chunk: Dionysus, still in disguise, persuades Pentheus to forgo his plan to defeat and massacre the women with an armed force. He says it would first be better to spy on them, while disguised as a female Maenad to avoid detection. Dionysus dresses Pentheus as a woman, giving him a thyrsus and fawn skins, and leads him out of the house. At this point, Pentheus appears not wholly sane, as he thinks he sees two suns in the sky, and believes he now has the strength to rip up mountains with his bare hands. He has also begun to see through Dionysus' mortal disguise, perceiving horns coming out of the god's head. They exit.