Door
Rookie
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2020
- Messages
- 89
I've been reading about Dionysus, and thought someone might find this stuff interesting.
Dionysus is the productive, overflowing and intoxicating power of nature, which carries man away from his usual quiet and sober mode of living. Wine is the most natural and appropriate symbol of that power, and it is therefore called "the fruit of Dionysus".
It's worth noting that although Dionysus seems very cruel, he isn't more cruel than any other gods in Greek myths.
In one story, Dionysis called all the women into the forest to celebrate him, but Minyades daughters didnt go, they didnt want to acknowledge Dionysus as god. The women at the celebration ran around the forest with loud screams and praise for Dionysus. While the 3 daughters stayed home to quietly weave and spin yarn. The sun set, but the daughters were in a hurry to finish their work. Suddenly they heard music in the palace. The threads in their hands turned into grape vines, flowers and ivy around them. In the dark palace torches lit up, the sound of wild animals was heard, in the palace rooms appeared lions, panthers, bears. These beasts were running around the palace, roaring, their eyes shining. Horrified, the daughters were searching for a place to hide in the palace, to not see the flames of the torches and not hear the roars of animals. But they couldn't find a place to hide. The bodies of the daughters started shrinking, gray fur covering their skin, instead of arms grew out webbed wings. They turned into bats. And ever since, they hide from the daylight in cold damp ruins and caves.
In another story, about Pentheus' resistance to Dionysus, Pantheus bans the worship of Dionysus and didn't allow the women of Cadmeia to celebrate him. Dionysus is angered by this, and caused Pentheus' mother and aunts, along with other women, to run to the mountains in intoxication. Because of this, Pentheus imprisons Dionysus, thinking he's just a follower, but his chains fall off. Dionysus, disguised as a woman, lured Pentheus out to spy on the women, where Pentheus expected to see sexual activities. The Maenads (female followers of Dionysus) saw him and thought he was a wild animals. They pulled him out of the tree and tore him limb from limb (as part of a sacrificial ritual known as the "sparagmos". Which was often followed by "omophagia" - the eating of raw flesh of the one dismembered. There is little indication that women celebrating Dionysus actually desmembered animals or ate their raw flesh, and that it happened only in stories), the women toring him apart included his mother Agave. Some say his mother was the first to attack. Pentheus threw his headband from his head so that his mother would recognize him, touching her cheek, saying: "It is I, mother, your son, pity me, mother, do not kill me for my sins". But she was foaming at the mouth and twisting her eyes all about. She tore the man apart, not by her own strength, but the god gave facility to her hands. After this she fixed Pentheus' head on a thyrsos, but realized that it's her son's head only after leaving. I heard some theories, based on other stories, that she realized it's her son after the music stopped, as it seems like Dionysus could change reality with music.
The name "Pentheus" means "man of sorrows", especially the grief caused by the deathof a loved one.
Other interesting stuff I found about Dionysus:
Dionysus often drove people insane, causing them to tear their loved oned apart.
He drove women who didn't want to worship him by making them kill their infants.
According to Opian, Dionysus as a child liked to tear kids into pieces and then bring them back to life.
He is characterized as "the raging one" and "the mad one" and the nature of the Maenads, from which they get their name, is therefore, his nature.
Maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. On vases the Maenads are often portrayed in their frenzy running in the forests, often tearing to pieces any animals they happen to come across.
Some other interesting stuff I heard about music.
Music is spiritual, but there are bad spirits out there as well. If you appeal to the bad spirits - you'll have bad consequences. The best example is the Altamonte rock festival of 1969. Rolling Stones performed there in front
of 500.000 people. The stage was so low that a biker group called "Hells Angels" was hired for security. When Rolling Stones begin to sing a song called "Sympathy for the Devil" the crowd goes nuts, to the point that Stones have to pause and ask for the crowd to calm down. The culmination of this is someone gets killed.
In a way, you can say that this is what happens when you stimulate the passions, and promote music that is nothing but the stimulation of unrestrained passions.
