Using to the full the last half century's great accessions to the comparative study of religion, [Dodds] has given a coherent and convincing reconstruction of the Dionysiac background--and, indeed, foreground--of the play, illustrating it with many instructive non-Greek and modern parallels.... Equally instructive and stimulating is the acute analysis of the play's dramatic elements, its characters, scenes, conflicts, actions, speeches.... This edition far surpasses its predecessors in vitality, sympathy, and scope.--W.B. Stanford, Hermathena LXV. Including a comprehensive discussion of the play's background and an incisive assessment of its dramatic structure, this edition makes an outstanding contribution to Euripides scholarship.