ABSTRACT
Studies of Greek literature and culture have often emphasized sight, framing arguments around ekphrasis, the idea of the “gaze,” and other vision-oriented models. This chapter offers a model for examining sound in a Greek text by exploring some of the aural aspects of Euripides’ Bacchae. Sound plays a significant role in Bacchae and is especially emphasized as an important element of the Dionysiac cult that has entered Thebes. Sound in Bacchae is presented as a force sent out and imposed upon others. It arises and moves without warning, making real changes to physical space. It transforms a quiet mountain into a site of Bacchic revelry infused with the presence of Dionysos and incites the bacchants into other versions of themselves. Sound in the play may be misunderstood or not heard, but it is never false.
