysian worship to the exploration and expression of a singular personal knowledge of self, Wole Soyinka pushes Euripides' powerful ethical argument beyond its historical boundaries, making it especially relevant and accessible to a modern audience Works Cited Euripides in Ten Greek Plays Ed. LR Lind, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957. Soyinka, Wole The Bacchae of Euripides New York: WW Norton, 1974.