According to Aristotle, five characteristics make up a tragic hero. First of all, the character has to come from nobility and has a tragic flaw, caused by a simple mistake or character mishap. In addition, he or she has to undergo a downfall and a reversal of fortune, from higher to lower status. Lastly, the tragic hero must recognize his or her mistakes in the end (Krucli). In the Greek play Bacchae by Euripides, many of the characters, such as Dionysus, Cadmus, and Pentheus, have at least one of these aforementioned attributes, but the one with all those characteristics who would most likely be the tragic heroine of Bacchae is Agave.
The first character to appear in the play is Dionysus. Though his mother, Seméle, died tragically under Zeus's thunder, Dionysus himself was well-protected and taken care of by Zeus until Dionysus matured as a real god. Since he actually was a god, he cannot possibly be a tragic hero. .
Cadmus is the founder and former king of Thebes. He reaches his downfall by having to go into exile. Though he suffers by being transformed into a serpent and leading a troop of foreigners to go against Greece, his ending still is not as bad since he will be settled in the Land of the Blessed. He does not have any tragic flaw, and his punishment is mainly due to Pentheus's stubbornness. Though he does not devoutly believe in Dionysus, he does comply with Tiresias's warning and agree to worship Dionysus, but Pentheus, as the king of Thebes at the time, overrules his decision.
Pentheus, as king of Thebes, falls because of being so arrogant and stubborn that he does not accept Dionysus as the son of Zeus. He is so conceited that he even ignores Tiresias's and Cadmus's advices and goes on challenging Dionysus's power. He faces his tragic end by being slaughtered by his own mother and having his whole body horridly torn apart. He seems likely to be the tragic hero of the play; however, he does not live to recognize his mistakes nor does he go through any catharsis.