Dionysus

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Biography

Dionysus (, Dionysos ) was the God (male deity)|god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine , of ritual madness and religious ecstasy|ecstasy in Greek mythology . His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500& mdash;1100 BC by Mycenaean civilization|Mycenean Greeks : other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete .Kerenyi 1976. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek.Thomas McEvilley, The Shape of Ancient Thought , Allsworth press, 2002, pp.118-121. Reginald Pepys Winnington-Ingram, Sophocles: an interpretation , Cambridge University Press, 1980, p.109 Zofia H. Archibald, in Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (Ed.) Ancient Greeks west and east , Brill, 1999, p.429 ff. In some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of Theophany|epiphany , "the god that comes", and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure of Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion|religion , and is included in some lists of the twelve Olympians . His festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre . He is an example of a dying god ., greekmythology.com

The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds a Ferula|fennel staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus . Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or "man-womanish". In its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession ( thiasus ) is made up of wild female followers ( maenads ) and ithyphallic , bearded satyrs . Some are armed with the thyrsus , some dance or play music. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers, and is sometimes attended by a bearded, drunken Silenus . This procession is presumed to be the cult model for the human followers of his Dionysian Mysteries . In his Thrace|Thracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox -skin, symbolizing a new life. Dionysus is represented by city religions as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and thus symbolizes everything which is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.Gods of Love and Ecstasy, Alain Danielou p.15

He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; , Bakkhos ), the name adopted by the Ancient Rome|Romans In Greek "both votary and god are called Bacchus." Burkert, Greek Religion 1985:162. For the initiate as Bacchus, see Euripides , Bacchantes 491. For the god, who alone is Dionysus , see Sophocles Oedipus the King 211 and Euripides Hippolytus 560. and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia . His thyrsus is sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey. It is a beneficent wand but also a weapon, and can be used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. He is also the Liberator ( Eleutherios ), whose wine, music and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake in his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself.Sutton, p.2, mentions Dionysus as The Liberator in relation to the city Dionysia festivals. In Euripides, Bacchae 379-385: "He holds this office, to join in dances, to laugh with the flute, and to bring an end to cares, whenever the delight of the grape comes at the feasts of the gods, and in ivy-bearing banquets the goblet sheds sleep over men." His cult is also a "cult of the souls"; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.Xavier Riu, Dionysism and Comedy , Rowman and Littlefield, 1999, p.105 ff.

In Greek mythology, he is presented as a son of Zeus and the mortal Semele , thus semi-divine or hero ic: and as son of Zeus and Persephone or Demeter , thus both fully divine, part- chthonic and possibly identical with Iacchus of the Eleusinian Mysteries . Some scholars believe that Dionysus is a syncretism of a local Greek nature deity and a more powerful god from Thrace or Phrygia such as Sabazios Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner and the late Charles Russell Coulter, 2001, p.152. or Zalmoxis .Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner and the late Charles Russell Coulter, 2001, p.520.

Names

Etymology

The dio- element has been associated since antiquity with Zeus ( genitive Dios ). The earliest attested form of the name is Mycenaean Greek di-wo-nu-so , written in Linear B syllabic script, presumably for /Diwo(h)nusos/ , found on two tablets at Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Pylos and dated to the 12th or 13th century BC.John Chadwick, The Mycenaean World , Cambridge University Press, 1976, 99ff: "But Dionysos surprisingly appears twice at Pylos, in the form Diwonusos , both times irritatingly enough on fragments, so that we have no means of verifying his divinity.", Word study tool of ancient languages

Later variants include and in Boeotia; in Thessaly; and in Ionia; and in Aeolia, besides other variants. A prefix is found in other names, such as that of the Dioscures , and may derive from Dios , the genitive of the name of Zeus .This is the view of Garcia Ramon (1987) and Peters (1989), summarised and endorsed in Janda (2010:20).

