Dionysus
Winter squalls are drained out of the sky. The violet season of flowering spring smiles. The black earth glitters under green lawns. Swelling plants pop open with tiny petals.
Meadows laugh and suck the morning dew, while the rose unfolds. The shepherd in the hills happily blows the top notes of his pipe. The gathered gloats over his white kids. Sailors race across the thrashing waves. Their canvas full of the harmless breeze. Drinkers acclaim the grape-giver
Dionysus, capping their hair with flowering ivy. (Bernard).
Dionysus, in Greek mythology is a god of wine and vegetation, who showed mortals how to cultivate grapevines and make wine. “He was good and gentle to those who honored him, but he brought madness and destruction upon those who spurned him or the orgiastic rituals of his cult” (Wendell 23)
The yearly rites in honor of the resurrection of Dionysus gradually evolved into the structured form of the Greek drama, and important festivals were held in honor of the god, during which great dramatic competitions were conducted. The most important festival, the Greater Dionysia, was held in Athens for five days each spring. It was for this celebration that the Greek dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides wrote their great tragedies. Also, after the 5th century BC, Dionysus was known to the Greeks as Bacchus.
Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Semele. He is the only god to have a mortal parent. The birth of Dionysus began when Zeus came to Semele in the night, invisible, felt only as a divine presence. Semele was pleased to be a lover of a god, even though she did not know which one. Word soon got around and Hera quickly assumed who was responsible. Hera went to Semele in disguise and convinced her that she should see her lover as he really was. When Zeus visited her again, she made him promise to grant her one wish. She went so far as to make him swear on the River Syx that he would grant her request. Zeus, was madly in love and agreed. She then asked him to show her his true form. Zeus, was unhappy, and knew what would happen, but having sworn he had no choice. He appeared in his true form and Semel was instantly burn to a crisp by the sight of his glory. Zeus did manage to rescue Dionysus, and stitched him into his thigh to hold him until he was ready to be born.
...t is also important to notice that every character seems to have wide eyes and dark circles drawn under their eyes. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects because the eyes show the underlying theme of complete inebriation. This in turn, proves the impact that Dionysus had on his followers as well as those who he conquered. Wine brought great power to its creator, and made a lasting impact on history. With these devices of communication, we are able to see that the follower wanted to capture Dionysus’s legacy by creating a sarcophagus of remembrance in his honor.
artworks that were displayed was a Statuette of Youthful Dionysos, god of wine and theatre.
...ty since "things could happen in the real life of Athens which were virtually unthinkable in tragedy, and vice versa." Perhaps the safest assessment of Dionysus is that while not a direct opponent of the traditional ways, his presence, and especially his effect on other characters, serves to highlight many social norms. According to Bernad Knox, "From start to finish, Euripides was 'attempting to show citizens bred in the traditional views...that such conceptions of the gods should offend them.'" Perhaps we as readers will never fully understand the Dionysus that appears in this play, but a closing look at a remark of the Chorus may bring us a step closer to this understanding:
Dionysos, also known as Dionysus, is an Olympian god of many things such as festivity, pleasure, wine, and vegetation. Dionysos is the god of wilderness and one of his attributes are large cats, helping me recognize the statue of him wearing clothes made of animal skin. According to Metropolitan Museum, it stated that, Dionysos wore panther skin over his skirt like clothes and animal head shaped like a huge cat on his high sandals that look like boots” (MET). Also, despite being a male figure, Dionysos has a petite face and is often attractive or even beautiful because he represents youth. Looking at the statue, another attribute that I recognized was that his face looked pretty and had long hair, making him look very young and feminine while having a masculine body.
Although, he is the god of wine who gives festivities and tranquil state of mind. He causes people lose control of their sanity which leads to negative consequences. These actions contradict the norms of society, specifically targeting the role of women who are supposed to be civil. Instead, they dance and worship Dionysus out of their own will. He has a wicked way of punishing those who denied his existence as a god by driving them crazy. His powers lead from being peaceful to destructive. If Dionysus was concerned with morality he will not lead others to lose their sanity or control them against their own will. His actions of seeking revenge are viewed as cruel for murdering those who claim he is not a god. The way he sought revenge to punish those who believed he was not a god shows that he is not concerned with
Theatre is an evolving art form, due to its prevalent themes, in which the creators ‘…express the complications of life through a shared enterprise’ (Lee Hall, 2008). The modernisation of a text whilst maintaining the history relevant to the play has been reinforced by Brisbane based Physical Theatre Company Zen Zen Zo through their 1996 reinterpretation of Eurpide’s The Bacchae, adapted into ‘The Cult of Dionysus’ (Zen Zen Zo, 2016). ‘The Cult of Dionysus’, entails the story of Dionysus, the Greek God of fertility, wine and pleasure, seeks revenge on the ruler of Thebes’ Pentheus, who has just outlawed the worship of Dionysus. The elements of drama have been manipulated to engage the audience, specifically
Pentheus, the authoritarian newly appointed king of Thebes is immediately troubled with the rising influence and odd rituals that surround Dionysus. He seeks to prove his authority and influence over the kingdom, and crush the leader of these ecstatic rituals, which he perceives as a direct threat to his rule. Early on in the play Pentheus is warned by Tiresias, the old seer of the kingdom not to over stretch his bounds and to respect Dionysus as he would the other gods. "No we don¹t play at theologians with the gods. We stay close to the hallowed tenets of our fathers, old as time. Nothing can undo them ever. I don¹t care how brilliant or abstruse the reasons are" (Euripides 404). This passage is significant because it provides Pentheus with a direct warning not ...
