Dionysus (nicknames: Bacchus, Bacchus), the story of his life, exploits and crimes. The god of ancient Greece Dionysus and his meaning in mythology The god of wine in Greece

The cheerful and cheerful god Dionysus was especially popular among the ancient Greeks. Holidays dedicated to him were celebrated from late autumn until spring. Often these had the character of mysteries, and even more often they smoothly flowed into banal orgies.

The Appearance of Dionysus

The god Dionysus was born from the union of an immortal and an earthly woman. Once Zeus the Thunderer could not resist the beauty of the daughter of the Theban king, Semele. Being in a romantic mood, he promised his passion to fulfill any of her requests. He swore by the sacred waters of the underground river Styx that he would fulfill the will of Semele, no matter what it was.

I heard about Semele Hera. The eyes of the immortal resident of Olympus flashed with rage. She appeared to Semele and ordered:

Ask Zeus to appear before you in all the majesty of the thunder god, ruler of Olympus. If he really loves you, he will not refuse this little thing.

Semele did not dare to resist Hera’s order and turned to Zeus with this request. Zeus, who swore by the waters of the River Styx, had no choice. The father of the gods appeared before Semele in all the splendor of the ruler of immortals and people, all in the splendor of his glory. And lightning flashed in his hands. The palace of the Theban king shook from thunderclaps. Everything around flashed, ignited by the lightning of the ruler of Olympus. The flames rushed through the palace, consuming everything in its path, the walls shook, the stone slabs cracked.

Semele fell to the ground screaming, engulfed in flames. She was ruined by a request inspired by the wife of Zeus. The dying Theban princess gave birth to a son, weak and incapable of life. He should have died in the flames of the fire, but divine blood saved him. As if by magic, thick ivy reached out from the ground towards him from all sides, sheltering the unfortunate boy from the fire, thereby saving his life.

The Thunderer picked up his saved son, but seeing that he was so weak and small that he was clearly doomed to death, then, according to legend, he sewed him up in his thigh. After spending some time in the body of his parent, Dionysus was born a second time, stronger and stronger.

Then Zeus the Thunderer commanded to carry it to the fleet-footed Hermes little son to Ino, the sister of the Theban princess Semele, and her husband, the ruler of Orkhomenes, ordered to raise a child.

Hera pursued Dionysus for a long time, not considering him either equal to the gods or worthy of this honor. Her anger fell on Ino and her husband Atamant for taking under their roof the child of an earthly woman she hated. For Atamant, Hera chose madness as punishment.

In a fit of madness, the ruler Orchomen kills his own son Learchus. Ino and her second child miraculously manage to escape. Her husband, who had lost his mind, pursued her and almost overtook her - at the steep, rocky seashore.

There was no escape for Ino - her mad husband was catching up behind her, and the abyss of the sea was ahead. The woman chose the elements, with a desperate jerk throwing herself and her son into sea ​​water. However, she did not die. The beautiful Nereids received her and her son into the sea. The teacher Dionysus and Melicertes, her son, were converted into deities of the sea and remained there ever since.

Hermes, who rushed to the rescue, saved Dionysus from the distraught Atamant. Faster than the wind, he rushed him to the Nisei Valley, entrusting him to the care of the nymphs.

The god of wine and fun grew up beautiful and powerful. He walks, sharing strength and joy with people. And the nymphs who raised Dionysus were placed in the starry sky as a reward. They appeared one beautiful dark night among other constellations in the form of the Hyades.

Greedy king

One of the most famous stories about Dionysus - the legend of Midas. The noisy Dionysus wandered with his numerous retinue into the wooded cliffs of Phrygia. Only Silenus, his wise teacher, was absent. Fairly tipsy, he wandered, stumbling through the Phrygian meadows. The peasants noticed him, easily tied him up and took him to the ruler Midas. The king recognized the teacher of the god of wine and received him with all honor, arranging luxurious feasts for nine days. On the tenth day, the king personally escorted Silenus to Dionysus. The god of wine and fun was delighted and mercifully invited Midas to choose any gift as a reward for the honor shown to the teacher.

The king asked that everything he did not touch would turn into gold. Dionysus squinted and complained that he had not invented Midas for himself best award, and did as he asked.

Happy, the greedy Midas left. He walks, plucking leaves from the trees, and they turn into gold; he touches the ears of corn in the fields, and even the grains in them become golden. He touches the apple and it shines, like a fruit from the garden of the Hesperides.

