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Ancient Greeks views of their gods
Ancient Greeks views of their gods
Ancient Greeks views of their gods
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Dionysus - the ancient Greek god of wine, merry making, and madness. Dionysus is included in some lists of the twelve Olympians of Ancient Greek religion. Dionysus was the last god to be accepted into Mt. Olympus. He was the also youngest Olympian, and the only one to have a mortal mother. The Dionysia was a large festival held in ancient Athens in honor of Dionysus. During the festival, numerous theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and comedies were preformed while people would eat and drink, especially wine. Dionysus, a major figure in ancient Greek religion, represents more than just wine and partying. He is a symbol of man's flaws when it came to his social life, and the madness that would come of it. Dionysus personifies the effects of drinking wine throughout his myths. He could act calm at one moment, and then insane the next. This is much like the feelings that arise when drinking wine. If wine is consumed reasonably, the results could be pleasant; one would become relaxed, and calm. However, if one consume too much and becomes drunk, the effects become negative, one would be unruly and unpredictable and sometimes violent.
Because of Dionysus’ strange birth, and his mortal mother, he stood out from the other Olympians. Dionysus' mother was a mortal woman named Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes. Dionysus' father was Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. Zeus' wife, Hera, discovered Zeus' affair with Semele while Semele was pregnant. Hera disguised herself as a nurse and confronted Semele, who confirmed to Hera that Zeus was the father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe Semele, and made Semele question if she was really impregnated by Zeus. Zeus told Semele that she could ask him for on...
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...ne gets after drinking too much wine, and becomes drunk.
Dionysus, a major figure in ancient Greece's religion, primarily symbolized and personified the nature of wine. When used reasonably it can be pleasant, however, if misused it can provoke evident negative effects. This is proven through Dionysus' double sided personality. In ancient Greece, Dionysus was a symbol of the enjoyment that one gains from partying, and his personality sometimes mirrored the calming effects of drinking wine. But Dionysus was also a warning to do both in moderation, because the repercussions of doing both with excess could be dreadful.
Works Cited
Encyclopedia Mythica: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dionysus.html Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/380839/Midas Princeton.edu: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Pentheus.html
Dionysos in his own perspective or making him appear in a way that he’s supposed to
...ty since "things could happen in the real life of Athens which were virtually unthinkable in tragedy, and vice versa." Perhaps the safest assessment of Dionysus is that while not a direct opponent of the traditional ways, his presence, and especially his effect on other characters, serves to highlight many social norms. According to Bernad Knox, "From start to finish, Euripides was 'attempting to show citizens bred in the traditional views...that such conceptions of the gods should offend them.'" Perhaps we as readers will never fully understand the Dionysus that appears in this play, but a closing look at a remark of the Chorus may bring us a step closer to this understanding:
...t is also important to notice that every character seems to have wide eyes and dark circles drawn under their eyes. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects because the eyes show the underlying theme of complete inebriation. This in turn, proves the impact that Dionysus had on his followers as well as those who he conquered. Wine brought great power to its creator, and made a lasting impact on history. With these devices of communication, we are able to see that the follower wanted to capture Dionysus’s legacy by creating a sarcophagus of remembrance in his honor.
Dionysus, son of Zues and Semele and Apollo, son of Zues and Leto, both were born under strange conditions. Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zues after being fully grown, and Apollo's mother, Leto, was in labor for nine days with him because Hera did not want him to be born and would not give Leto a safe place for the child to be delivered. Both these Gods have the need for power and a very creative drive. They spent their youth recruiting new worshipers for their respective cults in which they started, each cult showing their divinity. They are both associated with the phenomenon of ecstasy, meaning to stand outside oneself. In one such case, Apollo's priestess Pythia was overcome by his spirit and began speaking in tongues. Also when possessed by Dionysus, his followers similarly changed there normal actions, breaking into wild dances and "experienced a rapturous sense of union with their God." This shows how they made contact with humans, but in very different ways.
I decided to analyze the similarities and differences between the two gods: Zeus and his son Dionysus. Even though Dionysus is of the same lineage of Zeus, this does not mean they share all of the same characteristics of one another. They differ greatly in attitude, appearance and morals. Zeus is considered the king of all gods, and he proudly uses his powers for his own amusement and pleasure, often at the expense of others lives. Whereas, Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility and he uses his powers to bring both pleasure and an escape from the grief that plagues ones mind but this can come at a cost leading the consumer to become unpredictable and easily influenced through overindulgence and addiction.
