Christ of the Holy Bible and Dionysus of Euripides Essay

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

In the myth of Dionysus there isn’t exactly a conflict between two sides of people battling for good or evil, its more as a battle between the two sides of Dionysus’ inner self. Unlike most examples of good versus evil, there isn’t a triumphant side. Just the personality switches between Dionysus being the joy-god or the heartless, savage, brutal-god. The reason for this change is due to the fact that he is the vine god; Wine is bad as well as good. He’d bring up peoples hopes and make them believe that they were capable of anything, but once they were sober again

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

Some Greek deities can also be identified with Egyptian ones, in particular the Greek Dionysus and the Egyptian Osiris. They both preside over fertility, in addition to their other duties. Another similarity is that they are both twice-born. Dionysus was born first from Semele’s womb and then later from Zeus's thigh. Osiris was the son of Geb and Nut and was resurrected by Isis after being murdered by Set. (Livingston, Greek and Egyptian Religious Parallels) Other Gods and Goddesses that are similar include Horus and Apollo, Isis and Demeter, Hathor and Aphrodite, Neith and Athena and Bast and Artemis. (FOOTNOTE GREEK AND EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS PARALLELS) There appears to be an overlap between many deities in Greek and Egyptian mythologies.

One would clearly be able to see these noticeable similarities between Dionysus and Apollo, but I feel that their severe differences are not as obvious. When taken into consideration, half-brothers that are both Gods would not be deemed such opposites. Their character's express extreme parallels of personality, one being passive and the other more aggressive. I believe that for all of Apollo and Dionysus' similarities, that they are more different than anyone would conclude. It doesn't seem that they would meet eye to eye on any one subject and that

Dionysus was a wanderer. During these journeys he explored the world. On these journeys he came across many different people and taught them how to keep their vines healthy. On one of his journeys he was captured by pirates. While he was in bondage of these pirates they tried to tie him down. Wherever the rope would touch him it would fall apart. In

The patterns of culture are associated with the characteristics in the distinction between the gods Apollo and Dionysius. Apollo was the god of light and Dionysius was the god of wine. Therefore, the characteristics are referred to as Apollonian and Dionysian. During the Mesolithic, Dionysian tendencies gave way to Apollonian tendencies.

The essence of this mystery tradition was the embrace of one’s whole self through ecstatic ritual. Sexual longings were summoned and embraced as inherent parts of our inner self. The Cult of Dionysus were worshippers who held rites and initiations to bring them in close contact with this God. These secret rites of initiation were the other essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries. The Cult of Dionysus held the secret rites on Mount Parnassus in the winter, and these rites were exclusively for its cult members. An individual had to make the decision to enter the mystery cult through initiation. These rites celebrated Dionysus’s emergence from the underworld with orgies. They focused on the exhilaration wine produced and used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques like music and dance as part of the rituals. It’s believed that at first the songs and dances were designed to stimulate plant growth, and that the orgies were introduced to induce fertility in the vegetation fields. This cult was originally believed to be a wine cult concerned with the cultivation, life-cycle, fermentation, and disinhibiting effects of wine. These rites had a group approach, “which manifests its collective energy through the throbbing patterns of song, dance, and orgiastic sex among its individual participants” (Evans,

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

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.

This work of art is a mix of naturalism and verism. The beautiful perfect skin, the appropriately proportional body and the beauty of young Dionysus are much idealized. The god of wine doesn’t have the body structure of an athlete; however, the body features and muscles are quite in proportion and yet humanized. Dionysus’ face is very humanlike because it displays a certain sense of kindness and relaxedness. There is no sign of stress, discomfort, or detachedness on his face. Dionysus has his left leg crossed over his right leg and he is leaning on Pan on his left. Dionysus’ unique pose is a varied version of contrapposto pose which was so common in the High Classical sculptures. This pose means that the weight of the body is supported by one leg, right leg in this case. This pose illustrates relaxed state of mind and makes the audience feel that Dionysus is at ease. He also has his left hand resting on Pan while holding the wine cup. This shows that Dionysus is trusted by Pan and Pan is also trusted by him because Pan has his right arm around Dionysus’ waist. This close distance mainly

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).

In this play, we are reminded that Dionysus is also the god of madness. One thing this play also reminds us is that he is a god and like all the other gods he cares little for the mortals and does whatever he wants to do to them no matter what happens to him. One way that he does this is by bringing out the unconscience desires that the Greeks would have feared. Tiresias, the seer, says “For you are sick, possessed by madness so perverse, no drug can cure, no madness can undo” (537-538).

The Dionysian, named for Dionysus, is marked by chaos, drunkenness, madness, and instinctive emotions (Kreis, “Nietzsche, Dionysus and Apollo”). It is excess, dismemberment, and rebirth; the dark, earth-bound force of suffering (Jenkins). The Dionysian alienates figures from social, political, and familial bonds, destroying those who refuse to succumb to its power (McClure). Nietzsche says that the

In Ancient Greece religion and theater went hand in hand. The Greeks developed religion that was based on worship of many Gods. In honor of the Gods there were festivals with dancing, music, and theatrical performances. During the festivals the whole city would come to a complete stand still. All businesses were closed, politics were put on the back burner, and wars were halted. All social classes were welcome to come to the festival, and they all did. One of the most famous religious festivals is the City Dionysia, a festival in honor of the god Dionysus, god of wine, revelry, and fertility. The festival was held in ancient Athens, in March for five days, featuring dramatic competitions. These dramatic competitions consisted of dithyrambs, tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays. The tragedy competition was four plays per playwright, three tragedies and one satyr play. There were two processions; the first was carrying the statue of Dionysus from the temple to the theater of Dionysus at the foot of the Acropolis. The second were the patrons parading through the