Even drops of water flowing down his hands turned golden. He came to his palace, filled with joyful excitement. They served him a sumptuous dinner. And it was then that the greedy King Midas realized what a terrible gift he asked from the god of wine. Everything turned to gold from his touch - which means Midas was waiting hungry. He prayed to Dionysus, begging him to take back such a gift.

Dionysus did not refuse him, supposedly as an edification, he appeared before him and taught him how to get rid of the “golden” touch. The king, at the behest of God, went to the sources of the Paktol River. Clear waters saved him from the gift by taking it into himself.

Cult of Dionysus

Eternally young Dionysus, (Bacchus or Bacchus) in Greek mythology, the fruitful forces of the earth, viticulture and winemaking. Because he liked to turn into a mighty bull, he became known as the “god with bull horns.”

The god of wine and fun, wearing a wreath of grapes and a thyrsus decorated with ivy, travels around the world in the company of maenads, satyrs and selenites, revealing to people the secret of winemaking. The delighted and grateful Greeks organized magnificent “Dionysias,” or bacchanals, in his honor.

Over time, theater evolved from Dionysius, and from hymns of praise in honor of the god of wine - dithyrambs performed by singers dressed in goat skins, the word "tragedy" appeared from τράγος - "goat" and ᾠδή, ōdè - "song". The ancient philosopher Aristotle pointed out that initially the tragedy was playful, performed by a choir of satyrs, goat-footed companions of Dionysus, and acquired its gloomy shade later.

The god of wine and fun, Dionysus, was glorified as bringing liberation from worries and loosening the shackles of a measured life and everyday life, therefore the procession of this god of Ancient Greece was of an ecstatic nature. Maenads and bacchantes danced tirelessly, satyrs raged wildly and laughed. Girdled with snakes, the noisy retinue of Dionysus destroyed everything in its path, reveling in the blood of torn wild animals and dragging crowds of mortals behind them.

Some researchers are trying to prove that the cult of the god of wine was of Eastern origin, and in Ancient Greece it became popular much later than the cults of other deities, and was able to establish itself with some difficulty.

The name of Dionysus already appears on Cretan Linear tablets dating back to around the 14th century BC, but his cult flourished only in the 7th-8th centuries AD. By this time, the god of wine and fun began to displace other gods from the pedestals of popularity.

The god of wine and fun also did not immediately become one of the twelve Olympians. However, then he began to be revered on a par with Apollo at Delphi. In Attica, Dionysia began to be held with poetic competitions. During the Hellenistic period, the cult of the god Dionysus absorbed (or was absorbed) the cult of the Phrygian god Sabazius, receiving a new permanent name - Sabazius.

Share the article with your friends!

God of wine and fun Dionysus

https://site/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dionis-150x150.jpg

The cheerful and cheerful god Dionysus was especially popular among the ancient Greeks. Holidays dedicated to him were celebrated from late autumn until spring. Often these had the character of mysteries, and even more often they smoothly flowed into banal orgies. The appearance of Dionysus God Dionysus was born from the union of an immortal and an earthly woman. Once Zeus the Thunderer could not resist the beauty of his daughter...

The Roman god of wine Bacchus (in another pronunciation - Bacchus, among the Greeks - Dionysus) personified winemaking and grapes. His cult came to Hellas and Rome from Asia and spread much later than the cult of the other gods. It gained importance as grapevine culture spread. It was very often connected with Ceres or Cybele and organized common holidays for these two representatives of agriculture.

Myths of ancient Greece. Dionysus (Bacchus). A stranger in his hometown

In Ancient Greece, primitive art was limited to only the depiction of the head of Bacchus or his mask. But these images were soon replaced by the beautiful and majestic image of old Bacchus in a luxurious, almost feminine dress, with an open and intelligent face, holding a horn and a vine branch in his hands. Only since the times Praxiteles, who was the first to depict Bacchus as a young man, is in art a type of young man with soft, almost muscleless forms, something between a male and female figure. His facial expression is some kind of mixture of bacchanalian ecstasy and tender reverie, his long, thick hair is flowing over his shoulders in fancy curls, his body is devoid of any clothing, only a goatskin is carelessly thrown over him, his feet are shod in luxurious buskins (ancient shoes), in his hands a light stick entwined with grape branches, resembling a scepter.