...trated this by betraying the trust that people had in men and the gods with his foolish and reckless action against Cadmus and his family. Dionysus refuted rational thinking by letting his emotions for revenge stand in the way of his contemplating how a god should behave. In doing all the things Dionysus has destroyed the ideal way one would expect a god to conduct their self. Euripides portrays a Dionysus that single handily destroys all the cultural values of Hellenic Greece; however, Euripides is able to capture the changing values of his audience and pave the way for the culture of Hellenistic Greece to begin to dominate societal thought.
arrangement, the importance of drama and religion, setting, location. and architectural features of the building. In ancient Greece, festivals were mainly held at the Great Dionysia. This was the oldest theatre in Greece and many plays were performed. here, for example, the first performance of Antigone.
or loyalty to Him. The gods of Hellenic texts, like in Oedipus at Colonus, the
The story of Athena’s birth is a very interesting one, as her birth like most from older pathos is not a normal birth story like todays births. Most of Athena’s birth stories state that she had no mother and only a father, Zeus. The story starts with two people, a God and a titan; we know them as Zeus and Metis.
Greek tragedies began at a festival in honor of Dionysius, who was the god of wine. At the early festivals, drinking, quarrels, and sexual activity occurred frequently. Later on, tragedies gained much more respect and were taken very seriously. The plays dealt with man's relationship with god(s). These plays also dealt with a specific instance of life. The chorus wore goat-skins and served a great purpose in the tragedies, themselves. Thespis, the father of the tragedy, created an actor who talked with the leader of the chorus to further make the importance of the chorus seen.
Theater was an important part of Ancient Greek Civilization. History of Greek theatre began with religious festivals which aim to honor Dionysus, a god. During the festivals some citizens sing songs and perform improvisation plays and other participants of festivals judges this performances to decide which one of them was the best. These plays form the foundation of the Greek Theatre. Because of the competition between performers to create best performances, plays gained an aesthetic perspective and became a form of art. So, theatre as a part of religious rituals took attention of people and gained an importance in Ancient Greek Society.
In Ancient Greece, the lives of the multi-religious yet cognitive people were structured accordingly to their religious practices. Althought there was no dominant set of religious beliefs or dieties, the Greeks believed in what rather seems to be a pantheon of gods all similar in each definitive culture that seem to come together and reign supreme as the polytheistic religion of the Greek people. These beliefs came about from cultural diffusion between different religions and are reflected majorly in Roman polytheistic beliefs which transpired into the beliefs of many other cultures. It is believed that the Ancient Greek religion was comprised of ideologies from philosphers such as Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, and that it became significant through the poetry of the epic writer Homer. The Greek beliefs influenced the cultures and minds of people in many city states throughout Ancient Greece especially Athens, Sparta, and the Minoan civilization and served as a foundation for the culture of these civilizations.
Bacchus, the God of Wine and intoxication, is known in Greek mythology as Dionysus, and is also known by other names such as Bakchos and Liber. His name means “twice born” or “child of the double door.” Bacchus was born to Zeus and Semele. Hera, wife of Zeus was jealous and tricked Semele into killing herself. Hermes, the messenger God, saved the unborn baby and sewed him up in Zeus’ thigh. After he was born, he sat at the right hand of Zeus. Apparently, his appearance was quite striking, though no specific descriptions were found of his actual looks. Bacchus is to whom we owe the thanks of inventing wine. He appears in numerous myths, almost always accompanied by Centaurs, Satyrs, and Maenads, or women who always seemed mad with joy. Bacchus has his own festival aptly named Bacchanalia. This festival is celebrated on March 16 and 17. During Bacchanalia, orgies in honor of Bacchus were introduced in Rome around 200 BC. These infamous celebrations, notorious for their sexual and criminal character, got so out of hand that they were forbidden by the Roman Senate in 186 BC. His attributes in iconography include a drinking vessel, an ivy wreath, grape vines, and the thyrsos (a long fennel stalk topped with ivy leaves). Bacchus was also associated with resurrection because he is identified with Zagreus, son of Zeus and Persephone who was killed, dismembered, and eaten by the Titans. His heart was saved and he was reborn through Semele.
Prometheus' birth has two sides of stories behind the myth. Most people, in that time period, weren't sure who Prometheus' mother was. His father, on the other hand, was Iapetus, one of the Titans. One of Prometheus' mothers in the stories was Clymene, one of the Oceanids, and the other version has it that Asia, also one of the Oceanids, was Iapetus' spouse (Parada 4). Whatever the case was, Epimetheus was Prometheus' brother. Later in life, Prometheus would tell Epimetheus not to accept any gift from Zeus because of the vision he would get from his ability to before-hand tell the future. This Epimetheus would later ignore when he would marry Zeus' creation, Pandora (Parada 3).