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Greek culture and its influence in western society
Role women played in ancient greek religion
Role women played in ancient greek religion
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The sexual cult of Dionysus/ Bacchus created festivals for the people; supplying an unending rivalry for the underlying evil spiritual forces to use; these cults or festivals, (leading into orgies), evolved as an immense part of Pan’s creation. Mysteriously, this cult predates Greek civilization and its origination persists of unknown beginnings; dating longer than the Mycenaean culture early development that transpired on the mainland of Greece during 1600-1100 B.C. Fig. 31. Pan and Bacchus/ Dionysus, 1497; freakishly presents Pan as a shy little no-body. An immense amount of statues dedicated to Dionysus survives today. For the ancients, the existence of gods, demons and imagined spirits took hold of its victims known as ‘the seizer.’ …show more content…
Substantially, this advantage of possession gave the priestesses authority uncommon for a woman, in the male dominating world of ancient Greece. The position of the Pythia became filled through various women from approximately 1400 B.C. to A.D. 381; usually, her talents persisted by being acknowledged by a priest at the Temple of Apollo, named Plutarch. Speculations evolved concerning Pythia's prophetic strength, proposing she accomplished her trance by chewing laurel leaves; on the contrary, others reasoned fumes rising from an abyss in the ground instigated her abilities. Unfalteringly, a person would make a sacrifice and then ask a question to her priest; which in turn would then whisper the matter to Pythia. Upon this occurrence, Apollo took possession of her spirit and in this state she prophesied. Consequently, Adamantius Origenes, A.D. 250 (a Christian writer who defended Christianity against hostile assaults by the philosopher Celsus in Contra Celsum), reasoned against Pythian paganism and along with the Christian author Chrysostom, attacking the priestess by …show more content…
She sat with parted thighs on the tripod of Apollo, and the evil spirit entered her from below, passing through her genital organs, and plunged her into a state of frenzy, so that she began with loosened hair to foam and rage like a
And in this time she saw, as she thought, devils open their mouths, all inflamed with burning flames of fire as if they should have swallowed her in, sometimes menacing her, sometimes threatening her, sometimes pulling and hailing her both night and day during the foresaid time” (Kempe 7).
From the beginning, the gods emerged from “cosmic forces” and slowly defined their individual personalities and forms, “their functions articulated in relation to each other” (Clay 105). The authority of Zeus forces the rest of the gods to keep their powers balanced by filling certain niches. In the Eumenides, Pythia begins by singing a prayer to honor the gods. Although she first honors Gaia, Pythia spends a few lines talking about Apollo and his relation to Zeus. When she calls on Zeus, she calls him “the Fulfiller, the highest god” (Aeschylus, Eumenides, p. 112, 17-19). Her approval and reverence towards Zeus is made clear immediately. Even before that, Pythia acknowledges that Apollo was “Zeus inspired” and the “spokesman of Zeus,” thus making him higher up in her hierarchy of gods (Aeschylus, Eumenides, p. 112, 17-19). Zeus is known for his many godly offspring who were all “Zeus inspired”. Along with Apollo, god of music and arts, this list also includes Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Being made from the same cosmic forces, all of the gods developed their own strengths to fulfil certain niches (Clay 106) At the end of this individualization process, there is the “emergence of a stable, ordered, and harmonious cosmos” (Clay 106). As a result, new standards of conforming and being uniform became apparent through the
While visiting the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, I came across The Indian Triumph of Dionysus. Originating in Rome, it was created by a wealthy follower of Dionysus’s mystery cult in the late second century A.D. This worshiper evidently wanted to construct a sarcophagus in tribute of Dionysus’s accomplishments. Furthermore, Dionysus is surrounded by characters that are within the mystery cult because the creator wants the viewers to know with whom he is associated. With these two things combined, the patron hoped to shed light on a piece of history that they believed to be prominent during his life.
...d when attempting to draw conclusions about religion. In focusing on Dionysus’ early role as the god of wine, the common view was that drama, too, had its origins in Dionysian religious festivals. It must also be considered that Dionysus was far from a newcomer to Greece. He is mentioned in Homer and inscriptions of his name have been found in Linear B script dating from Mycenaean times. Would he have survived all that time as a ‘minor’ deity, only to explode onto the scene with such compelling power in the fifth century? He was a fairly well-developed deity all along, and if archaic vase paintings do not convey this to the same extent that later artwork and textual evidence do, it is perhaps that vase-paintings were only a fragment of the total picture, vessels constructed for their own unknown purposes, and not intended as teaching tools for religious education.