In later times, Bacchus quite often appears at monuments of art dressed in luxurious women's clothing. On groups and on individual statues, this god is usually depicted in a comfortable pose - reclining or sitting on a throne, and only on cameos and engraved stones is he depicted walking with the unsteady gait of a drunken person or riding some favorite animal. The most beautiful image of Bacchus with a beard is a statue that for a long time was known under the name "Sardanapalus", thanks to a later inscription, but which all experts in the history of art recognized as a statue of a god. This statue is a true type of Eastern Bacchus.

In art, the most common image of this god is known as the Theban Bacchus, a beardless and slender youth. The Greek painter Aristides painted a beautiful Bacchus, this painting was taken to Rome after the conquest of Corinth. Pliny says that the consul Mummius was the first to introduce the Romans to Hellenic works of art. During the division of military spoils, Attalus, king Pergamum, offered to pay six hundred thousand denarii for Bacchus, painted by Aristides. Amazed by this figure, the consul, suspecting that the painting had some miraculous power unknown to him, withdrew the painting from sale, despite the king’s requests and complaints, and placed it in the temple of Ceres. It was the first foreign painting to be publicly exhibited in Rome.

On all statues of the Theban type, Bacchus is depicted as a beardless youth in all the splendor of youth and beauty. The expression of his face is dreamy and languid, his body is covered with the skin of a young deer; he is also very often depicted riding on a panther or on a chariot drawn by two tigers. Vine, ivy, thyrsus (staff), cups and Bacchic masks are his usual attributes. All these are emblems of wine making and the effect it produces. In ancient times, it was assumed that ivy had the property of preventing intoxication. That is why feasters often decorated their heads with ivy. Just like a grapevine, on many statues of Bacchus it entwines a thyrsus, at the end of which there was a pine cone. In many areas of Greece, pine cones were used in the preparation of wine, which must have been very different from the present one. Judging by how easily Odysseus managed to put the Cyclops to sleep by giving him some wine, we can probably say that the wine in those days was much stronger than today. The ancient Greeks mixed honey or water into it, and only as a very rare exception did they drink pure wine.

Bacchus and Ariadne. Painting by Titian, 1520-1522

Many coins and medals stamped in honor of Bacchus show a sista, or mythical basket, in which objects used in ceremonial services were stored, and also depict a snake dedicated to Aesculapius, as if hinting at healing properties, which the Greeks attributed to wine.

The tiger, panther and lynx are the usual companions of Bacchus in all the works of art depicting his triumph, and indicate the Eastern origin of the whole myth of this god. The presence of the donkey Silenus is explained by the fact that the demon Silenus was the foster father or tutor of Bacchus; This donkey became famous, in addition, for its participation in the battle of the gods with the giants: at the sight of the giants lined up in battle order, the donkey began to bray so much that those, frightened by this cry, fled. The appearance of the hare in some Bacchic groups is explained by the fact that this animal was considered by the ancients to be a symbol of fertility. In addition, on cameos, engraved stones and bas-reliefs depicting solemn processions in honor of Bacchus, the following animals are found: a ram, a goat and a bull - a symbol of agriculture. Therefore, Bacchus is sometimes depicted as a bull, then personifying the fertility of the earth.

Light intoxication, having a stimulating effect on the human mind, causes inspiration, and therefore Bacchus is credited with some of the qualities of Apollo, this god of inspiration par excellence. Sometimes Bacchus is depicted accompanied by Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, because he was considered the inventor of the theater, that is, theatrical spectacle. At festivals in honor of Bacchus, plays began to be performed for the first time; These holidays were held during the grape harvest: grape pickers, sitting on carts and staining their faces with grape juice, uttered cheerful and witty monologues or dialogues. Little by little, the carts were replaced by a theater building, and the grape pickers by actors. Numerous masks, which the ancients often decorated tombstones, were necessary accessories for the mysteries in honor of Bacchus as the inventor of ancient tragedy and comedy. On the sarcophagi, they indicated that human life, like theatrical plays, is a mixture of pleasures and sorrows, and that every mortal is only a performer of some role.

Thus, the deity, which at first personified only wine, became a symbol of human life. The cup, one of the attributes of Bacchus, had a mystical meaning: “The soul,” explains the scientist and myth researcher Keyser, “drinking this cup, gets drunk, it forgets its high, divine origin, only wants to incarnate into a body through birth and follow that path, which will lead her to an earthly dwelling, but there, fortunately, she finds the second cup, the cup of reason; Having drunk it, the soul can be cured or sobered up from the first intoxication, and then the memory of its divine origin returns to it, and with it the desire to return to the heavenly abode.”

