What happens at the very end of the play?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

First, restate the question and its options so we know what we are evaluating.
Question: What happens at the very end of the play?
Options:
- A: A beneficent Dionysus pardons the women of Thebes who have insulted his mother, Semele, and restores stability to the city.
- B: Cadmus and Agave are banished from Thebes.
- C: Pentheus is deified and, from Mount Olympus, warns the Thebans to respect the gods.

Now, examine each option in turn:
Option A: This option suggests that Dionysus pardons Thebes' women and restores stability. However, in many classical summaries of the play, the ending is marked by chaos and punishment rather than reconciliation and restoration. The narrative focus is on the consequences of the god’s breach with Thebes and the ensuing tragedy, not a restorative pardon. Therefore this option misrepresents the tonal conclusion and outcomes typically associated with the final scenes.
Option B: This option states that Cadmus and Agave are banished from Thebes. This aligns with common summaries of the play's ending, where the royal pair faces consequences and is removed from the city, marking a definitive shift in Thebes' leadership and order after the events that unfold. The banishment frame fits the catastrophe and transformation that conclude the drama, making it a plausible and historically consistent ending.
Option C: This option claims Pentheus is deified and issues a warning from Mount Olympus to Thebes. This clashes with the core arc of the play, where Pentheus is misled, punished, and ultimately dies, rather than being exalted or deified. The gods themselves are the agents of punishment and revelation at the climax; Pentheus does not receive a divine status after the events. Hence, this depiction contradicts the established ending.

With these analyses, option A presents an ending centered on mercy and restoration that rarely matches the seismic, tragic resolution; option C presents a posthumous or divine elevation of Pentheus that contradicts the plot trajectory; option B presents banishment of Cadmus and Agave, which coheres with a conclusion where the royal line faces exile following the catastrophe. The reasoning shows why each incorrect option fails to capture the ending’s events and tone, while option B aligns with the expected sequence of consequences at the play's close.

COM LIT 60A LEC A: WOR... Reading Comprehension Quiz #8 on Euripides, Bacchae

What happens at the very end of the play?

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