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Prologue

• Dionysus, the son of Zeus, and the mortal, Semele, are at the palace of King Pentheus of Thebes.

• Dionysus speaks to the audience to tell them that he has taken the form of the human leader of the Dionysus cult and wants to punish those of Thebes who do not worship him as a god.

• Dionysus also intends to vindicate his mother.

• When Zeus's affair with Semele was discovered by Hera, Semele wondered if the one she really loved was Zeus.

• Zeus granted her wish to reveal himself as a god, but the lightening strike destroyed Semele.

• Zeus took Dionysus from Semele's womb and sewed him into his thigh until the baby was born.

• To this day, smoke rises from the sight of Semele's death and is visible from Thebes.

• Semele's father, Cadmus, honors her burial site, but no one in Thebes honors her son by believing...

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