Many bas-reliefs have been preserved, as well as picturesque images of holidays in honor of Bacchus. The rituals performed at these holidays were very diverse. So, for example, in some areas, children, crowned with ivy and vine branches, surrounded in a noisy crowd the chariot of the god, decorated with thyrsus and comic masks, bowls, wreaths, drums, tambourines and tambourines. Following the chariot were writers, poets, singers, musicians, dancers - in a word, representatives of those professions that required inspiration, since the ancients believed that wine was the source of all inspiration. As soon as the solemn procession ended, theatrical performances and musical and literary competitions began, which lasted for several days in a row. In Rome, these holidays gave rise to such scenes of debauchery and immorality, even reaching the point of crime, that the Senate was forced to ban them. In Greece, at the beginning of the establishment of the cult of Bacchus, his holiday had the character of a modest, purely rural holiday, and only later did it turn into a luxurious orgy, with the excesses of maenads.

Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne. Painter Carracci, 1597-1602

The Bacchus processions in Alexandria were especially luxurious and magnificent. To give at least a faint idea of ​​this procession, it is enough to mention that in addition to richly dressed representatives of all nationalities of Greece and the Roman Empire, representatives of foreign countries took part in it, and, in addition to a whole crowd of disguised satyrs and silenei riding donkeys, hundreds of elephants took part in the procession , bulls, rams, many bears, leopards, giraffes, lynxes and even hippos. Several hundred people carried cages filled with all sorts of birds. Richly decorated chariots with all the attributes of Bacchus alternated with chariots depicting the entire culture of grapes and wine production - up to and including a huge press filled with wine.

Dionysus Dionysus , Bacchus or Bacchus

(Dionysus, Bacchus, Διόνυσος, Βάκχος). God of wine and winemaking, son of Zeus and Semele, daughter of Cadmus. Shortly before his birth, the jealous Hera advised Semele to beg Zeus to appear to her in all his greatness; Zeus really came to her with lightning and thunder, but she, like a mere mortal, could not bear to see him and died, giving birth to a baby prematurely. Zeus sewed the child into his thigh, where he carried him to term. Accompanied by a crowd of his attendants, maenads and bacchantes, as well as sileni and satyrs with staffs (thyrses) entwined with grapes, Dionysus walked through Hellas, Syria and Asia as far as India and returned to Europe through Thrace. On his way, he taught people everywhere about winemaking and the first beginnings of civilization. Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos, was considered the wife of Dionysus. The cult of Dionysus, which at first had a cheerful character, little by little became more and more intemperate and turned into frantic orgies, or bacchanalia. Hence the name of Dionysus - Bacchus, i.e. noisy. A special role in these celebrations was played by the priestesses of Dionysus - ecstatic women known as maenads, bacchantes, etc. Grapes, ivy, panther, lynx, tiger, donkey, dolphin and goat were dedicated to Dionysus. The Greek Dionysus corresponded to the Roman god Bacchus.

(Source: “A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities.” M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)

