Dioneo's Two Possible Namesakes

As the words of Nancy Taylor explains, “By analyzing Dionysian & Apollonian aspects, we gain insight into who we are and how we behave in this world.” To begin with, we must first understand the gods from which these two terms. Apollonism is based around the god Apollo. Apollo is the god of many things, such medicine and the lyre. He is the god of healing and of all things beautiful. Apollo is the god of the truth, wisdom and rational thought. When you think of rationality and the ways that things should be logically done, you are thinking in an Apollonistic way. When Apollo is depicted in sculpture, he is nude, displaying his clean cut body that shows no trace of facial hair. The clean definition of his muscles should give on an idea of his rational and logical personality. He is the predictable side of people, the side that tends to do what is normally expected from someone on account of the current culture. The second type of personality would be based on the god Dionysus. According to Steven Kreis, “The Dionysian, which corresponds roughly to Schopenhauer’s conception of Will, is directly opposed to the Apollonian.” “Here we have, in a great symbol of art, both the fair world of Apollo and its substratum, the terrible wisdom of Silenus, and we can comprehend intuitively how they mutually require one another.” Therefore, one could easily assume some of the characteristics that Dionysus will have. Dionysus is the god of wine, which is a source of intoxication that helps to ‘sooth’ the mind. “The chariot of Dionysus is bedecked with flowers and garlands; panthers and tigers stride beneath his yoke.” He is the god of revelry which is to say, demonic behavior. People that are Dionysian like to make spontaneous decisions and break all of the rules. These people live life to the fullest and don’t let

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.

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.

She became queen of the underworld after being abducted by Hades. Dionysus, was a fertility god, and god of the vine. He freed the emotions and inspired joy in men. From him we get the tragic theater. He was also known as Baccus, god of drukenness.

Dionysus was born on Mount Pramnos in the island of Ikaria on the day of the winter solstice. He was the son of Zeus and and a mortal woman by the name of Semele. Hera, who was jealous of Semele, planted seeds of doubt in Semele’s head, making her doubt that the baby really was from Zeus. At this time, Zeus was deeply in love with Semele, so he swore on the river stix to do whatever favor she asked for. So Semele asked for Zeus to reveal his true godly form to him, and Zeus, who was forced to obey her due to the oath, did as she said. As soon as Zeus revealed his true, godly

Dionysus was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal woman Semele, and because of this he is the only god with a mortal parent. The story tells that Zeus went to Semele in the night, unnoticed by human eyes, but his divine presence could be felt. Feeling this presence herself, Semele was pleased to be the lover of a god. Word soon got around about this ‘Affair’ and Hera (the goddess wife of Zeus) quickly came to a conclusion as to who was responsible. Hera went to Semele in disguise and convinced her she should see her lover as he really was, not knowing of Hera’s intentions, Semele agreed with her. When Zeus visited her again, she made him promise to grant her one wish. She went so far as to make him swear on the River Styx that he would grant her request. Zeus was madly in love and agreed. She then asked him to show her his true form. Zeus was unhappy knowing what was about to happen, but bound by his promise, he had no choice. He appeared in his

Dionysus : He is the god of fertility of nature and men, wine and intoxicated ecstasy. He is also the of of God of Theater and is also considered to be a bringer of destruction and delight . Dionysus is the son of Semele ( a mortal woman) and Zeus. There are numerous myths surrounding his birth, one being that after Semele's death, Dionysus was saved by being sown in Zeus's thigh. There are numerous festivals which are celebrated in Dionysus' honor, like Anthesteria and Country Dionysia. Dionysus ends up marrying Ariadne, who is the daughter of king Minos. Dionysus is important for the study of Greek Myth because he defies categorization. For example , he is a twice born god, he was raised as a girl and he is the immortal who died. Additionally,

Speaking on his personal appearance and attributes, he was said to be youthful, handsome and effeminate. Due to his role of god of wine he is also said to be very manipulative. None the less Dionysus is a reliable down to earth god, and one of the few gods to actually walk the earch and care for

In one of the stories about Dionysus he goes to the underworld to find his mother and he brings her up to Olympus where the Gods accept her. One of the crueler stories was when Dionysus was captured by a group of pirates and he freed the one sailor who had told the others to release him. As for the other sailors, he put hexes on their ship until they jumped overboard and he then turned them into dolphins. Anyone who attempted to imprison him would be killed. Dionysus was considered the most important God of

He would share his wine with the satyrs of the forest. The satyrs would bring girls that they had seduced to share Dionysus’ wine and would have enormous parties where they would get drunk and dance. They would get so crazy drunk on wine that they would experience ecstasy and have orgies. Some of the satyrs would end without a girl and they would have horrible fights. None of them would fight against Dionysus, it was always just between the satyrs because if they would make Dionysus mad they would be without wine the next

The God of wine, bearded Dionysos is crowned with a wreath of ivy. He is standing in the middle and holding a rhyton, a drinking horn, in his left hand and large grape vines in his right hand. There are two figures on the left side from him and the other two figures on the right side from him. Those figures are dancing satyrs and maenads – the God’s regular companions. The majority of the elements of the image establishes the vertical symmetry with Dionysos in the middle as a focal point, and only hands of maenads pointing at the God represent diagonal movement. The composition of the image is not unique, and we can find similar outlines with some alternations on many different vases. For example, the Athenian black-figure amphora from Ruhr University collection (Bochum) shows Dionysos with a drinking horn and ivy between dancing satyrs. The subject of the scene itself have no narrative content and may represent pleasure and joy of life or trances. Anyhow, “when joined to the theme of Herakles and his first Labor, Dionysus and his retinue may represent a premonition of the hero’s impending victory in all twelve Labors, leading to his apotheosis and eternal life among the Olympian gods — where he enjoyed Dionysian bliss and the pleasure of wine.” (Phoenix Ancient

Dionysus, or to the Romans, Bacchus, is a great god. He is the god of wine, cheer, wild behavior, dancing, fertility, resurrection, drama, song, vegetation, and all-around jolly fellow. He was a very popular god because of his jolly disposition and carefree attitude. His jolly disposition and carefree attitude which is mainly why he is the greatest god because this attitude not only gave the world the gift of wine but saved lives like Ariadne from the island of Naxos.

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).