Cult of Dionysus: what is it? Interesting facts, features, rituals and traditions

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

It is known that people sometimes endow the gods they worship with their own traits. No wonder F. M. Dostoevsky in the novel "Demons" wrote that "God is the synthetic personality of the whole people." Thus, we can say that the cult of Dionysius is a clear manifestation of the life-affirming principle inherent in the inhabitants of Ancient Greece, since this immortal inhabitant of Olympus was for them the patron of winemaking, fun, poetic inspiration and religious ecstasy. He also came to the aid of those in whom the ardor of love was weakening. In general, there was a guy "one of the best."

Own or alien?

According to established traditions, all Greek gods were revered. The cult of Dionysus stands out among them with especially bright and noisy festivities, often turning into unbridled orgies. This did not correspond to the sober temperament and clear mind of the Hellenes so much that at one time the researchers believed that it was foreign to them, and was accidentally borrowed from some barbarian tribes. However, when intheir hands fell on records made before the Trojan War, that is, before the end of the 13th century BC. e., it became clear that already in those ancient times Dionysus was well known in Ancient Hellas and willingly went towards his fantasies.

The fruit of sinful love

Like the customs associated with the worship of all Greek gods without exception, the cult of Dionysus is based on legends generated by folk fantasy. According to one of them, he was the bastard son of the supreme god Zeus, who commanded thunder, lightning, and at the same time the whole world, to which he spewed them. The mother was a young goddess - either Semele (Earth), or Selena (Moon) - no one remembers this after years of prescription.

But it is known for certain that the lawful wife of Zeus - Hera (the patroness of marriage), having learned about the adventures of her missus, inflamed with anger and insidiously ruined his passion, which was already in an "interesting position". The fornicator himself had to bear her fetus (with the Greek gods - this is easy), and having been relieved of the burden by a son, give him up for education to the nymphs who lived on one of the islands of the Aegean Sea (it seems to be Crete or Nikos). It is quite clear that these frivolous girls could not teach the guy anything worthwhile, and made him a reckless playboy.

Drinking Friends

To top it off, the young man, as they say, got into bad company - he met with a very dubious deity named Selenus, who taught him how to make wine from grapes, but did not explain that it should be drunk in moderation. Growing up and leaving the island where hecontinued to hide from the vengeful Hera (the wife of his father Zeus), Dionysus, together with Selena, who became his bosom friend, went to wander the world and, according to legend, traveled a long way. They say that this couple was seen even in Egypt and Syria.

The propensity to travel is commendable, but the trouble is that along the way, friends who knew the art of winemaking arranged daring festivities and introduced people to immeasurable libations, or, more simply, planted drunkenness. Is it any wonder now that the cult of Dionysus is a somewhat ambiguous element of Greek culture?

Justified brawler

As you know, drunkenness does not lead to good, and the story of Dionysus is a vivid example of this. From the legends it is clear that over time, the merry god began to fall into madness and arrange the most unbridled brawls, which, however, happens to mere mortals who do not know the limits in alcohol. They say that once it came to the murder of some Greek who fell under his hot hand.

But it just so happened that the "celestials" are always trying to whitewash, blaming them on someone else. So the Greeks explained the drunken antics of Dionysus with witchcraft, allegedly sent to him by the same insidious Hero. The jealous woman did not make excuses and took the blame on herself. This version has become generally accepted because the cult of Dionysus is, as the Hellenes themselves claimed, part of their spiritual heritage.

It should be noted that over time, the brawler began to show aggressiveness towards those who did not wantto drink with him and stubbornly declined his invitations. For example, one of the legends says that the Thracian king Ligurg, a convinced teetotaler and champion of a he althy lifestyle, he deprived of his mind, and in a fit of fury, he hacked his own son with an ax, mistaking him for a vine. Just as sad was the fate of the daughters of Tsar Miney, who refused to participate in the orgy and paid for it with their minds. The unfortunate virgins literally tore to pieces the ruler of the city of Thebes who came to visit their father. Many other similar episodes are given in ancient Greek mythology.

Unfortunate Ariadne

Giving a brief description of the cult of Dionysus, one cannot ignore the very noble deeds he performed during his many years of wandering. As you can see, the breadth of the soul and at the same time a tendency to drunkenness can coexist peacefully not only in Mother Russia. An example of this is the marriage of our hero to the daughter of the Cretan king Minos - Ariadne, treacherously deceived by her lover - the son of the Athenian king Theseus.

Once, with the help of her famous thread, she helped this major get out of the labyrinth, where a certain monster was going to dine with them. In gratitude for this, and perhaps for other reasons, Ariadne hoped for a marriage proposal, but, being out of danger, he treacherously abandoned her.

