Comparing Apollo And Dionysus In The Thousand And One Nights

The Principles of Apollo and Dionysus
Throughout the course of this semester the similarities and differences between two ancient Greek gods, Apollo and Dionysus, have been heavily discussed; however, not many similarities have been discovered. The contrasting principles of Apollo and Dionysus are strongly presented throughout the works of The Essential Rumi and The Thousand and One Nights. Apollo and Dionysus appear to create a distinct dichotomy between their individual characteristics. Apollo, the god of light, is often portrayed as a masculine figure, whereas Dionysus, the god of wine, is depicted in a more feminine image. Apollo is closely associated with music, epic poetry, order, logic, and rationality. Contrary to Apollo, Dionysus is known for disorder, festivals,

ecstasy, dramatic poetry, nature, emotion, and mysticism.
The Essential Rumi is a collection of mystical poems. They lean heavily towards the Dionysian aspect due to the immense emotion often portrayed throughout the excerpts. According to the website poets.org, Jalal al-Din Rumi, commonly referred to as Rumi, was born in 1207 C.E. on the eastern edge of the Persian Empire. He was a descendent from a long line of theologians, Islamic jurists, and mystics. When Rumi was a teenager, Fariduddin Attar, a poet and teacher, recognized him as a great spirit. In 1231, after his father’s death, Rumi became the head of the spiritual learning community. Thirteen years later Rumi encountered Shams Tabriz, a “God-man” who had taken a vow of poverty. Their meeting is viewed as the turning point in Rumi’s life, and it was at this point in his life that Rumi believed “both his real life and poetry life began” (poetry.org). Rumi became a prolific writer resulting in a multitude of verses.
A collection of emotionally driven poems was compiled into The Essential Rumi. Throughout the poems, Rumi is continually expressing concepts and ideas in a very abstract way. One of the many examples of Dionysian characteristics occurs in the poem “Water from Your Spring.” He states “Like a fresh idea in an artist’s mind, you fashion things before they come into being” (Barks). This thought is expressing the idea of imperfection. Rumi is portraying imperfection through the artist’s mind by saying even the person with the blueprint of a perfect idea never truly achieves perfection. Although this is one small sampling it demonstrates the chaotic aspect of Dionysius. The concept of perfection and order can never truly be depicted in the earthly world; therefore, chaos is one of the many repercussions of imperfection.
The Thousand and One Nights is another work that characterizes Dionysius. A few of the characteristics depicted in this story are feminism, mysticism, and festivals. The Thousand and One Nights tells the story of two kings, whom are brothers, discovering the unfaithfulness of their wives. The brothers set out on a quest to see if other men had also been cheated on by their wives. Eventually, the king “made it his regular custom, every time he took a virgin to his bed, to kill her at the expiration of the night” (Lane). This tradition continued for three years until the kingdom had been decimated of eligible bachelorettes. As the king lays eyes upon his next conquest, little does he know that she is formulating a plan to keep her head on her shoulders. On the night of their marriage she begins her plan by telling her husband a story in which she conveniently creates a cliffhanger. Thus resulting in the king not beheading her.
The idea of feminism is depicted through the adulterous acts of the two king’s original wives as well as the final woman taking control of her destiny.

By the original wives committing adultery, they were fulfilling their own desires and pleasures. The final wife displayed her feminist qualities by controlling her destiny through weaving her tales of mysticism. Mysticism played a huge role throughout this story. Chapter one, “The Story of the Merchant and the Jinnee,” begins with the story she told on the first night of marriage and continues into the third night. The wife tells a story with characters such as an “efreet, of enormous height” (Lane) and a jinnee. Those two characters directly depict mysticism; therefore, they are representations of Dionysus. Another example of the Dionysian theme depicted in The Thousand and One Nights is the huge welcoming festival that took place towards the beginning of the story. The welcoming festival was in honor of the king being reunited with his brother after many years apart. One can assume that there was a steady supply of wine at the royal event. Yet again, this is a direct correlation to Dionysius, the god of wine and

festivities.
Upon studying the dichotomy and characteristics of Apollo and Dionysus the works examined align more closely with the traits Dionysus represents. The Essential Rumi is filled with deeply emotional poems born out of the mourning from the loss of his friend and mentor. The Thousand and One Nights is a compilation of many Arabic fairytales filled with fantasies of jinnees and magic. Also the story brings forth a woman taking control of her life during a time period and culture where women were simply viewed as property. As with most stories the verses of Rumi and the mysticism in the Arabic fairytales provide entertainment at face value; however, there are also deeper meanings and moral lessons to be learned hidden beyond the surface. Though the deeper meanings and moral lessons do not immediately jump off the pages, one can truly gain a greater insight and appreciation towards the ancient authors ability to see shades of grey in a black and white world. If the world was strictly Apollonian or Dionysian it would be bland and monotonous or hectic and confusing. Human beings thrive off of trying to differentiate themselves from their neighbor. Thankfully, the world not only has characteristics of Apollo, but it also has characteristics of Dionysus.