Dionysus, son of Zues and Semele and Apollo, son of Zues and Leto, both were born under strange conditions. Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zues after being fully grown, and Apollo's mother, Leto, was in labor for nine days with him because Hera did not want him to be born and would not give Leto a safe place for the child to be delivered. Both these Gods have the need for power and a very creative drive. They spent their youth recruiting new worshipers for their respective cults in which they started, each cult showing their divinity. They are both associated with the phenomenon of ecstasy, meaning to stand outside oneself. In one such case, Apollo's priestess Pythia was overcome by his spirit and began speaking in tongues. Also when possessed by Dionysus, his followers similarly changed there normal actions, breaking into wild dances and "experienced a rapturous sense of union with their God." This shows how they made contact with humans, but in very different ways.
Before unraveling the scene of Ambrosio and the fallen angle it is necessary to give a short general history of Dionysus, as it relates to this passage. Dionysus was born to a human mother Semele, who burns after seeing Zeus in his true form (Hamilton 65). Zeus saves the child and places him to be raised among nymphs, associated with “the stars which bring rain when they near the horizon” (65) and in this way Dionysus was “born of fire and nursed by rain” (65). Imagery of the vine also helps perpetuate the God’s yearly death, causing him to be torn apart every winter, as well as influencing the Maenads, a group of frenzied woman who run tearing apart anything in their path. While wine can bring joy, these sinister aspects ...
A myth is a purely fictional story that has been passed on for generations, usually involving supernatural persons, actions or events. Hercules (also called Herakles), is one of the strongest and most celebrated mythical heroes. These myths were made up thousands of years ago and have acquired more details as they have been passed down. The story of Hercules is one of a man who was so strong and courageous, whose deeds were so mighty, and who so endured all the hardships that were given to him, that when he died, Hercules was brought up to Mount Olympus to live with the gods.
...trated this by betraying the trust that people had in men and the gods with his foolish and reckless action against Cadmus and his family. Dionysus refuted rational thinking by letting his emotions for revenge stand in the way of his contemplating how a god should behave. In doing all the things Dionysus has destroyed the ideal way one would expect a god to conduct their self. Euripides portrays a Dionysus that single handily destroys all the cultural values of Hellenic Greece; however, Euripides is able to capture the changing values of his audience and pave the way for the culture of Hellenistic Greece to begin to dominate societal thought.
One of the most well-known pieces of Greek tragedy is Euripides’s The Bacchae, a tale which chronicles the life and ultimate revenge that the Greek god Dionysus would take out upon his mortal family. Through this tale Dionysus can be viewed in multiple lights. He varied his appearance from that of a great leader, to that of a master of the great art of manipulation. With that said, no image was grander than how he showed that the great Greek gods are not known for being forgiving creatures. Dionysus proved this by being utterly brutal and relentless. With these actions, he showed that the gods should, in most cases, be well and truly feared for their potential retaliation and retribution.
Greek mythology has many different traditions and the culture was very influential to Today’s Society. We see many examples in modern culture that are a result of Greek culture, such as the Olympics in honor of Zeus. Mythology had many traditions and each god has a specific job and relates to modern day. Greek mythology is the time of crazy creatures and heroic tales of gods. The gods were basically in charge and looked up to as celebrities are today. One god in particular, Zeus, was considered to be the boss over all others and he and a mortal woman had a son named, Hercules. Hercules was most known for his strength, as well as his success in completing the almost impossible 12 tasks given to him by the ever powerful Apollo. He completed the tasks with the help of Hermes and Athena. He served as a sense of protection for the people, without him many people would have died. Although Hercules in Todays culture is portrayed as a strong, fearless hero, he was also a troubled, anger-driven person which sometimes came back to haunt him.
Theater was an important part of Ancient Greek Civilization. History of Greek theatre began with religious festivals which aim to honor Dionysus, a god. During the festivals some citizens sing songs and perform improvisation plays and other participants of festivals judges this performances to decide which one of them was the best. These plays form the foundation of the Greek Theatre. Because of the competition between performers to create best performances, plays gained an aesthetic perspective and became a form of art. So, theatre as a part of religious rituals took attention of people and gained an importance in Ancient Greek Society.
"Bacchae", by Euripides, talks about Dionysus (also called Bromius, Bacchus, or Evius), son of Zeus and a mortal woman, Semele, who came back to his homeland of Thebes to show everyone that he was a real god. His mother was killed while giving birth to him and her sisters spread rumors that she lied about her pregnancy. Therefore his family does not know about his existence. Dionysus's cousin Pentheus was not convinced that he was god and argued with him in spite of everyone around telling him to stop fighting with Dionysus. At the end of the play, his own mother killed Pentheus while she was at the state of being possessed by Bacchus; not knowing it was her son. Why does Pentheus get killed? This essay discusses three possible explanations for that.