Potters form and fire a drinking cup, and the artist Douris begins painting scenes from the story of Pentheus, the young king of Thebes, who opposes the Dionysiac cult of wild abandon.
In a blind frenzy, induced by wine and ritual dancing, young women, followers of the god Dionysus, tear Pentheus limb from limb thinking he is an animal. Even their leader Agave, who is Pentheus’s own mother, fails to recognize him.
At the palace, Agave’s father reveals to her whose head she has brought back from the woods. She screams in horror and Dionysus dances in triumph.