(Διόνυσος), Bacchus, Bacchus, in Greek mythology, the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking. A deity of eastern (Thracian and Lydian-Phrygian) origin, which spread to Greece relatively late and established itself there with great difficulty. Although the name D. is found on the tablets of the Cretan linear letter “B” back in the 14th century. BC e., the spread and establishment of the cult of D. in Greece dates back to the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. and is associated with the growth of city-states (polises) and the development of polis democracy. During this period, the cult of D. began to supplant the cults of local gods and heroes. D., as a deity of the agricultural circle, associated with the elemental forces of the earth, was constantly opposed Apollo - as primarily the deity of the tribal aristocracy. The folk basis of the cult of D. was reflected in the myths about the illegal birth of the god, his struggle for the right to become one of the Olympian gods and for the widespread establishment of his cult.
There are myths about various ancient incarnations of D., as if preparing for his arrival. Archaic hypostases of D. are known: Zagreus, son of Zeus of Crete and Persephone; Iacchus, associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries; D. - son of Zeus and Demeter (Diod. Ill 62, 2-28). According to the main myth, D. is the son of Zeus and the daughter of the Theban king Cadmus Semely. At the instigation of the jealous Hera, Semele asked Zeus to appear to her in all his greatness, and he, appearing in a flash of lightning, incinerated the mortal Semele and her tower with fire. Zeus snatched D., who was born prematurely, from the flames and sewed him into his thigh. In due time, Zeus gave birth to D., unraveling the sutures on the thigh (Hes. Theog. 940-942; Eur. Bacch. 1-9, 88-98, 286-297), and then gave D. through Hermes to be raised by the Nisean nymphs ( Eur. Bacch. 556-559) or Semele's sister Ino (Apollod. III 4, 3). D. found a grapevine. Hera instilled madness in him, and he, wandering around Egypt and Syria, came to Phrygia, where the goddess Cybele-Rhea healed him and introduced him to her orgiastic mysteries. After this, D. went to India through Thrace (Apollod. III 5, 1). From the eastern lands (from India or from Lydia and Phrygia) he returns to Greece, to Thebes. While sailing from the island of Ikaria to the island of Naxos, D. is kidnapped by Tyrrhenian sea robbers (Apollod. III 5, 3). The robbers are horrified at the sight of D.'s amazing transformations. They chained D. in chains to sell him into slavery, but the chains themselves fell from D.'s hands; entwining the mast and sails of the ship with vines and ivy, D. appeared in the form of a bear and a lion. The pirates themselves, who threw themselves into the sea out of fear, turned into dolphins (Hymn. Hom. VII). This myth reflected the archaic plant-zoomorphic origin of D. The plant past of this god is confirmed by his epithets: Evius (“ivy”, “ivy”), “bunch of grapes”, etc. (Eur. Bacch. 105, 534, 566, 608). D.'s zoomorphic past is reflected in his werewolfism and ideas about D. the bull (618, 920-923) and D. the goat. The symbol of D. as the god of the fruit-bearing forces of the earth was the phallus.
On the island of Naxos D. met his beloved Ariadna, abandoned by Theseus, kidnapped her and married her on the island of Lemnos; from him she gave birth to Oenopion, Foant and others (Apollod. epit. I 9). Wherever D. appears, he establishes his cult; everywhere along his path he teaches people viticulture and winemaking. D.'s procession, which was ecstatic in nature, was attended by bacchantes, satyrs, maenads or bassarides (one of D.'s nicknames - Bassarei) with thyrsus (staffs) entwined with ivy. Girdled with snakes, they crushed everything in their path, seized by sacred madness. With cries of “Bacchus, Evoe,” they glorified D.-Bromius (“stormy”, “noisy”), beat the tympanums, reveling in the blood of torn wild animals, carving honey and milk from the ground with their thyrsi, uprooting trees and dragging them along with them. crowds of women and men (Eur. Bacch. 135-167, 680-770). D. is famous as Liey (“liberator”), he frees people from worldly worries, removes the shackles of a measured life from them, breaks the shackles with which his enemies are trying to entangle him, and crushes walls (616-626). He sends madness to his enemies and punishes them terribly; that's what he did with his cousin Theban king Pentheus, who wanted to ban Bacchic rampages. Pentheus was torn to pieces by the Bacchae led by his mother. Agaves, who, in a state of ecstasy, mistook her son for an animal (Apollod. III 5, 2; Eur. Bacch. 1061-1152). God sent madness to Lycurgus, the son of the king of the Aedons, who opposed the cult of D., and then Lycurgus was torn to pieces by his own horses (Apollod. III 5, 1).
D. entered the number of the 12 Olympian gods late. In Delphi he began to be revered along with Apollo. On Parnassus, every two years orgies were held in honor of D., in which the fiads - bacchantes from Attica (Paus. X 4, 3) participated. In Athens, solemn processions were organized in honor of D. and the sacred marriage of the god with the wife of the archon basileus was played out (Aristot. Rep. Athen. III 3). Ancient Greek tragedy arose from the religious and cult rites dedicated to D. (Greek tragodia, lit. “song of the goat” or “song of the goats,” that is, the goat-footed satyrs - companions of D.). In Attica, D., the Great, or Urban, Dionysius was dedicated, which included solemn processions in honor of God, competitions of tragic and comic poets, as well as choirs singing dithyrambs (held in March - April); Leneys, which included the performance of new comedies (in January - February); Small, or Rural, Dionysia, preserving the remnants of agrarian magic (in December - January), when dramas already played in the city were repeated.
In Hellenistic times, the cult of D. merges with the cult of the Phrygian god Sabazia(Sabaziy became D.'s permanent nickname). In Rome, D. was revered under the name Bacchus (hence the bacchantes, bacchanalia) or Bacchus. Identified with Osiris, Serapis, Mithras, Adonis, Amun, Liber.
Lit.: Losev A.F., Ancient mythology in its historical development, M., 1957, p. 142-82; Nietzsche F., The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music, Complete. collection soch., vol. 1, [M.], 1912; Otto W. P., Dionysos. Mythos und Kultus, 2 Aufl.. Fr./M.. 1939; Jünger F. G., Griechische Götter. Apollon, Pan, Dionysos. Fr./M., 1943; Meautis G., Dionysos ou Ie pouvoir de fascination, in his book: Mythes inconnus de la Grèce antique. P., , p.33-63; Jeanmaire N., Dionysos. Histoire du culte de Bacchus, P., 1951.
A. F. Losev.

