Comparing Apollo And Dionysus In The Thousand And One Nights

The Principles of Apollo and Dionysus Throughout the course of this semester the similarities and differences between two ancient Greek gods, Apollo and Dionysus, have been heavily discussed; however, not many similarities have been discovered. The contrasting principles of Apollo and Dionysus are strongly presented throughout the works of The Essential Rumi and The Thousand and One Nights. Apollo and Dionysus appear to create a distinct dichotomy between their individual characteristics. Apollo, the god of light, is often portrayed as a masculine figure, whereas Dionysus, the god of wine, is depicted in a more feminine image. Apollo is closely associated with music, epic poetry, order, logic, and rationality. Contrary to Apollo, Dionysus is known for disorder, festivals,

By the original wives committing adultery, they were fulfilling their own desires and pleasures. The final wife displayed her feminist qualities by controlling her destiny through weaving her tales of mysticism. Mysticism played a huge role throughout this story. Chapter one, “The Story of the Merchant and the Jinnee,” begins with the story she told on the first night of marriage and continues into the third night. The wife tells a story with characters such as an “efreet, of enormous height” (Lane) and a jinnee. Those two characters directly depict mysticism; therefore, they are representations of Dionysus. Another example of the Dionysian theme depicted in The Thousand and One Nights is the huge welcoming festival that took place towards the beginning of the story. The welcoming festival was in honor of the king being reunited with his brother after many years apart. One can assume that there was a steady supply of wine at the royal event. Yet again, this is a direct correlation to Dionysius, the god of wine and