Wole Soyinka has translated—in both language and spirit—a great classic ofancient Greek theater. He does so with a poet's ear for the cadences and rhythmsof chorus and solo verse as well as a commanding dramatic use of the centralsocial and religious myth. In his hands The Bacchae becomes a communal feast, atumultuous celebration of life, and a robust ritual of the human and socialpsyche. "The Bacchae is the rites of an extravagant banquet, a monstrous feast,"Soyinka writes. "Man reaffirms his indebtedness to earth, dedicates himself tothe demands of continuity, and invokes the energies of productivity. Reabsorbedwithin the communal psyche he provokes the resources of nature; in turn he isreplenished for the cyclic rain in his fragile individual potency." The blendingof two master playwrights—Euripides and Soyinka—makes for an unforgettableexperience.