The second element is associated with Mount Nysa (mythology)|Nysa , the birthplace of the god in Greek mythology, where he was nursed by nymphs (the Nysiads ),Fox, p. 217, "The word Dionysos is divisible into two parts, the first originally ???? (cf. ?e??), while the second is of an unknown signification, although perhaps connected with the name of the Mount Nysa which figures in the story of Lykourgos: (...) when Dionysos had been reborn from the thigh of Zeus, Hermes entrusted him to the nymphs of Mount Nysa, who fed him on the food of the gods, and made him immortal". but according to Pherecydes of Syros , was an archaic word for "tree".Testimonia of Pherecydes in an early 5th c. BC fragment, FGrH 3, 178, in the context of a discussion on the name of Dionysus: " Nusas (acc. pl.), he said, was what they called the trees."

The cult of Dionysus was closely associated with trees, specifically the fig tree , and some of his bynames exhibit this, such as "he in the tree" or , "he of the tree". Peters suggests the original meaning as "he who runs among the trees", or that of a "runner in the woods". Janda (2010) accepts the etymology but proposes the more cosmological interpretation of "he who impels the (world-)tree." This interpretation explains how Nysa could have been re-interpreted from a meaning of "tree" to the name of a mountain: the axis mundi of Indo-European mythology is represented both as a world-tree and as a world-mountain .see Janda (2010), 16-44 for a detailed account.

Epithets

Dionysus was variably known with the following epithets:

Acratophorus , ("giver of unmixed wine"), at Phigaleia in Arcadia . Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias , 8.39.6.

Acroreites at Sicyon . Stephanus of Byzantium , s.v.

Adoneus ("ruler") in his Latinised, Bacchic cult. Ausonius , Epigr. xxix. 6.

Aegobolus ("goat killer") at Potniae, in Boeotia . Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias , ix. 8. § 1.

Dionysus Aesymnetes|Aesymnetes ("ruler" or "lord") at Aroë and Patras|Patrae in Achaea .

Agrios ("wild"), in Macedon ia.

Bromios ("the thunderer" or "he of the loud shout").

Dendrites ("he of the trees"), as a fertility god.

Dithyrambos , form of address used at his festivals, referring to his premature birth.

Eleutherios ("the liberator"), an epithet for both Dionysus and Eros (god)|Eros .

Endendros ("he in the tree").Janda (2010), 16-44.

Enorches ("with balls",Kerenyi 1976:286. with reference to his fertility, or "in the testicles" in reference to Zeus' sewing the baby Dionysus into his thigh, i.e., his testicles).Jameson 1993, 53. Cf.n16 for suggestions of Devereux on "Enorkhes", used in Samos and Lesbos .

Erikryptos ("completely hidden"), in Macedonia.

Evius , in Euripides ' play, The Bacchae .

Iacchus , possibly an epithet of Dionysus and associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries . In Eleusis , he is known as a son of Zeus and Demeter . The name "Iacchus" may come from the ?a???? ( Iakchos ), a hymn sung in honor of Dionysus.

Liknites ("he of the winnowing fan"), as a fertility god connected with the Greco-Roman mysteries|mystery religions . A winnowing fan was used to separate the chaff from the grain.

Lyaeus ("he who unties") or releases from care and anxiety.

Melanaigis ("of the black goatskin") at the Apaturia festival.

Oeneus , as god of the wine press .

Pseudanor ("false man"), in Macedon ia.

In the Greek Pantheon (gods)|pantheon , Dionysus (along with Zeus ) absorbs the role of Sabazios , a Thracians|Thracian / Phrygia n deity. In the Roman mythology|Roman pantheon , Sabazius became an alternate name for Bacchus.Rosemarie Taylor-Perry, The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited. Algora Press 2003, p.89, cf. Sabazius .

