It is known that sometimes it is common for people to endow the gods they worship with their own traits. No wonder F. M. Dostoevsky in the novel "Demons" wrote that "God is the synthetic personality of the whole people." Thus, we can say that the cult of Dionysius is a visual manifestation of the life-affirming principle laid down in the inhabitants of Ancient Greece, since this immortal inhabitant of Olympus was the patron of winemaking, fun, poetic inspiration and religious ecstasy for them. He came to the rescue and those in whom the fervor of love weakened. In general, there was a guy "at home."
Own or alien?
According to established traditions, all Greek gods were revered. The cult of Dionysus stands out among them with particularly bright and noisy festivities, often turning into unbridled orgies. This was so inconsistent with the sober temperament and clear mind of the Hellenes that at one time the researchers thought that it was foreign to them, and was accidentally borrowed from some barbarian tribes. However, when they got into their hands the records made before the Trojan War, that is, earlier than the end of the XIII century BC. e., it became clear that already in those ancient times Dionysus was well known in Ancient Hellas and willingly went towards his fantasies.
The fruit of sinful love
Like the customs associated with the worship of all Greek gods without exception, the cult of Dionysus is based on legends generated by folk fantasy. According to one of them, he was the side son of the supreme god Zeus, who commanded thunder, lightning, and at the same time the whole world to which he spewed them. But the mother was a young goddess - either Semela (Earth), or Selena (Moon) - no one remembers this after many years.
But it is known for certain that the legitimate wife of Zeus - Hera (the patroness of marriage), learning about the adventures of her faithful, infuriated with anger and insidiously ruined his passion, which was already in an “interesting position”. The fornication himself had to bear its fruit (for the Greek gods - it is easy), and having resolved himself from the burden of his son, give it to the nymphs who lived on one of the islands of the Aegean Sea (it seems, Crete or Nyxos). It is quite understandable that these frivolous girls could not teach the guy anything worthwhile, and made him a reckless playman of life.
Buddy Friends
To top it off, the young man, as they say, fell into bad company - he made friends with a very dubious deity named Selen, who taught him to make wine from grapes, but did not explain that he should drink in moderation. Having matured and left the island, where he continued to hide from the vengeful Hera (the wife of his father Zeus), Dionysus, together with Selen, who became his bosom buddy, went to wander the world and, according to legend, made a long journey. They say that this couple was even seen in Egypt and Syria.
The penchant for travel is laudable, but the trouble is that along the route, friends who knew the art of winemaking hosted festive festivities and introduced people to immense libations, or, more simply, instilled drunkenness. Is it any wonder now that the cult of Dionysus is a somewhat ambiguous element of Greek culture?
Justified rowdy
As you know, drunkenness does not lead to good, and the history of Dionysus is a vivid example of this. According to legend, over time, the merry god began to fall into madness and arrange the most unbridled fights, which, incidentally, happens with ordinary mortals who do not know the measures in alcohol. They say that once it came down to the murder of some Hellen, who fell under his hot hand.
But it so happened that the "celestials" are always trying to whitewash, putting their blame on someone else. So the Greeks explained the drunken tricks of Dionysus with witchcraft, supposedly sent to him by the same treacherous Hero. The jealous did not begin to make excuses and took the blame on herself. A similar version has become generally accepted because the cult of Dionysus is, as the Greeks themselves claimed, part of their spiritual heritage.
It should be noted that over time, the brawler began to be aggressive towards those who did not want to drink with him and stubbornly rejected his invitations. For example, one of the legends says that the Thracian king Ligurg, a staunch teetotaler and champion of a healthy lifestyle, lost his mind, and in a fit of fury he axed his own son, mistaking him for a vine. Equally sad was the fate of the daughters of King Mineas, who refused to participate in the orgy and paid for it with reason. The unfortunate virgins literally torn to pieces the ruler of the city of Thebes who came to visit their father. Many other similar episodes are given in ancient Greek mythology.
Unhappy Ariadne
Giving a brief description of the cult of Dionysus, one cannot ignore the very noble deeds committed by him during many years of wandering. As you can see, the breadth of the soul and at the same time a tendency to drunkenness can coexist peacefully, not only in Russia-Mother. An example of this is the marriage of our hero to the daughter of the Cretan king Minos - Ariadne, who was treacherously deceived by her lover - the son of the Athenian king Theseus.
Once, with the help of her famous thread, she helped this major to get out of the maze, where they were going to dine a certain monster. In gratitude for this, and maybe for other reasons, Ariadne hoped for a marriage proposal, but, being out of danger, he treacherously abandoned her.
