i
The royal palace of Thebes.
To one side, a tomb covered with vines, and the rubble of a house, with
smoke rising from it.
Enter Dionysus.
DIONYSUS
I am Dionysus. I am Bacchus.
Bromius and Iacchus.
Dithyrambus and Evius.
I am a god, the son of Zeus,
but I have assumed the semblance of a mortal,
and come to Thebes, where my mother, Semele,
the daughter of King Cadmus, gave birth to me.
Her midwife was the lightning bolt that killed her.
There is the river Dirce, and there the stream
Ismenus. Over there, near the palace,
is my mother's tomb, and her ruined house,
still smoldering with the living flame of Zeus,
Hera's unrelenting hatred towards her.
I praise Cadmus. He made the ruins hallowed ground,
dedicated to his daughter. I myself
caused these vines to grow so thickly on them.
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