The Medieval Crusades: Launched to Spread Worship of Dionysus Although it is a popular notion that the crusades of the Eleventh through Thirteenth Century Europe were launched to spread Christianity, it is a seldom realized fact that they were actually launched to spread the worship of the Greek God Dionysus. While many fundamentalist radicals and even some historians who ought to know better will dispute this,it is,nevertheless,true. During the Middle Ages in Europe,there were a series of ten religious crusades launched over a period of three centuries. It is commonly believed that these were organized and carried out by Christian religious leaders to unite more territory under the red and white flag of their cherished religion.
The Differences between Apollo and Dionysus are not difficult to see. Though both Gods are associated wi...
I decided to analyze the similarities and differences between the two gods: Zeus and his son Dionysus. Even though Dionysus is of the same lineage of Zeus, this does not mean they share all of the same characteristics of one another. They differ greatly in attitude, appearance and morals. Zeus is considered the king of all gods, and he proudly uses his powers for his own amusement and pleasure, often at the expense of others lives. Whereas, Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility and he uses his powers to bring both pleasure and an escape from the grief that plagues ones mind but this can come at a cost leading the consumer to become unpredictable and easily influenced through overindulgence and addiction.
It is ironic that the entity in existence was the being called Chaos, for although it's Greek translation is Chasm, or emptiness, I believe that chaos and disorder will be their fate if the gods continue this eternal cycle of increasing self destructive behavior. All of this, however, was created as through the beliefs and imagination of Hesiod. Historians and mythologists still can not concretely separate, in his two stories, the Theogony and the Works and Days, which parts were of his imagination and which were not; it is therefore difficult to determine what the author's overall message was to the readers. It is possible that Hesiod wrote these stories in order to discredit the gods with gossip of their alleged human-like violence and sexual transgressions.
Ancient Greek theatre flourished between 550 BC and 220 BC (Hall, Sean, Alan, & Laura, 2015). Dionysus, the son of the Greek god Zeus and mortal Semele, was the god of wine, fertility and divine ecstasy (Dionysus, 1997-2015). He became a significant god to the Greek society due to his association with concepts such as rebirth after death (as he was dismembered by the Titans and then returned to life), and the perception that under the influence of wine, a mortal possessed a great power (Dionysus, 1997-2015). Unlike 21st century physical theatre, Greek theatre focused on honouring the god, Dionysus, who was a patron of the arts. Many Greek plays were written to be performed at festivals that were held in the city of Athens. However, as these festivals began to be celebrated across Greece, the religious aspects diminished and theatrical elements expanded. Despite this, Greek theatre resembled Greece’s cultural identity and focused on expressing and celebrating stories about their gods.
The ancient Greeks with their brilliant and imaginative spirit created a complete order of things that functioned harmoniously in the infinite world that contained them. Although its exact origins are lost in time, Greek religion is thought to date from about the 2d millenium B.C., when the culture of Aryan invaders fused with those of the Aegean and Minoan peoples who had inhabited the region of Greece from Neolithic times [1]. The beginning and the genesis of this world occupied the ancient Greeks in much the same way it did the early people of every civilization. Greek religion was at the beginning a blend of Minoan, Egyptian, Asian, and other elements, but it subsequently evolved along with Greek thought.
She asked Zeus to grant her a boon. He made an oath with the River Styx. This oath exclaimed she could have anything. She asked to see the god of the thunderbolt in his true splendor. She persisted and sadly he kept his word.
Many felt that the mentally ill brought it upon themselves, through moral or religious transgressions. They felt that gods or other spirits were punishing these “criminals” with illness. Others were thought to be under the spell of evil spirits, the devil, or the vi...
In the year 700 BC, the city-state of Athens, Greece became institutionalized. During this time Athens, gained much military power, which allowed the city-state to become significant culturally and politically. During the institutionalization of this Athens, the city-state took part in festival called Dionysia. The Dionysia festival honored the god Dionysus. Before some of the performances, goats were killed and offered up as sacrifices to Dionysus. During the Dionysia festival the central events consisted of theatrical performances and comedies as well as theatrical performances from 487 BC. Athens was considered to be the main center that held theatrical traditions. Athenians spread these festivals to its numerous allies, in order to promote