Dionysus: Ancient Grecian Life

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

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.

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.

This piece of art depicted the interaction between Dionysus and Pan in a form of sculpture. The sculpture was created from beautiful marble in A.D. 50 – 150. The work is three

One of the myths, Dionysus is the “tragic god” because his wild, primal life exists in the shadow of his inevitable death every winter. He lives fully and gloriously despite his fate to be torn apart. Life in the face of a brutal fate becomes the subject of many of the later Greek tragedies, which were originally inspired by Dionysus himself.For example, when Pentheus, the king , refused to worship him and even imprisoned Dionysus. As punishment Dionysus drove Pentheus’ mother and sisters mad, so that they thought Pentheus was a mountain lion and tore him apart with their bare hands.Dionysus, like many of the gods, shares this capricious temper when it comes to being insulted by mortals. In this case the punishment is far worse than the crime. The idea of justice is shaky when it comes to the God of Wine.

The god, Dionysus, fills an integral role in Grecian Myth. According to Euripides' Bacchae, Dionysus represents the animalistic and mystic life force that connects humanity to its innate earthy roots—roots that are illogical, chaotic, and instinctual. In this paper I will be discussing this aforementioned mystic life force and its existence in ancient Greece's supremely logical society.

There are many greek Gods. Some greek God’s sit in silence but than there are those who have legendary stories.Then there are some really really lame god’s like mine,the god that I was picked to talk about was the greek God Dionysus. When I was given this God to make a paper about I was not that thrilled about who I was given, But after doing research I found out that he is kind of one of the boring ones. But there are a few cool things about him, one of those things are is that he is one of the sons of Zeus and known to be the God of many things but mostly wine, harvest, pleasure, and madness. He is known for having a love for festivals as well.

In fact, according to this myth, the thanksgiving we celebrate today is also a celebration of the goddess Demeter and her plentiful harvest. Life on Earth depends not only on her, but also on Dionysus. Also known as Bacchus, Dionysus was born to Zeus and Semele. He was known to make people mad as he could be kind and beneficent but also cruel and drive men on frightful deeds, which is just like how “mortals” view alcoholic beverages like wine. Dionysus was the joy-god, but also the heartless and brutal one.

In 534 B.C., a contest was instituted for performances to presented at the City Dionysus Festival. Dionysus is the god of life, fertility, and revelry. He also represented rebirth and renewal, along with ecstasy and crushing despair. There were several religious ceremonies and rituals every spring to honor Dionysus. Many of these ceremonies included human sacrifices and celebrations with wine. Young people would drink excessively, strip naked and frolic in the woods. These celebrations became an important part of Greek culture. They became the source of great rivalries between city-states in ancient Greece where the city-state with the best celebration attracts more people and profit. Through this celebration, Athens became a religious and

For Nietzsche the interaction between Apollo and Dionysus can be described as a metaphor for Greece; independently, Apollo was a representation of order or structure, while Dionysus represented music and chaos. They could work together but they would often be in violent opposition of each other. This represents Greece because at first glance Greece is like an iceberg; the top, Apollo, is ordered or structured, but beneath the surface, Dionysus, there is chaos. In The Bacchae, the Dionysian behavior is forbidden in the city and the women that choose to continue worshiping Dionysus must do so in the woods. This type of worship was forbidden partly because of its tribalistic and barbaric tendencies. These women where known for ripping animals

This play written by Euripides has several little main ideas throughout but one of the main ones that I am going to focus on is the disguise and trickery Dionysus is able to perform to get what he wants. Throughout the play Dionysus never got the respect that he felt that he deserved from the other gods. The reason that Dionysus received no respect is because he is mortal; his mother who was a mortal gave birth to him by a god, so in the world they are living in this makes him equal to the humans not the gods. Because Dionysus was both Greek and Asiatic, along with being part god and part human this made him a very diverse being. Dionysus soon realized though that he could use this to his own advantage, he could easily be disguised as a

god. He represents light, clarity, and form. The Dionysian man was given its name from

Another Rhyton was also discovered in Russia from Central Asia. Its forepart is shaped like a wildcat or lynx. The spout for pouring is located in the chest of the animal. The piece of artwork is called the Turkemenian Wine Horn. It is also a symbol of the Greek wine god Dionysus, whose cult spread eastwards with the conquests of Alexander the Great. Dionysus roman name was Bacchus. Commemoration/celebration of him during the ancient times was used as a theatre performance. Due to festivities of wine which was held twice a year winter and spring, Christians made them Christmas and Easter.

Dionysus with Pan is a sculpture made by the Romans in the 50–150 AD. The Romans worshiped Dionysus. Who was their god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and fertility. This sculpture depicts Dionysus together with Pan, his follower. It is sculpted from the finest marble, artists

An Apollonian would rather watch a play; a live theatre performance. They find it much more awe inspiring if they see the performance all in one take. They want to see the actors make the play a perfection, waiting to see if a mistake is made and if the actors can recover. A Dionysian,on the other hand, likes movies more. They don’t care how many outtakes it had, they want more. The symbolism, the story, the computer generated images, how a script can be brought to life. They don’t care how, they care how soon.