Agaue - Agaue

Japanese: アガウエ - あがうえ

...He was persecuted by Lycurgus, king of the Edones, in Thrace, and was hindered by all sorts of obstacles in Greece, but all of these were futile resistances to his divine power. Euripides' tragedy, The Bacchanalia (performed in 405 B.C.), depicts the events that occurred when he came to Thebes, where his cousin Pentheus ruled. According to the tragedy, the women of Thebes, including the king's mother, Agauē, joined the frenzied followers, dancing wildly through the mountains and fields, waving torches and thyrsos (a stick wrapped in ivy and with a pine cone at the end). When Pentheus, who refused to acknowledge his divinity, tried to stop them, he was torn to pieces by his mother on the mountains of Cithaeron. Having thus established his divinity throughout the world, he is said to have brought his mother, Semele, back from the underworld and ascended with her to heaven, where he joined the Olympian gods.

From the Theban Legend

…His wedding with Harmonia was a grand affair, with all the gods present and blessing, but many of his daughters met unfortunate ends. These included Semele, who gave birth to Dionysus despite dying after being struck by Zeus' thunderbolt; Agau, who tore her son Pentheus to pieces (see Euripides' tragedy, The Bacchae); and Ino, who threw herself into the sea to die. The Acropolis of Thebes was called Kadmeia after Cadmus, and Babylonian cylinder seals have been unearthed there in recent years, proving that there was contact with the East.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Agaue" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…途中，トラキアでエドネス族の王リュクルゴスに迫害されたのを皮切りに，ギリシアの各地で妨害を受けたが，それらはいずれも彼の神威の前には空しい抵抗にすぎなかった。エウリピデスの悲劇《バッコスの信女》(前405上演)は，彼が従兄ペンテウスPentheusの治めるテーバイに来たときのできごとを描いたもので，それによれば，王の母アガウエAgauēをも含むテーバイの女たちが狂乱の信者の仲間に加わって，松明やテュルソスthyrsos(蔦（つた）を巻き，先端に松笠をつけた杖)を振りまわしつつ山野を乱舞し，陶酔の極に達するや，野獣を引き裂いてくらうなどの狂態を示すに及んだとき，彼の神性を認めようとしないペンテウスは，これを阻止せんとして，かえって母親たちにキタイロンの山中で八つ裂きにされたという。このようにしてみずからの神性を世界中に認めさせたあと，彼は冥府から母セメレを連れ戻して彼女とともに天に昇り，オリュンポスの神々の仲間入りをしたとされる。…

【テーベ伝説】より

…彼とハルモニアHarmoniaとの結婚式は，すべての神々が臨席し祝福した盛大なものとされるが，その娘たちには不幸な最期を遂げたものが多い。ゼウスの雷霆（らいてい）にうたれて死につつもディオニュソスを生んだセメレSemelē，わが子ペンテウスを八つ裂きにするアガウエAgauē(エウリピデスの悲劇《バッコスの信女》を参照)，海にわが身を投じて果てたイノInōなどである。なおテーベのアクロポリスは，カドモスにちなんでカドメイアKadmeiaと呼ばれたが，ここからは近年バビロニアの円筒印章が出土し，東方との交流のあったことを裏づけている。…

※「アガウエ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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