But, first, I must define the nature and power of education, and by this road we will travel on to the God Dionysus.
But the finer sense of pleasure and pain is apt to be impaired in the course of life; and therefore the Gods, pitying the toils and sorrows of mortals, have allowed them to have holidays, and given them the Muses and Apollo and Dionysus for leaders and playfellows.
'Whom do you mean by the third chorus?' You remember how I spoke at first of the restless nature of young creatures, who jumped about and called out in a disorderly manner, and I said that no other animal attained any perception of rhythm; but that to us the Gods gave Apollo and the Muses and Dionysus to be our playfellows.
Of the greatest gift of Dionysus I hardly like to speak, lest I should be misunderstood.
'What is that?' According to tradition Dionysus was driven mad by his stepmother Here, and in order to revenge himself he inspired mankind with Bacchic madness.
'I remember.' And that Apollo and the Muses and Dionysus gave us harmony and rhythm?
As in the juxtaposition of the Bacchic madness and the great gift of Dionysus, or where he speaks of the different senses in which pleasure is and is not the object of imitative art, or in the illustration of the failure of the Dorian institutions from the prayer of Theseus, we have to gather his meaning as well as we can from the connexion.
Drunkenness, like madness, had a sacredness and mystery to the Greek; if, on the one hand, as in the case of the Tarentines, it degraded a whole population, it was also a mode of worshipping the god Dionysus, which was to be practised on certain occasions.
Much wine is only to be drunk at the festivals of Dionysus, and certainly not on the occasion of a marriage.
In autumn God gives us two boons—one the joy of Dionysus not to be laid up—the other to be laid up.
About the fruits of autumn let the law be as follows: He who gathers the storing fruits of autumn, whether grapes or figs, before the time of the vintage, which is the rising of Arcturus, shall pay fifty drachmas as a fine to Dionysus, if he gathers on his own ground; if on his neighbour's ground, a mina, and two-thirds of a mina if on that of any one else.
Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, fertility and ecstasy, runs through my research on sacred mountains, oracles and Plato.
On Persephone, daughter of Demeter and Zeus I list Dionysus as the son of Zeus and Semele.
On Mount Tmolus, King Midas bathes in the Pactolus River to rid himself of the golden touch he had received from Dionysus.
On Oracle of Delphi known for its prophetic insights and deep spiritual authority I note that Apollo was said to leave the temple in winter and Dionysus took his place, with ecstatic celebrations, so the oracle worked during the nine warmest months.
In Laws by Plato, in Benjamin Jowett's translation, Plato's Athenian stranger names Apollo, the Muses and Dionysus as the gods to thank for the human sense of harmony and rhythm, and he defends wine:
Let us not then simply censure the gift of Dionysus as bad and unfit to be received into the State.
On Ancient Greek Sources and Ancient sources on Atlantis I include Proclus' report that Porphyry read the Atlantis war as a struggle between souls and material daimones, so that the myths of Osiris and Seth, or of Dionysus and the Titans, were handed down symbolically by Plato.
Ignatius Donnelly, on The Indentity of the Civilizations of the Old World and the New, draws on Bancroft to set Dionysus, or Bacchus, beside the Mexican wine god Texcatzoncatl, and the North American dog and bear dances beside the Greek dances of the Dionysia.
On Miracles of Elijah, Moses, and Jesus I compare Dionysus, who could turn water into wine, with the miracle at Cana, and on Wine in Ancient Texts: Noah's Vineyard, Melchizedek and Atlantis I follow him into the mountain cults.
For every page I tagged with Dionysus, see the Dionysus tag archive.
On Mount Cithaeron and Mount Pangaion I note that Dionysus, god of wine, fertility and ecstasy, was worshipped on the heights, and Pangaion had one of the few oracles dedicated to him.
On Miracles of Elijah, Moses and Jesus I set Dionysus turning water into wine next to the wedding at Cana.
Porphyry saw in it a struggle between souls and the hylic/material Daimones (harmful to souls, who ‘wage war’ on the latter when they descend into becoming); thus all the myths relating to Osiris and Seth, or to Dionysus and the Titans, were handed down symbolically by Plato, due to his eusebeia, through the war narrated in Atlantis.
Dionysus: God of wine, revelry, and ecstasy, born of Zeus and Semele.
Apollo was said to leave the temple during winter, replaced by Dionysus, whose rites included ecstatic celebrations.
Dionysus, or Bacchus, is represented by the Mexican god Texcatzoncatl, the god of wine.
The Pactolus River and King Midas Another famous legend associated with Mount Tmolus involves King Midas, who, after receiving the golden touch from Dionysus, bathed in the waters of the Pactolus River to rid himself of the curse.
Mount Cithaeron is also closely associated with the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, and ecstasy.
These rites often took place in the mountain’s forests, where women known as Maenads would enter a state of ecstatic frenzy, dancing and singing in worship of Dionysus.
Another significant myth involving Mount Cithaeron is the story of King Pentheus of Thebes, who opposed the worship of Dionysus.
Various sanctuaries and altars dedicated to gods such as Zeus, Hera, and Dionysus were located on the mountain.
One of the most famous literary works associated with Mount Cithaeron is Euripides' tragedy "The Bacchae." The play dramatizes the conflict between King Pentheus and Dionysus, culminating in the king’s gruesome death on the mountain.
It was believed to be a sacred place dedicated to the god Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, and religious ecstasy.
According to Greek mythology, Dionysus was raised on the slopes of Mount Pangaion, and the mountain became a center of his worship, particularly among the Thracians who were known for their ecstatic rites and rituals.
The mountain's secluded and wild nature made it an ideal location for the orgiastic rites associated with the cult of Dionysus.
The Oracle of DionysusOne of the most intriguing legends associated with Mount Pangaion is the existence of an oracle dedicated to Dionysus.
In some versions of his story, Orpheus is said to have met his tragic end on this mountain, torn apart by Maenads (followers of Dionysus) after he rejected the worship of the god.