Zacchaeus Baccheus. The Jericho Episode in Luke 19.1–10 and Euripides’ <i>Bacchae</i>

Abstract 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.