Dionysus

[smokingboot]

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.

Comments

[mallorys_camera]

Have you read The King Must Die? One of my favorite books when I was a kid.

It's Mary Renault's attempt at anthropological reconstruction of events that may have led to the Theseus myth. The whole book is a series of standoffs between the Old Religion (disciples of the Mother earth goddess) and the New Religion (disciples of the Sky gods.)

In the Old Religion, kings are regularly knocked off, and their bodies are sowed in the ground to help the crops (a variation on hanging them in trees á la Sir James Frazier and hel-l-l-o Jesus! :-) )

After Theseus rescues Ariadne, he brings her to Dia - both the name of an island off Crete and the name of an ancient goddess whose origins are lost in the mists of time - where a Dionysian festival is in progress. Ariadne gets very drunk and joins with the other maenads in killing the king by ripping him apart. Broken heartedly, Theseus abandons her. 'Cause once you see your fiancée rip a guy's penis off, love is never the same.

Anyway, that's Renault's theory on the Ariadne/Dionysius love match!

[smokingboot]

It's a good theory! Tell me, did a horse die in this? I seem to remember reading about a horse's death and thinking I couldn't read the rest, but I was a kid then. Have I got the right book?

Whether I started it or not, it sounds fascinating. And yes, under such circumstances, hard not to forgive Theseus for dumping Ariadne. There are some things no relationship can get over...

[mallorys_camera]

Yeah, I think there's a horse sacrifice on like Page 3. (It's been a while since I've reread it. :-) )

But if you're looking for something to read, you might want to track The King Must Die down. It stands up to adult scrutiny. :-)

[smokingboot]

Definitely! I used to love Mary Renault!