As a free male, Pentheus is the prime beneficiary of Greek civilization. Dionysus, with his androgynous nature, female-dominated rites, and barbarian culture, represents everything that Hellenic civilization despises. His presence means chaos. Euripides had an enduring fascination with woman and their social position. In this play, his use of the Maenads shows canny perceptions about his society.
Greek civilization is linked, part and parcel, to the oppression of women.
By giving the Maenads supernatural powers and taking them from their domestic chores and childrearing, Dionysus attacks the foundation of Greek civilization itself. The Bacchae is full of rich imagery of women rejoined with nature. Dionysus is a hunter. Though humans tend to think of the hunt as an act in which a human hunter tracks and kills animals, Dionysus shows that the relationship between man and animal, hunter and hunted, is not always so stable. Pentheus, who originally intended to go with his troops and track down the Bacchae, becomes their prey.