Dionysus .
Dionysus was one of the most popular deities of antiquity. Dionysus was a god of many roles; he was the god of wine, drugs, revelry, sex, completeness, theater, and lord of the dance of life. He also represented the creative and destructive principals of life and in general, life itself. He was compared to and seen as somewhat of an equal to Zeus, who was the most prevalent and powerful of all the gods of antiquity. Although the time had long passed since Dionysus has been a major player in Western culture, he is still a huge part of our history. After all. only by looking at the societies and beliefs systems of our past, can we rightfully interpret certain areas of our present. By looking at the deity Dionysus we can see that everything that he represented does not only belong to some random pagan culture of long ago, but does have relevance in Western society today. .
Dionysus, like Jim Morrison wanted us all to "break on through to the other side." That is, not to remain constrained by the constructs that society has put upon us. One way that the people of antiquity broke through these constructs was by having festivals and celebrations in the streets where people gathered and let loose. Although, in today's society we do not celebrate the deity Dionysus the same way the people of antiquity did. Instead we celebrate what he represented and the symbol he made for himself. For example, the infamous Mardi Gras festival held every year in New Orleans seems to be much like the old Roman festival of Liberalia. Liberalia was a festival held in honor of Liber Pater, or Dionysus, and was celebrated with wine, revelry, fertility, and of course the fallace to welcome the entrance of spring. Mardi Gras is like the modern day Liberalia, when thousands of people, both young and old, came out into the streets and celebrate by dressing up and proclaiming their sexuality and become completely intoxicated.
DIONYSUS Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, is the son of the god Zeus and Semele. ... Dionysus is associated with both the life force and with death. ... His mother, Semele, was burned alive but she joins Dionysus and other gods at Mount Olympus. ... Dionysus played an important role in helping life go on. ... Its no wonder why Dionysus was and still is such a looked up to god....
DIONYSUS Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, is the son of the god Zeus and Semele. ... Dionysus is associated with both the life force and with death. ... His mother, Semele, was burned alive but she joins Dionysus and other gods at Mount Olympus. ... Dionysus played an important role in helping life go on. ... Its no wonder why Dionysus was and still is such a looked up to god. ...
When Dionysus reached manhood, on the other hand, he wandered the world actively encouraging his cult. ... In myths, Dionysus is a god that's more associated with the east due to his myths having an eastern origin. ... Dionysus is also attended by a retinue of satyrs, known for their sexual prowess and drunkenness. ... While Apollo have temples, the followers of Dionysus worshipped him in the woods. ... The Greeks worshipped mostly both Apollo and Dionysus. ...
The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche argues that the ancient Greek deities Apollo and Dionysus are complements of each other in the conception of tragic art as well as the human experience. ... Dionysus was the god of wine and vegetation and he taught humans how to cultivate grapevines and produce wine. ... Thus, one can see why it is inappropriate to associate, especially within a reading of The Birth of Tragedy, Apollo with reason and Dionysus with simple excess. ... Dionysus could be fairly categorized with intoxication but more generally a link to primal, uncontrolled base emotions. ... The pres...
Dionysus is the principle subject of Bacchae, is the god of wine and revelry. ... In Bacchae, Dionysus possess a multitude of powers and can take a variety of forms as a god born of a mortal mother, Dionysus comes from both the Olympian heights which highlights him both inside and outside of the play. ... There are a few other connections, revolving around practices in the cult of Dionysus that might be made between Dionysus and the theater. ... The goat is an animal sacred to Dionysus, and it was sacrificed in his cult. Thus, maybe tragic theater originated with the song sung at this sacr...
There was a separate competition for comedy which was also dedicated to Dionysus. ... The rites of Dionysus became mainstream, formalized and symbolic. ... An essential part of the rites of Dionysus was the dithyramb. ... Initially the precinct contained only the Older Temple of Dionysus and a sacrificial altar. ... This is why the surviving remains of this earliest Theatre of Dionysus are scanty. ...
In fact ity, and skepticism (albeit in a narrow and reprehensible form) while Dionysus and his followers-effeminate and female-should stand as the representatives of the unrestrained, the wild, the irrational, the ecstatic (albeit in a divinely sanctioned form)"10. This separation of the sexes is also reflected by the common association of Dionysus and his followers as being foreign. ... The worship of Dionysus ultimately showed the "oppositions between culture and nature, civilization and barbarity, the rational and the irrational, self-control and emotionality, which finally accrete...
Hera outraged by Zeus's infidelity kills Semele, Dionysus's mother, with a lightning bolt while she is pregnant with Dionysus. ... Dionysus was therefore born again. ... They run, dance and sing the praises of Dionysus. ... Dionysus in the book is called a stranger. ... He, however, warns Pentheus that because he ahs rejected Dionysus, Dionysus will punish him. ...
Dionysus, Zeus' son, is swept away and held in secret, all the while growing to become a powerful deity. Dionysus develops a religion based upon passion and ecstasy and travels all over Asia teaching his rites to men, forming the Asian Bacchae. Dionysus corrupts the women of Thebes and basically turns them into savages. ... The play ends with the exile of Cadmus, Dionysus' grandfather, and Agave along with her sisters. Dionysus takes power. ...