Many monuments of ancient art have been preserved, embodying the image of D. and the plots of myths about him (D.’s love for Ariadne, etc.) in plastic (statues and reliefs) and vase painting. Scenes of the procession of D. and his companions and bacchanalia were widespread (especially in vase paintings); These stories are reflected in the reliefs of sarcophagi. D. was depicted among the Olympians (reliefs of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon) and in scenes of gigantomachy, as well as sailing on the sea (Kylix Exekias “D. in a boat”, etc.) and fighting with the Tyrrhenians (relief of the monument to Lysicrates in Athens, c. 335 BC . e.). In medieval book illustrations, D. was usually depicted as the personification of autumn - the time of harvest (sometimes only in October). During the Renaissance, the theme of life in art was associated with the affirmation of the joy of being; became widespread from the 15th century. scenes of bacchanalia (the beginning of their depiction was laid by A. Mantegna; the plot was addressed by A. Dürer, A. Altdorfer, H. Baldung Green, Titian, Giulio Romano, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci, P. P. Rubens, J. Jordaens, N . Poussin). The same symbolism permeates the plots of “Bacchus, Venus and Ceres” and “Bacchus and Ceres” (see article Demeter), especially popular in Baroque painting. In the 15th-18th centuries. Scenes depicting the meeting of D. and Ariadne, their wedding and triumphal procession were popular in painting. Among the works of plastic art are the reliefs “Bacchus turns the Tyrrhenians into dolphins” by A. Filarete (on the bronze doors of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome), “The Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne” by Donatello, the statues “Bacchus” by Michelangelo, J. Sansovino, etc. D. occupies a special place place among other ancient characters in Baroque garden sculpture. The most significant works of the 18th - early. 19th centuries - statues of “Bacchus” by I. G. Danneker and B. Thorwaldsen. Among musical works of the 19th and 20th centuries. on the plots of the myth: the opera-ballet by A. S. Dargomyzhsky “The Triumph of Bacchus”, the divertimento by C. Debussy “The Triumph of Bacchus” and his opera “D.”, the opera by J. Massenet “Bacchus”, etc.

(Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”)

(Bacchus, Bacchus) - the god of viticulture and winemaking, the son of Zeus and Hera (according to other sources, Zeus and the Theban princess and goddess Semele, according to other sources, Zeus and Persephone). In honor of Dionysus, festivals were celebrated - Dionysia and Bacchanalia.

// Adolphe-William BOOGREAU: The Childhood of Bacchus // Nicolas POUSSIN: Midas and Bacchus // Franz von STUCK: Boy Bacchus riding a panther // TITIAN: Bacchus and Ariadne // Apollo Nikolaevich MAYKOV: Bacchus // Konstantinos CAVAFY: Retinue of Dionysus / / Dmitry OLERON: Heraion. Hermes and Bacchus of Praxiteles. Bacchus // A.S. PUSHKIN: The Triumph of Bacchus // N.A. Kuhn: DIONYSUS // N.A. Kuhn: THE BIRTH AND UPBRINGING OF DIONYSUS // N.A. Kuhn: DIONYSUS AND HIS PEACE // N.A. Kuhn: LYCURG // N.A. Kuhn: DAUGHTERS OF MINIA // N.A. Kuhn: TYRRENIAN SEA ROBBEERS // N.A. Kuhn: ICARIUS // N.A. Kuhn: MIDAS

(Source: “Myths of Ancient Greece. Dictionary-reference book.” EdwART, 2009.)

in Greek mythology of Zeus and Themele, the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture and winemaking.

(Source: “Dictionary of spirits and gods of German-Scandinavian, Egyptian, Greek, Irish, Japanese, Mayan and Aztec mythologies.”)

