<P> The Dionysus in Euripides' tale is a young god, angry that his mortal family, the royal house of Cadmus, has denied him a place of honor as a deity . His mortal mother, Semele, was a mistress of Zeus; while pregnant she was killed, through trickery, by Hera, who was jealous of her husband's affair . When Semele died, her sisters said it was Zeus' will and accused her of lying; they also accused their father, Cadmus, of using Zeus as a coverup . Most of Semele's family refuse to believe Dionysus is the son of Zeus, and the young god is spurned in his home . He has traveled throughout Asia and other foreign lands, gathering a cult of female worshipers (Maenads or Bacchantes). At the play's start he has returned, disguised as a stranger, to take revenge on the house of Cadmus . He has also driven the women of Thebes, including his aunts, into an ecstatic frenzy, sending them dancing and hunting on Mount Cithaeron, much to the horror of their families . Complicating matters, his cousin, the young king Pentheus, has declared a ban on the worship of Dionysus throughout Thebes . </P> <P> The play begins in front of the palace of Thebes, with Dionysus telling the story of his origin and his reasons for visiting the city . Dionysus explains that he was born prematurely, when Hera made Zeus send down a lightning bolt, killing the pregnant Semele and causing the birth . Some in Thebes, he notes, don't believe this story . In fact, Semele's sisters--Autonoe, Agave, and Ino--claim it is a lie intended to cover up the fact that Semele became pregnant by some mortal; they say Zeus' lightning was a punishment for the lie . Dionysus reveals that he has driven the women of the city mad, including his three aunts, and has led them into the mountains to observe his ritual festivities . He explains that while he is appearing, at the moment, disguised as a mortal, he will vindicate his mother by appearing before all of Thebes as a god, the son of Zeus, and establishing his permanent cult of followers . </P> <P> Dionysus exits to go into the mountains, and the chorus enters . They dance and sing, celebrating Dionysus and adding details of his birth and the Dionysian rites . Then Tiresias, the blind and elderly seer, appears . He knocks on the palace doors and calls for Cadmus, the founder and former king of Thebes . The two venerable old men are planning to join the revelry in the mountains when Cadmus' grandson Pentheus, the current king, enters . Disgusted to find the two old men in festival dress, he scolds them and orders his soldiers to arrest anyone engaging in Dionysian worship . He wants the "foreigner", whom he doesn't recognize as Dionysus in disguise, to be captured . Pentheus intends to have him stoned to death . </P> <P> The guards soon return with Dionysus himself . His hands are bound, and he is disguised as a priest and the leader of the Asian Maenads . Pentheus questions him, his words showing both his skepticism and his interest in the Dionysian rites . Dionysus' answers keep the meaning hidden, only hinting at the truth Pentheus cannot see . Infuriated, Pentheus has him taken away in chains and locked up in his stable, where the guards attach the other end of their prisoner's chains to the hooves of an angry bull . Dionysus, being a god and powerful, breaks free and creates more havoc, razing the palace with an earthquake and fire . Dionysus is confronting Pentheus, when a herdsman arrives from the top of Mount Cithaeron, where he had been herding his grazing cattle . He reports that he found women on the mountain behaving strangely . First, some were sleeping quietly, or drinking wine while listening to flute music . Some were going into the woods "in pursuit of love". Some women were putting snakes in their hair, some were suckling wild wolves and gazelles . Some caused water, wine or milk to spring up from the ground . One woman had honey oozing from her thyrsus . The herdsmen and the shepherds made a plan to capture one particular celebrant, Pentheus' mother . But when they jumped out of hiding to grab her, the tables were turned, and the women pursued the men . The men escaped, but their cattle were not so fortunate, as the women fell upon the animals, ripping them to shreds with their bare hands . The women carried on, plundering two villages that were further down the mountain, stealing bronze, iron and even babies . When villagers attempted to fight back, the women drove them off using only their ceremonial staffs of fennel . They then returned to the mountain top and washed up, as snakes licked them clean . </P>

What are tiresias and cadmus doing at beginning of the play