Dionysus is the productive, overflowing and intoxicating power of nature, which carries man away from his usual quiet and sober mode of living. Wine is the most natural and appropriate symbol of that power, and it is therefore called "the fruit of Dionysus".
It's worth noting that although Dionysus seems very cruel, he isn't more cruel than any other gods in Greek myths.
In one story, Dionysis called all the women into the forest to celebrate him, but Minyades daughters didnt go, they didnt want to acknowledge Dionysus as god. The women at the celebration ran around the forest with loud screams and praise for Dionysus. While the 3 daughters stayed home to quietly weave and spin yarn. The sun set, but the daughters were in a hurry to finish their work. Suddenly they heard music in the palace. The threads in their hands turned into grape vines, flowers and ivy around them. In the dark palace torches lit up, the sound of wild animals was heard, in the palace rooms appeared lions, panthers, bears. These beasts were running around the palace, roaring, their eyes shining. Horrified, the daughters were searching for a place to hide in the palace, to not see the flames of the torches and not hear the roars of animals. But they couldn't find a place to hide. The bodies of the daughters started shrinking, gray fur covering their skin, instead of arms grew out webbed wings. They turned into bats. And ever since, they hide from the daylight in cold damp ruins and caves.
In another story, about Pentheus' resistance to Dionysus, Pantheus bans the worship of Dionysus and didn't allow the women of Cadmeia to celebrate him. Dionysus is angered by this, and caused Pentheus' mother and aunts, along with other women, to run to the mountains in intoxication. Because of this, Pentheus imprisons Dionysus, thinking he's just a follower, but his chains fall off. Dionysus, disguised as a woman, lured Pentheus out to spy on the women, where Pentheus expected to see sexual activities. The Maenads (female followers of Dionysus) saw him and thought he was a wild animals. They pulled him out of the tree and tore him limb from limb (as part of a sacrificial ritual known as the "sparagmos". Which was often followed by "omophagia" - the eating of raw flesh of the one dismembered. There is little indication that women celebrating Dionysus actually desmembered animals or ate their raw flesh, and that it happened only in stories), the women toring him apart included his mother Agave. Some say his mother was the first to attack. Pentheus threw his headband from his head so that his mother would recognize him, touching her cheek, saying: "It is I, mother, your son, pity me, mother, do not kill me for my sins". But she was foaming at the mouth and twisting her eyes all about. She tore the man apart, not by her own strength, but the god gave facility to her hands. After this she fixed Pentheus' head on a thyrsos, but realized that it's her son's head only after leaving. I heard some theories, based on other stories, that she realized it's her son after the music stopped, as it seems like Dionysus could change reality with music.
The name "Pentheus" means "man of sorrows", especially the grief caused by the deathof a loved one.
Other interesting stuff I found about Dionysus:
Dionysus often drove people insane, causing them to tear their loved oned apart.
He drove women who didn't want to worship him by making them kill their infants.
According to Opian, Dionysus as a child liked to tear kids into pieces and then bring them back to life.
He is characterized as "the raging one" and "the mad one" and the nature of the Maenads, from which they get their name, is therefore, his nature.
Maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. On vases the Maenads are often portrayed in their frenzy running in the forests, often tearing to pieces any animals they happen to come across.
Some other interesting stuff I heard about music.
Music is spiritual, but there are bad spirits out there as well. If you appeal to the bad spirits - you'll have bad consequences. The best example is the Altamonte rock festival of 1969. Rolling Stones performed there in front
of 500.000 people. The stage was so low that a biker group called "Hells Angels" was hired for security. When Rolling Stones begin to sing a song called "Sympathy for the Devil" the crowd goes nuts, to the point that Stones have to pause and ask for the crowd to calm down. The culmination of this is someone gets killed.
In a way, you can say that this is what happens when you stimulate the passions, and promote music that is nothing but the stimulation of unrestrained passions.
Last edited: