"Hail and take pleasure, child of Semele with beautiful looks. There is no way I could have my mind disconnect from you as I put together the beautiful cosmic order of my song."
It’s simple. He is the God of Frontier where men must lose their civilized weakness and softness in order to be hard and crafty to defeat the questionable shapes and shades of the darkness beyond their fathers’ sacred fire. This war without rules included much suffering so having a war god who knew suffering and still transcend it to overcome enemy is a worthy guide for them. They have to be both very masculine and also be crafty like women to spot tricks and to play tricks. To do that, they most lose inhibition and to recover their forgotten strength through ripping of the beasts by hands. All this is to prepare them for death. Once death become your friends then you are truly alive because you recovered your childlike animal self and can act as a pack to win victory. Dionysus is the Barbarian from their own past and is their future.
I agree that Odin is inspired by Dionysus, but the closest figure to Dionysus in Hinduism is Krishna as a trickster God, and Krishna is a late addition to the Pantheon, not an OG from the Rig Veda.
Dionysus carries one of the most potent imagery of all the other gods imo. He embodies the secular and rising populist movements. Certainly a god of our time.
It’s simple. He is the God of Frontier where men must lose their civilized weakness and softness in order to be hard and crafty to defeat the questionable shapes and shades of the darkness beyond their fathers’ sacred fire. This war without rules included much suffering so having a war god who knew suffering and still transcend it to overcome enemy is a worthy guide for them. They have to be both very masculine and also be crafty like women to spot tricks and to play tricks. To do that, they most lose inhibition and to recover their forgotten strength through ripping of the beasts by hands. All this is to prepare them for death. Once death become your friends then you are truly alive because you recovered your childlike animal self and can act as a pack to win victory. Dionysus is the Barbarian from their own past and is their future.
have you ever read anything by Algis Uždavinys? curious.
Nope, but he sounds interesting based on his ‘pedia
Reminds me of Shiva/ tantric Shaivism. The wandering, orgies/dance, aspect of looming death and suffering but also transcendence.
He even wears tiger skin??
Leopard I think. But yes Dionysus is very Shaivist in some regards
I agree that Odin is inspired by Dionysus, but the closest figure to Dionysus in Hinduism is Krishna as a trickster God, and Krishna is a late addition to the Pantheon, not an OG from the Rig Veda.
Dionysus carries one of the most potent imagery of all the other gods imo. He embodies the secular and rising populist movements. Certainly a god of our time.
I could, it’s one of my favorite subjects
Yahweh was also associated with Dionysus