Apollonian And Dionysian Analysis

Both of these two main characters were different symbols for two ways of human nature but in the end, Dionysus seemed to be much more credible because of his actual divine power and his ability to manipulate the mind of

Dionysos is defined as the god of wine, festivity, vegetation, pleasure, and divine intoxication. In the Hope Dionysos, he is depicted as a peaceful and joyful figure that represent happiness in Greek mythology. The statue is sculpted from marble as its medium and is classified as a stone

Dionysus, on the other hand, invents the timbrel, it is a drum beaten to furious, erratic rhythms that express his compulsive nature. Apollo retains abstract intellect, he is an educator of young men, and promotes logical and rational thought. Dionysus desires irrational power, he liberates humans to explore there potential for emotional and behavioral extremes, he allows his unconscious to flourish, and he is embodied by spontaneous emotion. Greek tradition said that each year Apollo left his sanctuary at Delphi to live with the Hyperboreans, a mythical tribe inhabiting the extreme north. When he did that, Dionysus reigned in Delphi for the 3 winter months. During these months a noticeable change would come over people. Spontaneity came over everyone, and the concept of rational thought would be lost until Apollo's return. Obviously Dionysus was much more liberal when compared to Apollo.

This sculpture was given the title, “Dionysus,” and is dated at 50 – 150 A.D. During that period, the Roman Empire went through a civil war, multiple rebellions, a couple disastrous fires, the building of the Colosseum, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the peak of Roman military expansion and thirteen different Emperors. One of which started the Flavian Dynasty, which would bring stability to the empire that was crumbling because of financial strife. With all of these events happening, good and bad, it seems difficult to pin point the inspiration or message behind this sculpture. But if you break that period of time down into parts, it may be easier to get a feel for what the artist was feeling so strongly about, whether it was inspired by

The culture where the sculpture was produced was Roman. During this period of time, Dionysus was a religious cult figure at the temples. As a mythological personification, Dionysus was believed to be a youthful, joyful and effeminate figure. He was the God of wine, celebration and divine intoxication of power. The female figure standing next to him is Spes, the Goddess of hope, who brought harmony to society. Both statues together represented peace, calm and prosperity to the lands.

I chose to compare and contrast two works of art that featured the god Dionysos. Dionysos was a god of celebration and wine, promoting both the intoxicating power of wine and its social benefits for bringing people together. He was an advocate of peace and a promoter of peaceful civilization. Both The Hope Dionysos and the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons Sarcophagus represent why Dionysos was such an important and celebrated figure in mythology, which is why I chose to analyze two works of art that centered on him. My first impression of each piece was of Dionysos as a peaceful, benevolent and joyful figure. I was struck by the calm peacefulness he embodied in The Hope Dionysos and the happiness he shared on the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons Sarcophagus. Though there are many elements to compare and contrast, my analysis will show that both pieces are tributes and representations of Dionysos meaning and purpose in Roman art.

Nietzsche believed that at there finest the Greek gave room for the task between the Apollo and the Dionysus. Weirdly for a philosopher Nietzsche believed that Greek culture started to go wrong when the Greeks started to forget about the Dionysus, they became two Apollonian because of philosophy in general and Socrates in particular, with the arrival of Socrates on the scene the Greeks fell in love with the idea of being able to control every thing through there minds, being totally wise, and being able to understand every thing, they turned agents drinking, wine and unreason. Nietzsche argued that this was deeply

1. Dionysus was the god of wine and festivity but is also considered a patreon of the arts.

Pentheus and Dionysus represent a factor of duality. For example, they both battle against each other to prove their point as leaders. Pentheus has just become the new king of Thebes and would like to gain power of his people. He seeks to rule over with rationality and social order. Whereas Dionysus is the youngest of all Olympians and wishes to prove to the world that he is an all-powerful god. However, he is also known as the god of wine and believes that everyone should wind down once in a while and celebrate with self-intoxication. His irrational ideas and objectives are the opposite of Pentheus. The ultimate conflict between the two characters is that Pentheus is in denial of Dionysus’ existence because he refuses to believe in irrationality. For example in lines 471-480 in the Bacchae, Pentheus is speaking to Dionysus about Dionysus and is in denial of his existence. Pentheus is so oblivious that he does not even recognize his presence. This relates to duality because Dionysus is the opposite force working against Pentheus or vice versa. Pentheus is devoted to living with

“I guess darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos. I believe in that. I think that’s the basis of Greek mythology”, Brendan Fraser once said about the idea of all Greek Gods and myths. The people of ancient Greece would look up to various gods, depending on what they were seeking. Apollo’s name translates to “strength”, as he displayed this trait throughout his lifetime and had to be emotionally and physically stronger at times for the people of Ancient Greece. Apollo was a man of trust who excelled and supported all of the fine arts of the Greek civilization such as music, art, and poetry (God Apollo). One of the most underestimated traits of Apollo was his healing powers, in which he helped out many Greeks in desperate times, like the Trojan War (Cartwright). The Greek God Apollo was the most influential among Greek people because of his recognition for music, the truth, and healing powers.

Roman art spread as its empire throughout the Mediterranean Sea and was powerfully influenced by the Greeks and Etruscans. Dionysus with Pan, a Roman marble sculpture from 50-150 A.D, depicts Dionysus, -Bacchus to the Romans- the god of wine; and Pan, a mystical forest creature with a head and torso of a human and the legs and horns of a goat. Dionysus myth starts way back before this sculpture was made and I want to discuss how Dionysus was just an excuse people used, to get intoxicated and justify irrational behavior in his name. Dionysus back story started with the myth of his birth. He was the son of Zeus and Semele.

but Dionysus is not an unequivocal advocate of license. In fact, Dionysus endorses a type of moderation, saying that “what a wise man does is to exercise self-controlled gentleness of temper” (641).7 Indeed, the accounts of the Theban maenads, at least up until they are threatened by others, are of a group of women who are reveling, but who are neither destructive, nor as lascivious as Pentheus claims. True, their deeds are exotic, but they are not violent. Rather, they present a paradisal image in which humans and nature live in a state of mutual peace and succor.

Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility, however also became considered a patron of the arts. Along with the variety of things Dionysus was associated with, he is associated with some important concepts. These are, being able to bring a dead person back from the underworld, rebirth after death represented through the symbol of his tending to vines to bear fruit for the making of his wine. There is also the feeling of being possessed by a greater power – which he demonstrated via the influence had from wine. This means that the greater power is the wine – that at these times a man might be greater than himself and do works he otherwise could not.

Dionysus is an important figure of Greek mythology. He is the Olympian god of wine, vegetation, festivity and pleasure. He represents humanity’s longing for pleasure and desire to celebrate. Dionysus is also the god of hallucination, theatre, reincarnation and homosexuality. He is called: “the youthful, beautiful, but effeminate god of wine. He is also called both by Greeks and Romans Bacchus (Bakchos), that is, the noisy or riotous god…” (Roman 201).

Every human being has within him an ideal man, just as every piece of marble contains in a rough state a statue as beautiful as the one that Praxiteles the Greek made of the god Apollo.Greek myth is comprised of many Gods and Goddesses and the stories of how they came to be and of their life stories. And this is the story of the God apollo One God that caught my eye was Apollo, was associated with many aspects of life in the time of the Greek gods. Apollo’s father was Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus, though married to Hera, had some problems with fidelity. He impregnated Leto, the daughter of a Titan.When he was four days old, he asked Hephaestus to make him silver bows and arrows. Hephaestus created them for him. Apollo was