See what “Dionysus” is in other dictionaries:

- (ancient Greek Διόνυσος) ... Wikipedia

- (Bacchus) Greek deity, the embodiment of life force. The most ancient forms of the cult of D. were preserved in Thrace, where they had an “orgiastic” character: cult participants, dressed in animal skins, worked themselves into a frenzy (ecstasy) in mass celebrations... Literary encyclopedia

And husband. Borrowing Report: Dionisovich, Dionisovna; decomposition Dionysich.Origin: (In ancient mythology: Dionysus is the god of the vital forces of nature, the god of wine.) Name day: (see Denis) Dictionary of personal names. Dionysus See Denis... Dictionary of personal names

- (Greek Dionisos). Greek name for the god Bacchus or Bacchus. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. DIONYSUS in the ancients. Greeks the same as Bacchus, another name for the god of wine and fun; the Romans have Bacchus. Complete dictionary... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

The ancient Greeks worshiped many gods, their religion as a reflection of character: sensual, unbridled, like nature itself with its elements. Dionysus is one of the favorite gods of the Hellenes, direct proof that pleasure occupied an exceptional and paramount place in their lives.

Who is Dionysus?

Dionysus, the god of wine, burst into the measured life of the Greeks with his characteristic fun, frenzy and madness. The Junior Olympian is of Thracian origin. Also known by other names:

• Bacchus;
• Bacchus;
• Elder Dionysus;
• Zagreus;
• Liber;
• Dithyramb;
• Orthos;
• Trochee.

Dionysus had the following functions and powers:

• was responsible for the revival of vegetation in the spring;
• patronized farmers;
• taught people the craft of growing grapes and winemaking;
• sent madness to those who did not want to join him;
• considered the “father” of the theatrical genre of tragedy.

The parents of the god of wine and the vine are considered to be Zeus and Semele. The myth of the birth of Dionysus is shrouded in passion. The jealous wife of the thunderer Hera, having learned that Semele was pregnant, took the form of her nurse, and persuaded her to beg Zeus to appear in divine guise. Semele, when meeting with God, asked if he was ready to fulfill one of her wishes, and he vowed to fulfill her every whim. Hearing the request, Zeus tore out the still unripe fetus from his beloved’s womb and sewed it up in his thigh, and when the time came, Zeus gave birth to a son, Dionysus.

The cult of Dionysus in Ancient Greece was called Dionysia. The grape harvest holidays were called the Little Dionysia, accompanied by colorful performances with dressing up, singing, and drinking wine. The main Dionysias were held in March - in honor of the reborn god. Early versions Bacchanalia festivities were held under the cover of darkness and consisted of wild dances of maenads in a trance state, ritual copulations. The Death of the god Dionysus was played out in the form of a bull and the sacrificial animal was torn into pieces and the warm meat was eaten.

Attribute of Dionysus

In ancient works of art, Dionysus was depicted as a young beardless youth with feminine features. The most important attribute of the god is the staff of Dionysus or a thyrsus made of a fennel stalk topped with a pine cone - a phallic symbol of the creative principle. Other attributes and symbols of Bacchus:

1. Vine. Twisted around a rod is a sign of fertility and the craft of winemaking;
2. Ivy is believed to protect against severe intoxication.
3. Cup - drinking it, the soul forgot about its divine origin, and in order to be cured it was necessary to drink another - the cup of reason, then the memory of divinity and the desire to return to heaven return.

The companions of Dionysus are no less symbolic:

• Melpomene - the muse of tragedy;
• Maenads are faithful followers or priestesses of the cult of Dionysus;
• the panther, tiger and lynx - felines symbolize his ascent and triumph and remind him that the cult came from the East;
• the bull is a symbol of fertility and agriculture. Dionysus was often depicted as a bull.

Dionysus - mythology

The Hellenes revered nature in all its manifestations. Fertility is an important part of the life of rural residents. A rich harvest is always good sign that the gods are benevolent and good-natured. The Greek god Dionysus in myths appears cheerful, but at the same time capricious and sending curses and destruction to those who do not recognize him. The myths about Bacchus are filled with a variety of feelings: joy, sadness, anger and madness.

