Dionysius the God of Drama

Abstract

Dionysius is a god who had won the curiosity and fascination of many. I myself have been attracted to the magnificent personality which was a mixture of the so called the good, the bad as well as sanity and insanity. Among an ancient civilization that valued the ‘mean’ in almost all things and had faith in ‘balance, no doubt he seems to be an ‘outsider. There was something Greek as well as some5thing that did not conform to Greek in him which did attract the contemporary as well. The form in which he was worshiped as well as his attributes evoked wonder in the people who stopped to think. This was in a positive manner to the people who were receptive and destructive to those who opposed. No, he definitely did not stand only for intoxication, as many ignorant moderns would believe. Dionysus was prominent as an agent who evoked dormant emotions in man and made him a whole person. He was the only godhead among Greeks who enabled rational man experience ecstasy or the ‘other nesses’ by providing him with an opportunity to stand out of himself and experience the extra-ordinary. The psychological attraction, its results on the minds and the physique of man is something that had drawn attention of many scholars in many fields. Dionysus was a god who was created through the needs of humans, catering to their wellbeing and reciprocating to those who desired him. Social conscience, through mutual collective needs creating a supernatural personality more powerful than those who created him. The only god among the Greeks who enabled his worshipers to become one with the mighty god himself. A god who encouraged man to transcend the limits imposed on himself by man himself. This being one of the reasons for him to be so popular among artistic temperaments in the past as well as in the present. Information on God Dionysius is not scarce. There are many literary sources as well as archeological evidence of different kinds such as pottery paintings and sculpture. The time period the artifacts belong to helps one to trace the establishment as well as the development throughout ancient Greece. Of his attributes, the most popular seems to be his connection with wine revelry and drama. A careful study proves that there is a connection between all that he is associated with. The second part of the book consists of questions and theories that had been put forward by various scholars on the origin of Drama in Greece. The theories had been based on different factors that had come under consideration. Some of these even include evidence from folk lore, religious beliefs, the dramas themselves or archeological findings. Sociological, as well as religious and psychological interpretations at times are supplemented by the political as well as the personalities of individuals. Time is no barrier to the interpretations, for the interest is obviously very much alive and thought provoking.