The wife who fell from the sky

Unable to survive the grief, the young maiden decided to end her life, but, throwing herself off a cliff, fell not into the raging sea, but straight into the arms of Dionysus, who happened to be onshore. Filled with compassion and appreciating the beauty that literally fell on him from the sky, the hero took Ariadne as his wife, and his father, the almighty Zeus, endowed her with immortality as a wedding gift. How she reacted to the drunkenness that her husband indulged in, the legends are silent.

They do not talk about how the married life of the frivolous deity developed in the future. It is only known that he was attracted to women no less than to wine, and the list of love affairs of Dionysus is very extensive. It mentions many victories over both goddesses and mortal beauties. Once even a young Hermaphrodite, who combined the signs of both sexes, visited his bed.

Loving son and brave warrior

It should be noted that the cult of Dionysus is also the glorification of a hero, albeit a fictional one, but by some of his deeds giving cause for national pride. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall the participation attributed to him in the victorious military campaign against India. The legend says that, having fought on the banks of the Ganges for three years, he returned home, fanned by glory and burdened with rich booty. In connection with this, the Greeks established the custom to hold stormy Bacchic festivities in his honor every three years with songs, dances and immoderate libations. He is also credited with the creation of the first bridge across the Euphrates, built by him near the city of Zeugma.

Dionysus has established himself as an exemplary son. Remembering that he owes his birth to the secret love of his mother for Zeus, for which she wasslain from the world by the jealous Hero, he descended into Hades (the kingdom of the dead) and brought her out of there alive and unharmed. The lucky dad endowed his former lover with immortality, making her a goddess named Fiona.

Sea Raiders Error

Just as the worship of other ancient Greek gods, such as Osiris, Attis and Adonis, is associated with legends of various kinds of miracles, the cult of Dionysus is also associated with the supernatural abilities granted to him - a celestial after all. In this regard, we can give an example of how he safely got rid of the pirates who kidnapped him.

It is said that one day Dionysus hired these robbers by mistake, going by sea to the island of Naxos. When the misunderstanding was cleared up, it was already too late - the pirates put him in chains and headed for the shores of Asia Minor, hoping to sell him at one of the slave markets. However, it was, as they say, not their day.

At the word of the captive, the fetters suddenly fell from his hands, and the oars and masts, turning into snakes, began to wriggle with a hiss on the deck. To top it off, the branches of ivy and vines were suddenly wrapped tightly around each other, and the air was filled with the sounds of a flute that had come from nowhere. The pirates were desperate people, and it was difficult to scare them with something, but from such a surprise they jumped overboard in horror, while the uncontrolled ship suddenly turned around and meekly headed for the island of Naxos.

Eternal inhabitant of Olympus

How did the story of the earthly life of the cheerful Greek god end -unknown, for the simple reason that he, like all other celestials, is immortal and, apparently, is now safely somewhere in the transcendental heights of Olympus. As for the festivities held in his honor, over time they lost their sacred component and took the form of a folk tradition that allows people to break away from everyday worries for a while, indulge in fun, or, simply put, relax.

Is the cult of Dionysus a religion of slaves?

What is the religion of slaves, according to the definition of the classics of Marxism-Leninism (not by night they will be remembered)? This is primarily a religious doctrine aimed at justifying the system of class inequality existing in the world and instilling in the lower strata of society a false hope for retribution for obedience to the exploiters, which awaits them in the afterlife. They illustrated their concept with quotations from the Holy Scriptures, pretentiously chosen and falsely interpreted.

However, even with such a narrow and fundamentally wrong approach, the cult of Dionysius cannot be associated with attempts to solve or, conversely, hush up social problems. He did not promise anything to anyone in the future, but only called for making your life at least a little warmer and happier today and now. “Stop the course of gray everyday life, fill the goblets with sparkling wine and, holding hands, start dancing,” he called. What kind of slavery are we talking about here? Slaves can only hiss angrily and sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of their hopeless life.

Incompatible cults

BarelyIs there any reason to look for traces of the cult of Dionysus in Russia. The history of religion does not give any serious reason for this. As for the pseudo-scientific claims, often made by modern pagan advocates, that he was introduced by Prince Vladimir along with Christianity, they are at least unfounded.

In the works of many leading historians, one can find mention that in Byzantium, which inherited many elements of ancient Greek culture, there really was a worship of some Hellenic gods, among whom was Dionysus. However, none of them says that he somehow migrated to the pantheon of our ancestors, so such assurances can be considered idle fabrications, especially since the cult of Dionysus and Christianity are incompatible.