EP 14: Dionysos - Rockstar God

... Welcome to Episode 14 where we look at the adventures — and the strangely modern travails — of the wine-god, Dionysos, whom the Romans called Bacchus.

An ancient being, he was the exotic god of ecstasy and dance. The inventor of theater and wine, he was alternately celebrated and feared. Whereas many of the Olympic gods exploited women, he was their liberator. And his marriage to the princess Ariadne was as celebrated in Greece as that of Romeo and Juliet in Italy 3,000 years later ...

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

(Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios , Free Sounds Library and klankbeeld. Many thanks to all.)

Transcript

PODCAST #14 ... DIONYSOS(Rockstar God)

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IT'S THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION. 

WE'RE ON CRETE, AN ISLAND SO MASSIVE IT SPANS 160 MILES. IT LIES DEEP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA NORTH OF PRESENT DAY LIBYA & EGYPT.

A YOUNG WOMAN NAMED ARIADNE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW OF HER FATHER'S PALACE. SHE'S 14 & THE DAUGHTER OF THE KING.

AS SHE VIEWS THE CRASHING WAVES OF THE SEA, A DARK SHIP APPROACHES. IT COMES EVERY 7 YEARS BRINGING TRIBUTE TO HER FATHER. 

THIS TRIBUTE IS A LEVY IMPOSED ON THE ATHENIANS BECAUSE THEY LOST A WAR YEARS BEFORE.

THE KING'S CHARGE FOR MAKING PEACE? 14 OF THEIR CHILDREN, 7 BOYS & 7 GIRLS ... WHENEVER THE BLACK SHIP DROPS THEM OFF, THE CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS WEEPING.

THE KING'S DAUGHTER TRIES TO IGNORE WHAT SHE KNOWS WILL HAPPEN NEXT. THE 14 WILL BE DRAGGED INTO THE PALACE'S LOWER CHAMBERS.

THOSE IN THE KNOW CALL THE CHAMBERS THE LABYRINTH. NO ONE WHO ENTERS EVER LEAVES.

THERE, A MONSTER CALLED THE MINOTAUR — HALF MAN & HALF BULL — AWAITS HIS MEAL. OVER SEVERAL WEEKS HE KILLS EACH OF THE CHILDREN, RIPPING THEM LIMB FROM LIMB. 

AS SHE WATCHES, ONE OF THE BOYS STEPPING OFF THE SHIP APPEARS TO BE A HEAD TALLER THAN THE OTHERS. HE'S HANDSOME, FEARLESS. 

HE SUDDENLY LOOKS UP & CATCHES HER EYE. HER HEART BEATS FASTER. THEN HE'S GONE, HERDED WITH THE OTHERS INTO A ROOM DEEP INSIDE THE PALACE.

SHE INQUIRES & LEARNS THAT HE'S THE ATHENIAN KING'S SON, SELECTED IN THE RANDOM DRAW. HIS NAME IS THESEUS. 

THESEUS, SHE REPEATS TO HERSELF ... THEN SECRETLY, SHE DEMANDS AN AUDIENCE WITH HIM ... WHEN THEY MEET SHE'S SWEPT AWAY BY HIS CHARM. 

HE PROMISES THAT IF SHE HELPS HIM SLAY THE MONSTER, HE'LL TAKE HER AWAY ON GREAT ADVENTURES. 

THE PRINCESS NODS. SHE SLIPS HIM A SWORD & A BALL OF THREAD. HE'S TO FOLLOW THE THREAD TO FIND HIS WAY OUT.

BUT WHAT IS THIS MINOTAUR, THIS MONSTER? LET'S BREAK DOWN ITS NAME. THE GIRL'S FATHER IS KING MINOS. DROP THE "S" AT THE END OF MINOS & WE HAVE MINO ...

THE END OF MINO-TAUR IS TAUR, WHICH MEANS BULL IN GREEK. COMBINE THE TWO & WE HAVE MINOTAUR, OR MORE ACCURATELY, KING MINOS' BULL.

BUT THAT'S BEING NICE. AS YOU KNOW, THERE ARE MANY TANGLED TALES IN ANCIENT GREECE, AND THIS TOO IS ONE OF THEM. 

WHAT WAS THE MINOTAUR? THE RESULT OF A DEAL GONE BAD BETWEEN KING MINOS & POSEIDON. 

THE SEA GOD HAD GIVEN THE KING A MAJESTIC BULL ON THE CONDITION THAT THE KING WOULD SACRIFICE IT TO THE OLYMPIC GODS. 

