Dionysus Essay Example For Students

Dionysus Essay Dionysus was the god of the vine. He invented wine and spread the art of tendinggrapes. He had a dual nature. On one hand, he brought joy and divine ecstasy. Onthe other hand, he brought brutality, thoughtlessness and rage. This reflectedboth sides of wines nature. If he chooses, Dionysus can drive a man mad. Nonormal fetters can hold him or his followers. Dionysus was the son of Zeus andSemele. He was the only god to have a mortal parent. Zeus came to Semele in thenight, invisible, felt only as a divine presence. Semele was pleased to be alover of a god, even though she did not know which one. Word soon got around andHera quickly realized who was responsible. Hera went to Semele in disguise andconvinced her she should see her lover as he really was. When Zeus next came toher, she made him promise to grant her one wish. She went so far as to make himswear on the River Styx that he would grant her request. Zeus was madly in loveand agreed. She then asked him to show her his true form. Zeus, was unhappy, andknew what would happen but, having sworn he had no choice. He appeared in histrue form and Semele was instantly burnt to death by the sight of his glory. Zeus did manage to rescue Dionysus and stitched him into his thigh to hold himuntil he was ready to be born. His birth from Zeus alone conferred immortalityupon him.Dionysus problems with Hera were not yet over. She was still jealousand arranged for the Titans to kill him. The Titans ripped him into pieces. However, Rhea brought him back to life. After this, Zeus arranged for hisprotection and turned him over to the mountain nymphs to be raised. Dionysuswandered the world actively encouraging his cult. He was accompanied by theMaenads, wild women, flush with wine, shoulders draped with a fawn skin,carrying rods tipped with pine cones. While other gods had temples, thefollowers of Dionysus worshipped him in the woods. Here, they might go into madstates where they would rip apart and eat raw any animal they came upon. Dionysus was also one of the very few that was able to bring a dead person outof the underworld. Even though he had never seen Semele, he was concerned forher. Eventually he journeyed into the underworld to find her. He faced downThanatos (Death) and brought her back to Mount Olympus. Dionysus became one ofthe most important gods in everyday life. He became associated with several keyconcepts. One was rebirth after death. Here his dismemberment by the Titans andreturn to life is symbolically echoed in tending vines, where the vines must bepruned back sharply, and then become dormant in winter for them to bear fruit. The other is the idea that under the influence of wine, one could feel possessedby a greater power. Unlike the other gods, Dionysus was not only outside hisbelievers but, also within them. At these times, a man might be greater thenhimself and do works he otherwise could not. The festival for Dionysus is in thespring when the leaves begin to reappear on the vine. It became one of the mostimportant events of the year. Its focus became the theater. Most of the greatGreek plays were initially written to be performed at the feast of Dionysus. Those who took part, including writers, actors and spectators, were regarded assacred servants of Dionysus during the festival. This is a god who givespleasure to mankind: he discovered honey and the vine and its cultivation. Butsome say that it was Aristaeus who discovered honey and that he competed withhis honey against the wine of Dionysus but Zeus gave the first prize to thewine. Some say that Oeneus, king of Calydon, was the first to receive avine-plant from Dionysus. Dionysus formed the women (MAENADS) into an army andmade a campaign over all the inhabited world. Dionysus is also known because ofhis Indian campaign. He also instructed all men in the knowledge of his rites,but he punished severely those who opposed him (like Lycurgus and Pentheus). Hewas attended by SATYRS, MAENADS and others. Semele was a daughter of Cadmus andHarmonia. Zeus fell in love with Semele and consorted with her. But Hera wasjealous, and in order to delude Semele, Hera took the shape of Beroe, Semeles nurse, and told Semele to ask Zeus to come to her as he comes to Hera, so thatshe would know what pleasure it is to sleep with a god. At her suggestion Semelemade this request to Zeus and was smitten by a thunderbolt. Later Dionysusbrought up his mother from Hades, named her Thyone, ascended with her to heavenand there she was made immortal by Zeus. After Semeles death Zeus carried theunborn child in his thigh. When the child was born Zeus brought him to Nysa inArabia where the boy was reared by NYMPHS. But it is also said that Hermesentrusted Dionysus to Athamas and Ino, and persuaded them to rear him as a girl. Sir Gawain And The Green Knight EssayBut when Dionysus was on board, they sailed not to Naxos but to Asia, intendingto sell him as a slave. So Dionysus turned the mast and oars into snakes, andfilled the vessel with ivy and the sound of flutes so that the SAILORS went mad,and leaping into the sea, were turned into dolphins. Others say Dionysus came onboard when these SAILORS, having leapt ashore, captured him, stripped him of hispossessions and tied him with ropes. When Theseus came to Crete, Ariadne, beingamorously disposed to him, offered to help him if he would agree to carry heraway to Athens and have her to wife. Theseus having agreed on oath to do so, sheasked Daedalus to disclose the way out of the labyrinth. And at his suggestionshe gave Theseus a clue when he went in. And having found the Minotaur he killedhim; and drawing the clue after him made his way out again. And by night hearrived with Ariadne at Naxos. There Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne andcarried her off, wh en deserted by Theseus. He brought her to Lemnos and thereshe had children by him. Some say she had children by Theseus as well. Ariadnesfinal fate is most uncertain. Some say that she was killed by Artemis, forsomething that Dionysus told the goddess. Others say that she was turned intostone when Perseus shook in front of her the face of Medusa. Still others saythat she hung herself because she was abandoned by Theseus. It is also told thatTheseus and Ariadne, coming from Crete, were driven out of their course by astorm to Cyprus. Ariadne was big with child and Theseus set her on shore alone,while he was borne out to sea again by the storm. Ariadne was taken into thecare of the Cyprian women, who helped her during the pangs of travail, and gaveher burial when she died before her child was born. Yet others say that Ariadnewas made immortal by Zeus and that Dionysus set the Crown among the stars as amemorial of the dead Ariadne. Aura, a Phrygian huntress unacquainted with love,daught er of the Titan Lelantus and the Oceanid Periboea, was ravished byDionysus while asleep. She had twins but killed one of the children and indespair she threw herself into the river Sangarius and was transformed into afountain by Zeus. Nicaea was a huntress and nymph of Astacia with whom Hymnusfell in love. She grew angry and killed him as he was declaring his love forher. However later, having drunk wine, she fell asleep and Dionysus seduced her.