Mythology

Birth

Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian gods|Olympian pantheon . His mother was a mortal woman, Semele , the daughter of king Cadmus of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes , and his father was Zeus , the king of the gods. Zeus' wife, Hera , discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone (in other stories a nurse), Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood.

Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Therefore he came to her wreathed in bolts of lightning; mortals, however, could not look upon an undisguised god without dying, and she perished in the ensuing blaze. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born on Mount Pramnos in the island of Ikaria , where Zeus went to release the now-fully-grown baby from his thigh. In this version, Dionysus is born by two "mothers" (Semele and Zeus) before his birth, hence the epithet dimetor (of two mothers) associated with his being "twice-born".

In the Cretan version of the same story, which Diodorus Siculus follows,Diorodus V 75.4, noted by Karl Kerényi , Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life (Princeton University Press) 1976, "The Cretan core of the Dionysos myth" p 110 note 213 and pp 110-114. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone , the queen of the Greek underworld . Diodorus' sources equivocally identified the mother as Demeter.Diodorus III 64.1, also noted by Kerény (110 note 214.) A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titan (mythology)|Titans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. It is said that he was mocked by the Titans who gave him a thyrsus (a fennel stalk) in place of his rightful sceptre.Damascius, Commentary on the Phaedo, I, 170, see in translation Westerink, ''The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo , vol. II (The Prometheus Trust, Westbury) 2009 Zeus turned the Titans into dust with his thunderbolts, but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena , Rhea (mythology)|Rhea , or Demeter . Zeus used the heart to recreate him in his thigh , hence he was again "the twice-born". Other versions claim that Zeus recreated him in the womb of Semele, or gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her.

The rebirth in both versions of the story is the primary reason why Dionysus was worshipped in Greco-Roman mysteries|mystery religions , as his death and rebirth were events of mystical reverence. This narrative was apparently used in several Greek and Roman cults, and variants of it are found in Callimachus and Nonnus , who refer to this Dionysus with the title Zagreus , and also in several fragmentary poems attributed to Orpheus .
The myth of the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans, is alluded to by Plato in his Phaedo (69d) in which Socrates claims that the initiations of the Dionysian Mysteries are similar to those of the philosophic path. Late Neo-Platonists such as Damascius explore the implications of this at length.Damascius, Commentary on the Phaedo, I, 1-13 and 165-172, see in translation Westerink, The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo, vol. II, The Prometheus Trust, Westbury, 2009

Infancy at Mount Nysa

According to the myth Zeus gave the infant Dionysus into the charge of Hermes . One version of the story is that Hermes took the boy to King Athamas and his wife Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino , Dionysus' aunt. Hermes bade the couple raise the boy as a girl, to hide him from Hera's wrath.Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Includes Frazer's notes. ISBN 0-674-99135-4, ISBN 0-674-99136-2 Another version is that Dionysus was taken to the rain- nymph s of Nysa (mythology)|Nysa , who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care Zeus rewarded them by placing them as the Hyades (mythology)|Hyades among the stars (see Hyades (star cluster)|Hyades star cluster ). Other versions have Zeus giving him to Rhea, or to Persephone to raise in the Underworld, away from Hera. Alternatively, he was raised by Maro .

Dionysus in Greek mythology is a god of foreign origin, and while Mount Nysa is a mythological location, it is invariably set far away to the east or to the south. The Homeric hymn to Dionysus places it "far from Phoenicia, near to the Egyptian stream". Others placed it in Anatolia, or in Ancient Libya|Libya ('away in the west beside a great ocean'), in Ethiopia (Herodotus), or Arabia (Diodorus Siculus).

According to Herodotus :

The Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca seems to be following Pherecydes, who relates how the infant Dionysus, god of the grapevine, was nursed by the rain-nymphs, the Hyades (mythology)|Hyades at Nysa.