MINOS AGREED, UNTIL HE SAW THE FABULOUS CREATURE. "I'LL USE THIS ONE AS A STUD," HE THOUGHT, "& SACRIFICE ANOTHER BULL." 

POSEIDON THOUGH WASN'T FOOLED ... IN HIS FURY AT THE DOUBLE-CROSS, HE SAW TO IT THAT THE QUEEN WAS OVERCOME WITH AN INESCAPABLE LUST …FOR THE BULL ... & POSEIDON'S REVENGE BECAME THE MINOTAUR ... 

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WELCOME TO EPISODE 14 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MY NOVELS and ABOUT THIS PODCAST AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM. 

AS ALWAYS, THIS SERIES WILL FOCUS ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE ...

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

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THE REAL SUBJECT OF THIS EPISODE IS LORD DIONYSOS ... BUT FIRST WE NEED TO FINISH SETTING THE STAGE ...

WITHIN DAYS OF ARIADNE GIVING THESEUS THE SWORD & BALL OF THREAD, HE'S CHOSEN BY THE GUARDS TO BE THE MINOTAUR'S NEXT MEAL.

HE HIDES THE SWORD IN HIS CLOAK. THEN, AFTER WANDERING THRU THE TUNNELS, HE'S SUDDENLY GRABBED BY THE MONSTER.

THEY GRAPPLE IN THE DARKNESS. WITH A SWIFT THRUST OF HIS SWORD, THESEUS KILLS THE MINOTAUR ... 

FOLLOWING THE THREAD BACKWARDS, HE ESCAPES IN THE NIGHT ON HIS SHIP WITH ARIADNE AT HIS SIDE.

AFTER SAILING FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED MILES, THE CREW IS DESPERATE FOR WATER & FOOD. THEY PULL UP ON THE BEACH OF AN ISLAND CALLED NAXOS. 

EXHAUSTED, THEY REST. BUT THESEUS BETRAYS THE GIRL, SLIPPING AWAY IN HIS SHIP WHILE SHE SLEEPS.

AS DAWN BREAKS SHE WAKES & REALIZES SHE'S ALONE. THE SHIP IS GONE. SHE'S FAR FROM HOME, BUT ALSO KNOWS SHE CAN'T RETURN ... NOT AFTER WHAT SHE'S DONE.

SHE LIES WEEPING ON THE BEACH, DESPERATE, SEEMINGLY INCONSOLABLE ... THEN SUDDENLY, A GOLDEN CHARIOT APPROACHES IN THE SKY. 

RED FLAGS FLUTTER FROM ITS SIDES. INSTEAD OF BEING PULLED BY HORSES, THE CHARIOT IS SPED THRU THE AIR BY FOUR LEOPARDS .

A HANDSOME MAN IN A FLOWING ROBE STANDS TALL AT THE REINS. HE SPOTS THE GIRL ON THE BEACH & SWEEPS AROUND & DOWN.

STEPPING FROM HIS CHARIOT ONTO THE SAND, HE WHISPERS A SINGLE WORD, "ARIADNE ..." SHE LOOKS INTO HIS VIOLET EYES ...      ... GASPING, SHE SAYS, "LORD DIONYSOS?" 

... & PROMPTLY FAINTS.

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DIONYSOS! HE'S WILDLY COMPLEX. HE WAS BOTH BELOVED & FEARED. THE CARDS HE PLAYED WERE THOSE OF JOY ... & DEATH.

HE BROUGHT THE GREEKS WINE. AND HE INVENTED TRAGIC & COMEDIC THEATER ... ALL OF THE GREAT GREEK PLAYS WITHOUT EXCEPTION WERE DEDICATED TO HIM.

IN FACT HIS INSPIRATION LED TO CREATION OF THE GREATEST PLAYS OF ALL TIME. EVEN SHAKESPEARE'S WORK PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE WORKS OF AESCHYLUS & EURIPIDES.

BUT THAT ALL SOUNDS RATHER ACADEMIC, DOESN'T IT? AND THAT ALONE WOULD NEVER HAVE CEMENTED HIS NAME IN THE RANKINGS OF MEMORABLE GODS.

NO, DIONYSOS WAS EXTRAORDINARY BECAUSE HE WAS ASTONISHINGLY MODERN. 

THINK OF HIM AS A ROCK STAR, OR A NOTORIOUS CELEBRITY. MEN LOOKED AT HIM AS A DANGER TO THEIR WOMEN. AND WOMEN REJOICED IN HIS STRANGE CHARISMA.

