Wherefore should Thebes, sacred scene of the miracle, be one
blossom of revellers, clad in motley and waving the thyrsus, the whole
land maddening with the dance. The Chorus think of the first origin of
such noisy joys, when the wild ones of Crete beat their cymbals round
the sunless caverns where the infant Jove was hidden, and these rites
of Rhoea soon mingled for the frantic Satyrs with the third year's
dances to Bacchus. Then the ode recurs to the bliss of such holy
rites, luxurious interchange of wild energy and delicious repose. They
long for the climax of the dance, when, with luxuriant hair all
floating, they can rage and madden to the clash of heavy cymbals and
the shout Evoe, Evoe, frisking like colts to the soft breathing of the
holy pipe, while the mountain echoes beneath their boundings. {178}
EPISODE I
The blind prophet Teiresias enters from Thebes, and is soon joined by
Cadmus from the palace. Old as they are they have put on the livery of
the god, and will join in the dance, for which supernatural strength
will be given: they alone of the city are wise.
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