Dionysus

Fascinating documentary by Beeb4 on the cult of Dionysus/Bacchus.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09z8d01/bacchus-uncovered-ancient-god-of-ecstasy

It covers ancient and modern day Greece, Georgia, India and of course, Blighty where an old temple to the god was discovered in London. Not that he needs a temple here really, seeing as his devotees pour out of city offices and get themselves into a thoroughly Bacchic state at the end of every week. Some of the wine you get in city pubs is an initiation ordeal in itself.

The documentary didn't touch on one part of the old myth I find particularly odd. Why does Dionysus fall in love with Ariadne specifically? So she helps Theseus kill the minotaur courtesy of her winding thread, and Theseus carries her off only to dump her on an island (Naxos I think) before he goes home, and there she is found by the God of wine, who lifts her out of her grief, marries her and takes her to the heavens. What is the pull between the god of ecstasy and the woman of the labyrinth?

There is another legend in which she is already in a relationship with Dionysus when Theseus kills her, and the god goes down to the underworld to rescue her, then brings her to the stars again... Either way, Theseus is not good news, and Dionysus is the business. The documentary dwells upon the Roman alarm at drunken powerful women who followed this divine ally and friend to women. It's not hard to see the attraction.

I fear I wrong the Honourable Men... I do fear it.

I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong—
Who, you all know, are honourable men.
I will not do them wrong. I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men

I remember believing Tony Blair about that war. Friends with strong Whitehall connections had mentioned the horrors of Hussein's regime long before action became an option, I believed them. Nor do I have a single idea of what's true and what's false regarding Syria now, but I do know that any action proposed should go through parliament, or else why have parliament at all?

There's one option we could take straight away to good result; we could stop selling components for chemical weapons. How hard is that? Too hard for us apparently. But bombing some place without a point? Hell yes, we're in like Flynn. Will this bring aid, will this stop attacks, will this supply one hospital? If it will, let us work out how, let us, for god's sake, work out what we are doing and why. Do we even bother with factual information any more?

These people, they make Tony Blair look like Ghandi. Their lies are ridiculous in peace time, god alone knows what they'll turn into if this becomes anything else, and god help us all if Johnson is given rein; he wants to be Churchill and for that he needs a war. Fear wronging the honourable men?

We have no honourable men in the cabinet, nor women neither.