Dionysus and Apollo

Different philosophers and historians interpret the conflict between Apollo and Dionysus in their own way. Apollo, the radiant and golden-haired god of sunlight, patronized the arts, morality and religion. He encouraged people to observe moderation in everything. And the Greeks, before the advent of the cult of Dionysus, tried to follow the laws. But Dionysus “burst” into souls and illuminated everything unsightly, those bottomless abysses that exist in every person, and the measured Hellenes began to indulge in revelry, drunkenness and orgies, honoring the great Bacchus.

Two opposing forces, the “light” Apollonian and the “dark” Dionysian, came together in a duel. Reason collided with feelings, this is how historians describe the struggle between two cults. Light, measure, cheerfulness and science against the cult of the earth, which contains the darkness of mysteries with the immeasurable consumption of wine, the making of sacrifices, frantic dancing and orgies. But just as there is no light without darkness, so in this conflict something new and unusual was born - a new genre of art appeared - Greek tragedies about the temptations and abyss of the human soul.

Dionysus and Persephone

Dionysus, the god of Ancient Greece, and Persephone, the goddess of fertility, wife of Hades, and with him the ruler of the underworld in ancient Greek mythology, are interconnected in several legends:

1. One of the myths about the birth of Dionysus mentions Persephone as his mother. Zeus was inflamed with passion for his own daughter, turning into a snake, he entered into a relationship with her, from which Dionysus was born. In another version, Dionysus descends into the underworld and gives the myrtle tree to Persephone so that she will release his mother Semele. Dionysus gives his mother a new name, Tiona, and ascends to heaven with her.
2. Persephone walked through the meadow of the island of Perg in Sicily and was abducted by Hades (Hades), in some sources by Zagreus (one of the names of Dionysus) into the kingdom of the dead. The inconsolable mother Demeter searched for a long time for her young daughter all over the world, the earth became barren and gray. Having finally found out where her daughter was, Demeter demanded that she be returned. Hades let his wife go, but before that he gave her seven pomegranate seeds to eat, which arose from the blood of Dionysus. You can’t eat anything in the kingdom of the dead, but Persephone, overjoyed that she was about to return, ate the grains. From this time on, he spends spring, summer and autumn above, and the winter months in the underground world.

Dionysus and Aphrodite

The myth of Dionysus and the goddess of beauty Aphrodite is famous for the fact that an ugly child was born from their fleeting relationship. The son of Dionysus and Aphrodite was unusual and so ugly that the beautiful goddess abandoned the baby. Priapus' huge phallus was constantly erect. As an adult, Priapus tried to seduce his father Dionysus. In ancient Greece, the son of the god of wine and Aphrodite was revered in some provinces as a god of fertility.

Dionysus and Ariadne

Dionysus's wife and companion Ariadne was initially abandoned by her lover Theseus on Fr. Naxos. Ariadne cried for a long time, then fell asleep. All this time, Dionysus, who arrived on the island, watched her. Eros fired his arrow of love and Ariadne’s heart burned with new love. During the mystical wedding, Ariadne's head was crowned with a crown given to her by Aphrodite herself and the mountains of the island. At the end of the ceremony, Dionysus raised a crown to the sky in the form of a constellation. Zeus, as a gift to his son, endowed Ariadne with immortality, which elevated her to the rank of goddess.

Dionysus and Artemis

In another myth about the love of Dionysus and Ariadne, the god Dionysus asks Artemis, the eternally young and chaste goddess of the hunt, to kill Ariadne, who liked him, because she married Theseus in a sacred grove, the only way Ariadne could become his wife, through the initiation of death. Artemis shoots an arrow at Ariadne, who is then resurrected and becomes the wife of the god of fun and fertility, Dionysus.

The cult of Dionysus and Christianity

With the penetration of Christianity into Greece, the cult of Dionysus did not become obsolete for a long time, the people continued to honor festivals dedicated to God, and the Greek church was forced to fight with its own methods; Dionysus was replaced by Saint George. Old sanctuaries dedicated to Bacchus were destroyed, and Christian churches were built in their place. But even now, during the grape harvest, one can discern the praise of Bacchus in the holidays.

We recommend reading

Office programs

Why do you dream about big tarantula spiders?

Android instructions

Dream Interpretation: why do you dream of receiving a gift from a man, woman, deceased, ex?

Windows instructions

Why do you dream that you are naked?

Android instructions

“Dream Interpretation I dreamed of a sheet, why I dreamed of a sheet in a dream I dreamed of a stain on the sheet after a guy

Smartphones

Why do you dream about a child’s funeral?

Smartphones

Design (origami) lesson in the senior group “One, two, three, boat, float!”