Childhood

When Dionysus grew up, he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Hera struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the goddess Cybele , better known to the Greeks as Rhea, cured him and taught him her religious rites, and he set out on a progress through Asia teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. The most famous part of his wanderings is his expedition to India , which is said to have lasted several years. Returning in triumph he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but was opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduction on account of the disorders and madness it brought with it (e.g. Pentheus or Lycurgus of Thrace|Lycurgus ).

Dionysus was exceptionally attractive. One of the Homeric hymns recounts how, while disguised as a mortal sitting beside the seashore, a few sailors spotted him, believing he was a prince. They attempted to kidnap him and sail him far away to sell for ransom or into slavery. They tried to bind him with ropes, but no type of rope could hold him. Dionysus turned into a fierce lion and unleashed a bear onboard, killing those he came into contact with. Those who jumped off the ship were mercifully turned into dolphins. The only survivor was the helmsman, Acoetes , who recognized the god and tried to stop his sailors from the start.

In a similar story, Dionysus desired to sail from Icaria to Naxos (island)|Naxos . He then hired a Tyrrhenians|Tyrrhenian pirate ship. However, when the god was on board, they sailed not to Naxos but to Asia, intending to sell him as a slave. So Dionysus turned the mast and oars into snakes, and filled the vessel with ivy and the sound of flutes so that the sailors went mad and, leaping into the sea, were turned into dolphins.

Consorts and children

# Aphrodite
## Charites (Graces)
### Pasithea
### Euphrosyne (mythology)|Euphrosyne
### Thalia (grace)|Thalia
## Priapus
## Hymenaios
# Ariadne
## Oenopion
## Staphylus
## Thoas (Tauri king)|Thoas
## Peparethus
## Phanus
## Eurymedon
## Euanthes
## Latramys
## Tauropolis
## Ceramus
## Maron
## Enyeus
# Nyx (mythology)|Nyx
## Phthonus
# Althaea (mythology)|Althaea
## Deianeira
# Circe
## Comus
# Aura (mythology)|Aura
## Iacchus
## twin of Iacchus, killed by Aura instantly upon birth
# Nicaea (mythology)|Nicaea
## Telete
#Araethyrea or Chthonophyle (or again Ariadne)
## Phlias
# Physcoa
## Narcaeus
# Pallene (mythology)|Pallene
# Carya (daughter of Dion)|Carya
# Percote
## Priapus (possibly) Hesychius of Alexandria s. v. Priepidos
# Alexirrhoe
## Carmanor
# Alphesiboea
## Medus

Genealogy of the Olympians in Greek mythology

Parallels with Christianity

The earliest discussions of mythological parallels between Dionysus and the figure of Jesus|the Christ in Christian theology can be traced to Friedrich Hölderlin , whose identification of Dionysus with Christ is most explicit in Brod und Wein (1800–1801) and Der Einzige (1801–1803).The mid-19th century debates are traced in G.S. Williamson, The Longing for Myth in Germany , 2004.

Modern scholars such as Martin Hengel , Barry B. Powell|Barry Powell , and Peter Wick, among others, argue that Dionysian religion and Christianity have notable parallels. They point to the symbolism of wine and the importance it held in the mythology surrounding both Dionysus and Jesus Christ; Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias , Description of Greece 6. 26. 1 - 2 Athenaeus , Deipnosophistae 2. 34a though, Wick argues that the use of wine symbolism in the Gospel of John , including the story of the Marriage at Cana at which Jesus turns water into wine, was intended to show Jesus as superior to Dionysus.

Scholars of comparative mythology identify both Dionysus and Jesus with the life-death-rebirth deity|dying-and-returning god mythological archetype .Burkert, Walter, Greek Religion , 1985 pp. 64, 132 Other elements, such as the celebration by a ritual meal of bread and wine, also have parallels. Powell, in particular, argues precursors to the Christian notion of transubstantiation can be found in Dionysian religion.

Another parallel can be seen in The Bacchae where Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity which is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate.Powell, Barry B., Classical Myth Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998., by Martin Hengel , 2005, p.331 (ISBN 0567042804)

E. Kessler in a symposium Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire , Exeter, 17–20 July 2006, states that Dionysian cult had developed into strict monotheism by the 4th century CE; together with Mithraism and other sects the cult formed an instance of "pagan monotheism" in direct competition with Early Christianity during Late Antiquity .E. Kessler, Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus : "two monotheistic religions, Dionysian and Christian, existed contemporaneously in Nea Paphos during the 4th century C.E. the particular iconography of Hermes and Dionysos in the panel of the Epiphany of Dionysos represents the culmination of a pagan iconographic tradition in which an infant divinity is seated on the lap of another divine figure; this pagan motif was appropriated by early Christian artists and developed into the standardized icon of the Virgin and Child. Thus the mosaic helps to substantiate the existence of pagan monotheism." ()

Symbolism

The Bull (mythology)|bull , the Serpent (symbolism)|serpent , the ivy and the wine are the signs of the characteristic Dionysian atmosphere, and Dionysus is strongly associated with satyr s, centaur s, and Silenus|sileni . He is often shown riding a leopard , wearing a leopard skin, or in a chariot drawn by panther (legendary creature)|panthers , and may also be recognized by the thyrsus he carries. Besides the Vitis|grapevine and its wild barren alter-ego, the toxic ivy plant, both sacred to him, the ficus|fig was also his symbol. The pinecone that tipped his thyrsus linked him to Cybele . The Dionysia and Lenaia festivals in Athens were dedicated to Dionysus. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionysian Mysteries , which were comparable to and linked with the Orphic Mysteries , and may have influenced Gnosticism . Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus.Pseudo- Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus , Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca . "Orpheus also invented the mysteries of Dionysus, and having been torn in pieces by the Maenads he is buried in Pieria."

Dionysus was another god of resurrection who was strongly linked to the bull. In a cult hymn from Olympia, Greece|Olympia , at a festival for Hera, Dionysus is invited to come as a bull; "with bull-foot raging." Walter Burkert relates, "Quite frequently is portrayed with bull horns, and in Kyzikos he has a tauromorphic image," and refers also to an archaic myth in which Dionysus is slaughtered as a bull calf and impiously eaten by the Titan (mythology)|Titans . In the Classical period of Greece, the bull and other animals identified with deities were separated from them as their agalma , a kind of heraldic show-piece that concretely signified their numinous presence.

Bacchanalia

Introduced into Rome (c. 200 BC) from the Magna Graecia|Greek culture of southern Italy or by way of Greek-influenced Etruria , the bacchanalia were held in secret and attended by women only, in the grove of Simila, near the Aventine Hill , on March 16 and 17. Subsequently, admission to the rites was extended to men and celebrations took place five times a month. The mystery-cult may have been seen as a threat to the political status quo.

The notoriety of these festivals, where many kinds of crimes and political conspiracies were supposed to be planned, led to a decree by the Roman Senate|Senate in 186 BC — the so-called Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus , inscribed on a bronze tablet discovered in Calabria (1640), now in Vienna — by which the Bacchanalia were prohibited throughout all Italy except in special cases that required specific approval by the Senate. In spite of the severe punishment inflicted on those found in violation of this decree, the Bacchanalia were not stamped out, at any rate in the south of Italy, for a very long time.

Dionysus is equated with both Bacchus and Liber (also Liber Pater ). Liber ("the free one") was a god of male fertility, wine, and growth, whose female counterpart was Libera (mythology)|Libera . His festival was the Liberalia (holiday)|Liberalia , celebrated on March 17, but in some myths the festival was also held on March 5.

In art

Classical

Elizabeth Kessler has theorized that a mosaic appearing on the triclinium floor of the House of Aion in Nea Paphos , Cyprus, details a monotheistic worship of Dionysus.Kessler, E., Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus, In the mosaic, other gods appear but may only be lesser representations of the centrally imposed Dionysus.

Modern views

Dionysus has remained an inspiration to artists, philosophers and writers into the modern era . In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche contrasted Apollonian and Dionysian|Dionysus with the god Apollo as a symbol of the fundamental, unrestrained aesthetic principle of force, music, and intoxication versus the principle of sight, form, and beauty represented by the latter. Nietzsche also claimed that the oldest forms of Greek Tragedy were entirely based on suffering of Dionysus. Nietzsche continued to contemplate the character of Dionysus, which he revisited in the final pages of his 1886 work Beyond Good and Evil . This reconceived Nietzschean Dionysus was invoked as an embodiment of the central will to power concept in Nietzsche's later works The Twilight of the Idols , The Antichrist (book)|The Antichrist and Ecce Homo .

Károly Kerényi , a scholar in classical philology and one of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology characterized Dionysus as representative of the psychological life force (Zoê).Kerenyi, K. - Dionysus; Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, Princeton/Bollingen (1976) Other scholars proposing psychological interpretations have placed Dionysus' emotionality in the foreground by focusing on the joy , terror or hysteria associated with the god.Jeanmaire, H. Dionysus: histoire du culte de Bacchus, (p.106ff) Payot, (1951)Johnson, R. A. 'Ecstasy; Understanding the Psychology of Joy' HarperColling (1987)Hillman, J. 'Dionysus Reimagined' in The Myth of Analysis (pp.271-281) HarperCollins (1972); Hillman, J. 'Dionysus in Jung's Writings' in Facing The Gods, Spring Publications (1980)Thompson, J. in Mythopoetry Scholar Journal, Vol 1, 2010Lopez-Pedraza, R. 'Dionysus in Exile: On the Repression of the Body and Emotion', Chiron Publications (2000)

The Russians|Russian poet and philosopher Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov|Vyacheslav Ivanov elaborated the theory of Dionysianism , which traces the roots of literary art in general and the art of tragedy in particular to ancient Dionysian mysteries. His views were expressed in the treatises The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God (1904), and Dionysus and Early Dionysianism (1921).

Inspired by James Frazer , some have labeled Dionysus a life-death-rebirth deity . The mythographer Karl Kerenyi devoted much energy to Dionysus over his long career; he summed up his thoughts in Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life (Bollingen, Princeton, 1976).

Dionysus is the main character of Aristophanes' play The Frogs , later updated to a The Frogs (musical)|modern version by Burt Shevelove (libretto) and Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) ("The time is the present. The place is ancient Greece. ... "). In the play, Dionysus and his slave Xanthius venture to Hades to bring a famed writer back from the dead, with the hopes that the writer's presence in the world will fix all nature of earthly problems. In Aristophanes' play, Euripides competes against Aeschylus to be recovered from the underworld; In Sondheim and Shevelove's, George Bernard Shaw faces William Shakespeare .

The Romanised equivalent of Dionysus was referenced in the 1852 in literature|1852 Anti-Tom literature|plantation literature novel '' Aunt Phillis's Cabin , which featured a character named Uncle Bacchus, who was so-named due to his excessive alcoholism .

Both Eddie Campbell and Grant Morrison have utilised the character. Morrison claims that the myth of Dionysus provides the inspiration for his violent and explicit graphic novel Kill Your Boyfriend , whilst Campbell used the character in his Bacchus (comics)|Deadface series to explore both the conventions of super-hero comic books and artistic endeavour.

Dionysus is one of the central myths explored in the 2011 Weaponized anthology The Immanence of Myth .

