ABSTRACT
The family story depicts a dramatic victory over an alien civic authority. By standing up for their deity, family members thwart a foreign ruler who is misguided enough to reject the one true God. The deity seeks recognition, but the civic authority is blind to the deity until the latter's might is established for all to see. In the Exodus story, Pharaoh represents civil authority. The king rejects the display of divine power and will not recognize the Israelite deity. The theme of his stubborn, inexplicable refusal to recognize the deity is an opportunity to repeatedly display the might of the deity. In The Bacchae by Euripides, the conflict between the deity Dionysus and the representative of civic power Pentheus is built on a similar structure. Despite the horror of parts of Second Maccabees, the valence for the family and against the king introduces comedic elements.