DIONYSOS HELD MOONLIT DANCES — WE WOULD HAVE CALLED THEM RAVES — FOR WOMEN OF ALL AGES. 

IN THESE RAVES HE BROUGHT 100s OF FOLLOWERS TO AN ECSTASY THAT NO WOMAN WOULD OTHERWISE EXPERIENCE.

WOMEN WOULD FOLLOW HIM FROM TOWN TO TOWN. THEY WERE LIKE OUR GROUPIES, EXCEPT THAT THEY HELD THEIR CELEBRATIONS DEEP IN WILD WOODS ON MOUNTAINSIDES. 

THESE HAPPENINGS — CALLED BACCHANALIA — WERE FOR WOMEN ONLY. AND ANY MAN CAUGHT SPYING ON THEM WAS LIKELY TO BE KILLED.

IN ESSENCE, DIONYSOS WAS A CONJURER, THE ORIGINAL FORCE OF NATURE. AND AS SUCH HE WAS A GOD OF EXTREMES.

HE LOVED TO WEAR SILK & FLAUNT HIS HYPNOTIC DANCE ROUTINES ... THOSE WHO MUTTERED ABOUT HIM & WHO MOCKED HIM AS EFFEMINATE RARELY LIVED TO APOLOGIZE. 

HE COULD TRANSFORM IN AN INSTANT TO A LION OR A BULL. HE DID SO TO TERRORIZE & INTIMIDATE ... HE WAS CALLED BROMIOS WHICH MEANT, 'HE WHO ROARED.'

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THE WOMEN HE RECRUITED FOR HIS RAVES WERE KNOWN AS MAENADS, OR 'THE RAVING ONES' ...

WHILE UNDER DIONYSOS' INFLUENCE THEY HAD EXTRAORDINARY PHYSICAL POWER, OFTEN TEARING WILD ANIMALS & PEOPLE TO PIECES DURING THEIR CELEBRATIONS ...

EVEN THE YOUNGEST GIRLS COULD TEAR TREES FROM THE GROUND OR CAUSE WINE TO FLOW FROM ROCKS BY STRIKING THE EARTH.

DIONYSOS HIMSELF WOULD APPEAR, DRESSED IN SILK ... OR FAWN ... OR FOX SKINS ...

THE MAENADS CARRIED LONG, PHALLIC WANDS CALLED THYRSOI WHICH WERE MADE FROM GIANT FENNEL STALKS. THESE WERE BOUND WITH GRAPEVINES & TIPPED WITH IVY.

IN TORCH-LIGHT THE WOMEN WOULD OFTEN DANCE UNTIL DAWN. 

SOME OF THE RAVES ENDED IN A RITUAL FEAST CALLED OMOPHAGIA, WHICH MEANS THE EATING OF RAW MEAT ... WOE ON ANY WILD ANIMAL CAUGHT BY THESE WOMEN.

BUT SHOULD ANY OF THIS HAS BEEN SURPRISING? AS I'VE DESCRIBED IN OTHER EPISODES, A WOMAN'S LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE WAS CAREFULLY CONTROLLED. 

THEY MARRIED AT 12 TO 14, THEN BEGAN A LIFE BEHIND WALLS THAT WAS COMPOSED OF WEAVING & MAINTAINING A HOUSE.

SOCIAL LIFE WAS LIMITED TO FAMILY. NONE WERE EDUCATED. THEY WERE RARELY ALLOWED TO BE SEEN IN PUBLIC.

IMAGINE THEIR ATTRACTION TO A GOD WHO CALLED TO THEM, WHO DANCED & LAUGHED & ENCOURAGED THEM TO MAKE THE WOODS RING WITH CELEBRATION.

NO WONDER MEN OPPOSED THESE FESTIVITIES.  

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THERE'S A STORY THAT THE PLAYWRIGHT EURIPIDES TELLS IN ONE OF HIS PLAYS WRITTEN SOME 2500 YEARS AGO.

IN IT A CONSERVATIVE KING CALLED PENTHEUS RULES THE CITY OF THEBES & FORBIDS ALL WORSHIP OF DIONYSOS. HE CALLS IT 'DECADENT.'

BUT HIS COMMAND BACKFIRES AS THE ENTIRE FEMALE POPULATION OF THEBES LEAVES THE CITY TO DANCE WITH THE GOD ON THE NEARBY MOUNTAINSIDE.

THE KING CONSIDERS HIMSELF A FIGURE OF LAW & ORDER. BUT HE DECIDES TO DRESS AS A WOMAN & SPY ON THE RITUAL.

