Dionysis Cace

Myths are often explanations of ritualized behavior. This is exemplified in the following quote written by a Greek man “Act quickly, think slowly.” This quote means that sometimes to live on edge and go with your first instinct is the right choice. This is not always the case, but those who never live will slowly die. Dionysus was the god of wine, vegetation, pleasure and festivities.(http://theoi.com) If Dionysus did not live on the edge and be spontaneous then he would be a plain and simple boring god. The way Dionysus lives portrays an example of how one should live life a certain way, a life of partying, drinking, being fulfilled with great pleasures, and tons of wild behavior. The word Dionysus can be broken into two parts; dios and Nyssos. Dios is similar to the word Zeus, Nyssos is synonym of the word kouros which means son in English. When you glue the two parts together it becomes the son of Zeus. (http://greaktheatre.gr.html) Dionysus has become one of the most important gods in everyday life. This is because under the influence of wine, one could feel possessed by a greater power, and wine was what he did best.

Dionysus was born to Semele of Thebes, a lovely young princess who unfortunately got herself entangled into the affairs of Zeus, also known as the father of her baby. Whenever visited by Zeus he was always in disguise. When news of her affair reached Hera she was outraged, she was supposed to be Zues’s one and only lover. She Dressed up as Semele’s old nurse and challenged her to persuade Zeus to show his true form. He reluctantly gave in and did but Semele did not live to tell the tail. No human can live to see the glory of a god and survive so his appearence of a blazing figure with thunder and lighting crackling around him killed her. (Greek Myths and legends) Zeus had many affairs but with Semele he only had one child, therefore Dionysus technically did not have any brothers. Dionysus’s symbol was the thyrsos, a stick entwined with ivy leaves, which he usually carried. (Greek Myths and legends) Dionysus had the power to place a person under a spell which makes a rational