Zacchaeus Baccheus. The Jericho Episode in Luke 19.1–10 and Euripides’ Bacchae

The similarities between the Jericho Episode (Luke 19.1–10) and the second Messenger Speech in Euripides’ Bacchae (1043–152) are so extensive that the most probable explanation is the existence of a direct genetic dependence of the first story on the second. By making this reference, the author of the Gospel portrays the figure of Zacchaeus as a ‘converted Pentheus’, while by comparing Jesus to the cruel Dionysus, who punishes Pentheus for his sin, he reveals the mercy of the God of Israel in a new light.