Dionysus (Bacchus, a Lydian name), anct Gk divinity representing the productive and intoxicating power of nature. He is believed to have been originally a Thracian fertility god worshipped as a bull with orgiastic rites. The date of his introduction to Greece is uncertain; but his cult spread rapidly and in face of official opposition which is reflected in several myths, e.g. that of Pentheus.
Dionysus taught men to cultivate the vine and to make wine.
According to his cult, he died every winter and rose again in spring, and with him the fruits of the earth were also reborn.It is believed that once Dionysus grew up he knew the culture of wine and how to extract its juice.several elements and objects were associated with
Dionysus,the bull, the pineapple, the fig tree, the snake, the ivy and the wine.
| Dionysus is a Greek god, he is the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Bacchus. Dionysus embodies all that is instinctive, sensual, chaotic and irrational in life. Nietzsche pointed out that life itself, as the principle that animates the living, was instinct, sensuality, chaos and irrationality, and for this reason he could only see in Dionysus the perfect metaphor of existence. What makes living beings alive is in fact something mysterious, something that seems to closely concern that energy devoid of any predictability that is the primary source to which every animated thing draws (it is the energy of the passions, which fluctuate chaotically in the body and in the spirit of men). He is also considered the protector god of the theater. In his honor were ditirambos in Ancient Greece and Dionysiac parties. According to the myth, Dionysius ordered his subjects to bring him a drink that would cheer him and envelop all his senses. The God was filled with delight at the sight of the drink, its colors, its nuances, and the way it gleamed in the sun, at the same time that it smelled the fruity scent that exhaled from the jars in front of it. When the drink touched his lips, he felt the softness of the wine’s body and perceived its unique, soft and intoxicating taste. Dionysus made all the presents toast with their bowls, and at the sound of the toast he could be heard in all the fields of that region. From there, Dionysius came to bless and protect everyone who produced such a divine drink, being worshiped as the god of wine and joy. |
