Was this play aiming more to paint Dionysus in a bad light or to get people to revere him? I think it is the former for three reasons: 1) the play seemed to emphasize that Bacchic traditions were an outside (non-Greek) influence, and its introduction into Greek society brought chaos, namely mindless debauchery; 2) Dionysus engages in trickery in order to humiliate Pentheus; and 3) Dionysus is unforgiving even to Cadmus, who from the start of the play converted to worshiping the god. At the same time, though, Dionysus was a major Greek god, so I find it hard to believe the playwright’s purpose would be to ridicule the god than to revere him.