“I see two suns” Some remarks on the image of a hallucinating satyr by the Kleophrades Painter (Malibu 85.AE.188)

Abstract The article considers two fragments of a vase painting by the Kleophrades Painter which display images of a satyr and a sleeping maenad, respectively. Even the words of the satyr are preserved by a fragmentary inscription that largely coincide with those uttered by Pentheus in v. 918 of Euripides' Bacchae. In view of the unique correspondence between picture and play, apparently overlooked by Euripidean scholarship, the study seeks to reevaluate earlier assumptions about the psychological and ritual background of Pentheus' words.