Wife falling from heaven
Unable to survive the grief, the young maid decided to end her life, but, throwing herself from a cliff, fell not into the raging sea, but directly into the arms of Dionysus, who accidentally found himself on the shore. Filled with compassion and appreciating the beauty that literally fell down on him from heaven, the hero took Ariadne as his wife, and his father, the almighty Zeus, endowed her with immortality as a wedding gift. Legends are silent about how she reacted to the drunkenness to which her husband indulged.
They do not talk about how the conjugal life of the frivolous deity took shape in the future. It is only known that he was attracted to women no less than to wine, and the list of love affairs of Dionysus is very extensive. It mentions many victories both over the goddesses and over mortal beauties. Once, even a young Hermaphrodite visited his bed, combining the signs of both sexes.
Loving son and brave warrior
It should be noted that the cult of Dionysus is also a glorification of the hero, albeit fictional, but giving some of his deeds an occasion for national pride. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall the participation attributed to him in the victorious military campaign against India. Legend has it that, having fought on the banks of the Ganges for three years, he returned home, covered in fame and weighed down by rich prey. In this regard, the Greeks established the custom every three years to organize in his honor stormy Bacchic festivities with songs, dances and immoderate libations. He is also credited with creating the first bridge over the Euphrates, which he erected near the city of Zeugma.
Dionysus also established himself as an exemplary son. Remembering that he was obliged by his birth to the secret love of his mother for Zeus, for which she was squeezed out of the world by the jealous Hero, he went down to Hades (the kingdom of the dead) and brought her out safe and sound. The happy dad endowed his former lover with immortality, making her a goddess named Fiona.
The mistake of the sea robbers
Just as the worship of other ancient Greek gods, such as Osiris, Attis and Adonis, is associated with legends of various miracles, the cult of Dionysus is also associated with the supernatural powers granted to him - a celestial nevertheless. In this regard, we can give an example of how he safely got rid of the pirates who had abducted him.
It is said that once Dionysus mistakenly hired these robbers, going by sea to the island of Naxos. When the misunderstanding was clarified, it was too late - the pirates chained him and headed for the shores of Asia Minor, hoping to sell there on one of the slave markets. However, this was not their day, as they say.
According to the captive, the shackles suddenly fell from his hands, and the oars and masts, turning into a snake, began to wriggle on the deck with hissing. To top it all off, suddenly branches of ivy and vines were tightly encircled, and the air was filled with the sounds of a flute coming from anywhere. The pirates were desperate people, and it was difficult to scare them, but from such a surprise they jumped in horror overboard, while an uncontrolled ship suddenly turned around and dutifully headed for the island of Naxos.
The eternal inhabitant of Olympus
The end of the earthly life story of the merry Greek god is unknown, for the simple reason that he, like all other celestials, is immortal and, apparently, is now safely living somewhere in the sky-high heights of Olympus. As for the festivities held in his honor, over time they lost their sacred component and took the form of a folk tradition that allows people to break away from everyday worries for a while, indulge in fun, or, simply put, relax.
Is the cult of Dionysus a religion of slaves?
What is the religion of slaves, as defined by the classics of Marxism-Leninism (they will be remembered by night)? This is primarily a religious teaching aimed at justifying the system of class inequality existing in the world and instilling in the lower strata of society a false hope for retribution for obedience to the exploiters that awaits them in the afterlife. They illustrated their concept with quotes from the Holy Scriptures, pretentiously selected and falsely interpreted.
However, even with such a narrow and fundamentally wrong approach, the cult of Dionysius cannot be associated with attempts to solve or, conversely, hush up social problems. He promised nothing to anyone in the future, but called only to make his life today a little warmer and more joyful. “Interrupt the course of gray everyday life, fill the goblets with sparkling wine and, holding hands, start dancing,” he called. What kind of slavery can we talk about here? Slaves can only hiss viciously and bog down deeper and deeper into the quagmire of their hopeless life.
Incompatible cults
There is hardly any reason to look for traces of the cult of Dionysus in Russia. The history of religion does not give any serious reason. As for the pseudo-scientific statements, often made by modern advocates of paganism that it was introduced by Prince Vladimir along with Christianity, they are at least unfounded.
In the works of many leading historians, one can find a mention that in Byzantium, which inherited many elements of ancient Greek culture, there really was a worship of some Hellenic gods, among whom was Dionysus. However, none of them says that he somehow migrated to the pantheon of our ancestors, so such assurances can be considered idle fabrications, especially since the cult of Dionysus and Christianity are incompatible.