Dionysus
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek A fertility god, god of vegetation,
especially the vine, god of wine and later of the
pleasures of civilization. Son of Zeus; his mother is
variously thought to be Semele, Demeter, Persephone,
or Io, Dione, or Lethe. The most common
myth identifies his mother as Semele. The Romans
called him Bacchus.
In early times, Dionysus was associated with orgiastic
rites and generally wild behavior. As the cultivation
of grape vines spread throughout Greece, so
did the worship of Dionysus and the ensuing orgies,
called Dionysian or Bacchic festivals. Later, however,
Dionysus was also celebrated as a cultivator of the soil,
a lawgiver, a peacemaker, and a patron of tragic art.
Among his followers were the centaurs, maenads,
satyrs, and sileni, all of whom were depicted in
ancient art as enthusiastically—sometimes frighteningly—
demented, carrying staffs and wearing animal
skins and crowns of ivy and grape leaves.
The young Dionysus was not honored as a god
and he was forced to flee from Greece. He traveled
through Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa.
Many adventures marked his passage as he spread
his knowledge of the cultivation of the vine and the
making of wine. Dionysus learned to use the divine
power he had inherited from his father, Zeus. He
inspired devotion, especially among women, and
finally returned to Greece in triumph as a true god.
Apollo, the beautiful god of the arts, admitted Dionysus
to his shrine at Delphi. Thus Dionysus joined
the Olympian gods.
The acceptance of Dionysus into Greece after
many struggles may refer to the conflict between
old and new religions in the ancient world. Dionysus
represents the ancient cult of the spirit of nature and
fertility. It found expression in human sacrifice, nature
worship, and orgiastic rites. Apollo represents the
Dorians and other migrants who invaded peninsular
Greece. These newcomers brought with them their
own gods and cults but learned to accept the ancient
deities and rites.
Dionysus was often depicted as a seminude, youthful
god, his head crowned with vine leaves and grapes, and
carrying a goblet of wine in one hand and a staff topped
with a pinecone in the other. In earlier art, he was
shown as a mature, bearded man crowned with ivy.
The Birth of Dionysus Though the identity
of Dionysus's mother is in doubt, the most common
myth identifies her as Semele. Zeus had come down
to Earth disguised as a mortal. He wooed and won
Semele. Hera, the wife of Zeus, was jealous. When
Semele was six months pregnant, Hera, disguised as an
old nurse, persuaded Semele to ask Zeus to reveal himself
in his true form. This she did. At first Zeus refused
Semele's request, but he finally presented himself in
all his glory as a mighty god, flashing lightning and
hurling thunderbolts. No mortal could withstand such
power, and Semele perished in flames. Zeus snatched
the unborn child from the fire and sewed it into his
thigh so that it could mature for another three months.
In due course, Zeus gave birth to a boy, Dionysus,
who is sometimes called Dithyrambus (Child of the
Double Door), referring to his two births, once from
his mother's body and again from his father's body.
Some scholars believe that this myth represents
Zeus asserting his power over mortals by killing
Semele and taking her child under his protection.
The Childhood of Dionysus Zeus entrusted
the care of his newborn child to Semele's sister, Ino,
or perhaps to the Nymphs or Mount Nysa. Although
her rival, Semele, was dead, Hera was still jealous;
she transferred her hatred to Dionysus. Hera caused
the child's foster parents to become insane, but
Dionysus survived their madness, and Zeus gave him
to Hermes to take to the nymphs of Nysa, which
may have been a mountain near Helicon, the highest
point in Boeotia, or a purely imaginary spot. The
nymphs were bacchants. They took good care of the
child and Dionysus grew to manhood in Nysa.
Hera's hatred of Dionysus and his mother may
reflect conservative opposition to the ritual use of wine
and the extravagant orgies of the Bacchants and Maenads.
Dionysus was eventually admitted to Olympus.
Liens utiles
- Maenads Greek The crazed women who followed the god Dionysus.
- Silenus (Selini) Greek Son of Hermes or of Pan; tutor of Dionysus.
- satyrs Greek One of a class of woodland and mountain spirits attendant on Dionysus.
- Dionysus - Mythology.
- Dithyrambus (Child of the Double Door) Greek A name for the god Dionysus, referring to the legend that he was born twice.