Dionysus/Bacchus: An Introduction
I have a special love for Dionysus. Liberty is in his name. Liberty from social constraints and civilization, and liberation from the self. He is organic, most likely a god of vegetation and fertility in the beginning. He has been worshipped far back into history, possibly 1300 BC. He is chaotic and wild, and he can be both beneficial and terribly destructive. The allure of Bacchus has pushed me to study him for both interests and for a high school art history project. I want to share with everyone what I have discovered about the "joy of men" (Homer), the god Dionysus.
(A particularily fantastical and modern depiction of Bacchus from the game Smite. It nevertheless conveys his essence!)
Dionysus, also known as Bacchus or Liber, is a Greek/Roman god who presides over wine and the vineyard, as well as theatre and liberation. He is often seen holding a Thyrsus, which is a wand/staff with a pine cone on top and is depicted in multiple forms. Such things that are sacred to him include dolphins, serpents, tigers, the lynx, panthers, rams, and goats. Also, ivy, fruiting vines, laurel, and asphodel. (Atsma, Aaron J.) The appearance of these symbols in art is an important aspect of recognizing Dionysus.
Dionysus is a god with many interpretations and origins, and it seems like there is a variation for every different place that he was worshipped. He is, therefore, even more mysterious and ambiguous in his diversity, much like the wine he is known for. The Greeks had many cults and celebrations dedicated to Dionysus, such as the great and minor Dionysia, where the famous Greek theatre was enacted for the god, and parades holding phallic statues marched through the streets of Athens. Another factor that separates Dionysus from the other gods of Olympus and which made him especially popular among people is the fact that he was born to Zeus, but also to a mortal woman. In most stories, this woman was Semele. Semele died because of being tricked into seeing Zeus in all his godly splendour, but Zeus took Dionysus from her and sewed him into his thigh. Dionsyus was then birthed from Zeus and raised by nymphs on mount Nysa. For this reason, Dionysus is known as twice born.
Dionysus first and most often is depicted as a middle-aged or older bearded man, and only later in more Roman times as the iconic effeminate youthful male with long curly hair. He is most often depicted surrounded by Nymphs/Maenads and Satyrs (who are part human part goat and can either be depicted with goat legs or a goat tail, and are almost always depicted with Dionysus) and is usually holding a thyrsus, a drinking cup, or grapes and grape vines.
(older, bearded Dionysus interacting with a maenad.)
(Young Dionysus in his iconic lounging pose, enjoying the wine)
Sources:
https://www.smitegame.com
Atsma, Aaron J. "DIONYSUS - Greek God of Wine & Festivity." Theoi Greek Mythology. Theoi Project, n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2017.
"Dionysus." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, 19 September, 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2017.
For my full art history project and lots more sources and information visit:
http://prezi.com/leef3wvnsuw0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
Ill be sure to work all that information into new posts, so you can just wait for that too :P Thanks for reading to you all!
Looking good! As another fan of Dionysus, I look forward to reading more of your posts. I've spent more time studying his origin as it pertains to Bronze Age Crete, the Minoans, and his form as Zagreus. I'm interested in the parallels you draw between Dionysus and Bacchus, since I honestly haven't looked into his Roman counterpart much.
I would love to learn more about that part of his origins as I have hardly heard of Zagreus, and I have done a lot of research. Any good internet sources you know of?
There are some interesting parallels, Id like to do a post on that as well. They are pretty similar in a lot of ways, but really different too. I think I need to research more to clear up some of the distinctions before I make a post however.
Unfortunately, no I don't know any good online sources. I used to blog on the topic, but that was a few years ago and I don't trust my memory or ability to academically site stuff as much as I used to.
If you ever have the chance to check out Kerenyi's book on Dionysos, though, it's AMAZING. Beautifully written, and split between the more Minoan Zagreus, and Greek Dionysus. It's probably my favorite book, ever.
I'd like to start writing about this topic again some day, but like you need to clear some stuff up first. :)
sweet, ill look for the book. The research never ends :P
I just googled Zagreus, and its very interesting. Gives more meaning to Dionysus' imortality and twice born quality, though I wonder if he could be considered thrice born.
I could definitely see that. He can be a difficult figure to keep up with, since he seems to have jumped around a lot geographically. I vaguely remember reading something about his ties to Hinduism, even!
yeah he is sort of like wine in that way haha, it grows everywhere differently. It is basically impossible to actually understand the diversity of wine, or of Dionysus.
@originalworks
@steemiteducation
Hey @skycae
Since I am from India, in our culture we have a 1000s of mythological characters with some fascinating stories. But I think we have nothing like Dionysus in our History.
It's appreciative to see you researching about this deep history.
Happy Steeming !!
Haha I missed your comment, months ago! Dionysus actually is said to have travelled through India, and is known by many names such as bacchus, liber or zagreus to name a few.