Throughout Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, there are many themes and symbols that allude to a deeper and more philosophical meaning to the play. This play is extremely complex, in an attempt to break it down symbolically, it can be argued why the symbolism and themes presented are philosophically important. Wisdom and recklessness, the unknown and the exotic, the foreign and the divine, the battle between the sexes, and civilization versus nature and hunting are some of the opposing themes and symbols seen throughout the play. These themes all lead to one major underlying theory being that to be infinite, one must be subservient to the Gods, if your are not, consequences will lead to one being finite. Pentheus and Dionysus are symbols for these different forces in the play. The Bacchae is about all of these forces, and the symbolism behind them.
             One major symbol in the play is wisdom, which takes many different forms in the play. There is Pentheus' wisdom, of which he believes he is the ultimate source of wisdom. There is also the wisdom of the seer, of the old king, of the divinely possessed Maenads, of the devoted Bacchae, and finally of the God himself. All of these characters command a different form of wisdom; and from these different perspectives we gain insights into the God's mysteries and the eventual tragedy of the play. Philosophically, each character believes that the wisdom they posses will lead them into the right way to live. This allows the reader to question, how we should live. Should we live our live like Dionysus, set free with no boundaries, or should we live as straight as an arrow, always following the rules in a cold dark world like Pentheus?
             Wisdom's opposite, recklessness, is a deep ignorance about oneself and the nature of the universe, and is yet another symbol in the personalities of the characters in The Bacchae. Throughout the play, it leads to excess, anxiety. It is a trait possesse...