Walt Disney has depicted the character on a number of occasions. The first such portrayal of Dionysus, as the Roman Bacchus, was in the " Pastoral " segment of Walt Disney's third classic Fantasia (film)|Fantasia . In keeping with the more fun-loving Roman god, he is portrayed as an overweight, happily drunk man wearing a tunic and cloak, grape leaves on his head, carrying a goblet of wine, and riding a drunken donkey named Jacchus (" Donkey|jackass "). He is friends with the fauns and centaurs , and is shown celebrating a harvest festival. Other portrayals have appeared in both the Disney Hercules (1997 film)|movie and Hercules: The Animated Series|spin-off TV series of Hercules. He was depicted as an overweight drunkard as opposed to his youthful descriptions in myths. He has bright pink skin and rosy red cheeks hinting at his drunkenness. He always carries either a bottle or glass of wine in his hand, and like in the myths, wears a wreath of grape leaves upon his head. In the series he is known by his Roman name "Bacchus", and in one episode headlines his own festival known as the "Bacchanal".

In music Dionysius (together with Demeter ) was used as an archetype for the character Tori by contemporary artist Tori Amos in her 2007 album American Doll Posse , and the Canadian rock band Rush (band)|Rush refer to a confrontation and hatred between Dionysus and Apollo in the Cygnus X-1 duology .

Dionysus along with Lilith are central characters in James Curcio 's 2011 novel Fallen Nation: Party At The World's End.

In literature, Dionysius has proven equally inspiring. Rick Riordan 's series of books Percy Jackson & The Olympians presents Dionysus as an uncaring, childish and spoilt god who as a punishment has to work in Camp Half-Blood. In Fred Saberhagen 's 2001 novel, God of the Golden Fleece, a young man in a post-apocalyptic world picks up an ancient piece of technology shaped in the likeness of the Dionysus. Here, Dionysus is depicted as a relatively weak god, albeit a subversive one whose powers are able to undermine the authority of tyrants.

A version of Bacchus also appears in C. S. Lewis ' Prince Caspian , part of The Chronicles of Narnia . Lewis depicts him as dangerous-looking, androgynous young boy who helps Aslan awaken the spirits of the Narnian trees and rivers. He does not appear in the 2008 film version.

In 2009 the poet Stephen Howarth and veteran theatre producer Andrew Hobbs collaborated on a play entitled Bacchus in Rehab with Dionysus as the central character. The authors describe the piece as "combining highbrow concept and lowbrow humour".

The second season of True Blood involves a plot line wherein a maenad , Maryann, causes mayhem in the Louisiana town of Bon Temps in attempt to summon Dionysus.

Dionysus, going by his Roman name "Bacchus", is a character in the 2011 video game Rock of Ages (video game)|Rock of Ages .

Names originating from Dionysus

Dion (also spelled Deion, Deon and Dionne)

Denise (also spelled Denice, Daniesa, Denese, and Denisse)

Dennis, Denis or Denys (including the derivative surnames Denison and Dennison), Denny

Denis ( croatian language|Croatian ), Dionis, Dionisie ( romanian language|Romanian )

Dénes ( hungarian language|Hungarian )

Dionisio/Dyonisio ( Spanish language|Spanish ), Dionigi ( Italian language|Italian )

?????s???, ?????s??, ??????? (Dionysios, Dionysis, Nionios Greek language|Modern Greek )

Deniska (diminutive of Russian Denis, itself a derivative of the Greek)

Dionísio (Portuguese)

Dionizy (Polish)

Gallery

Notes

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1. Phoenix 2. The Willowz 3. Symposium 4. Dismember 5. Iannis Xenakis 6. Mikis Theodorakis 7. The Young Werewolves 8. Winter Solstice 9. Alpha 10. Amethyst 11. Apollo 12. Atlantis 13. Blonde 14. Drama 15. Dramatics 16. Exile 17. Gordian Knot 18. Hades 19. Heathen 20. Lydia 21. Manna 22. Midwinter 23. Pessimist 24. Seduced 25. Soma

Undetermined Music Artists

Dionysus

Biography

Names

Etymology

Epithets

Mythology

Birth

Infancy at Mount Nysa

Childhood

Other stories

Midas

Pentheus

Lycurgus

Prosymnus

Ampelos

Chiron

Secondary myths