The characters Agave and Eve, although subordinate to their male counterparts, Pentheus and Adam, play extremely important roles in The Bacchae and Genesis, respectively. Their characters are representations of typical women who, through their encounters with the divine, are able to free themselves (albeit temporarily and not without repercussions) from the constraints imposed on them because of their gender. Both women must give up something for this elevated power; Eve must give up her innocence in exchange for the knowledge of "good and evil" and Agave must give up her ability to reason in exchange for power and freedom. The punishments inflicted on each woman by her respective god are severe. This process of sacrifice-empowerment-punishment helps demonstrate a main theme in both stories: humanity is subject to the divine and cannot occupy the position of a god. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayEve is created by God as a “helper and partner” (Genesis 2:18) for Adam. This establishes from the beginning that the woman is in some way submissive to the man. However, the use of the term "partner" suggests that this does not imply complete servitude. Apart from her position as Adam's assistant, Eve's status is not clearly defined. Both she and Adam are ignorant, naked, and without shame (Genesis 2:3). As Eve decides to take a more active role in his life, thus moving away from her role as helper, she listens to the serpent's encouragement and “took of the fruit (of the tree) and ate; and she gave him some too.” husband who was with her and who ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened” (Genesis 2:3). In doing so, she has disobeyed God's explicit instructions not only regarding the tree of knowledge but also regarding her relationship with Adam, and is punished. If Eve took one step forward by asserting her independence, then God took her two steps back by demoting her to servility. . Because of her initiative in deciding to open the eyes and those of Adam to good and evil, she is punished by God. Any essence of equality that existed in their relationship disappears and she is relegated to servant status. God makes her a servant not only of Adam but also of his female anatomy and the desires she creates: “I will greatly increase your pains in procreation: in pain you will bring forth children, but your desire will be for your husband, and he will reign over you” (Genesis 3:16). For the rest of the text, Eve is only mentioned when she “knows” Adam and during childbirth. The message of Eve's defiance of God and her punishment is clear. The serpent told Eve that by eating from the tree of knowledge she "shall be like a God knowing good and evil", and therefore in doing so she attempted to take on the role of God (Genesis 3:5). As a human, she cannot defy God by trying to assume his role. Due to the violation of her status as a woman, she is cursed to depend on and desire Adam. Because of the violation of her status as a human being, she is banished from the Garden of Eden and forbidden by a flaming sword from eating the fruit of life and living forever as God (Genesis 3:22). The message regarding humanity's subordinate position in The Relationship with God as well as the sacrifice-empowerment-punishment model are also displayed in Euripides' The Bacchae. Although their situations are not identical? Eve willingly sacrifices her innocence to gain knowledge, while Agave is forced by Dionysus to do so, so there are strong parallels between their relationships with their 1392).