UNBEKNOWNST TO THE KING, DIONYSOS TOO DISGUISES HIMSELF, APPEARING AS A STRANGER IN THE CITY. 

DIONYSOS ENCOURAGES THE KING. WHEN THE KING DRESSES AS A MAENAD, HE TURNS TO THE STRANGER & TWIRLING HIS GOWN, ASKS, "WELL, HOW DO I LOOK?"

THE STRANGER SAYS HALF-MOCKINGLY, "I THINK YOU ARE THEIR VERY IMAGE. NOT EVEN YOUR MOTHER OR SISTERS WILL KNOW YOU."

THE STRANGER REFERENCES THE KING'S MOTHER & SISTERS BECAUSE THEY, TOO, HAVE JOINED THE MAENADS IN THE RAVE. 

TOGETHER, THE DISGUISED KING & THE STRANGER WALK INTO THE WOODS ... LITTLE DOES THE KING KNOW WHAT IS COMING.

WHEN THEY APPROACH THE WOODS WHERE THE MAENADS ARE GATHERED, DIONYSOS SUGGESTS THAT THE KING CLIMB UP A TREE TO GET A BETTER VIEW.

BUT ONCE HE SETTLES IN HIS PERCH, HE'S SEEN BY THE WOMEN WHO SCREAM & SHAKE THE TREE. HIS MOTHER, THEIR LEADER, CRIES,

"COME, GIRLS, STAND ROUND THE TREE & GRIP IT. WE MUST CATCH THIS CLIMBING BEAST OR HE'LL REVEAL THE SECRET DANCES OF LORD DIONYSOS..."

A THOUSAND HANDS GRIP THE TREE & THEY TEAR IT FROM THE EARTH. AS PENTHEUS FALLS, A FRENZY OF WOMEN GRAB HIS ARMS & LEGS.

HIS MOTHER, SEEING AN ANIMAL INSTEAD OF HER SON, GRIPS HIS ARM & TEARS IT FROM HIS SHOULDER. HIS SISTER IS ON HIS OTHER SIDE, TEARING AT HIS FLESH ...

BOTH WERE UNDER THE SPELL OF DIONYSOS ... THE HUNDREDS OF WOMEN ALL HOWLED IN TRIUMPH AS THE KING DIED, HIS PARTS SCATTERED EVERYWHERE.

AS THE PLAY ENDS, DIONYSOS APPEARS, STANDING ON THE ROOF OF THE PALACE & PROCLAIMS,

"THE ROYAL HOUSE IS OVERTHROWN ... FOR PENTHEUS, DEATH CAME IN THE MOST SHAMEFUL WAY OF ALL, AT THE HANDS OF HIS OWN MOTHER ...

"THE FATE HE HAS SUFFERED IS JUST ... MORTAL MEN MUST KNOW THAT THE GODS ARE GREATER THAN THEY ..."

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... DIONYSOS WAS THE PROVERBIAL BAD-BOY WHO LED WOMEN ASTRAY. YET THE GREEKS IGNORED THIS DARK SIDE OF THE GOD & SANG HIS PRAISES FOR HIS OTHER QUALITIES ...

FOR INSTANCE, HE WAS CELEBRATED FOR HIS EXQUISITE GIFTS TO MANKIND. ONE OF THE GREATEST WAS WINE. 

HE WAS ITS INVENTOR & THE TEACHER OF ITS CULTIVATION. MANY ANCIENT WRITERS APPLAUDED HIM, SAYING THAT ONLY THROUGH WINE COULD SORROW BE ENDED.

AND AS THE WINE-GOD, DIONYSOS WAS AN INSPIRING GOD & GIVER OF JOY. LIKE APOLLO, HE WAS EVEN BELIEVED TO BE ABLE TO REVEAL THE FUTURE.

HIS PROPHETIC POWERS WERE SAID TO FLOW FROM THE MADNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RAVES.

HE ESTABLISHED AN ORACLE NORTH OF GREECE IN WHAT IS NOW THE BALKANS. THERE IN HIS TEMPLE HE SPOKE THRU A PRIESTESS.

ACCORDING TO BOTH ARISTOTLE & THE ANCIENT HISTORIAN HERODOTUS, DIONYSOS' PRIESTESS MADE PREDICTIONS USING GREAT FLAMES OF FIRE TO ANNOUNCE HER INSIGHTS.

IT WAS SAID THAT THE PRIESTESS DRANK COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF WINE FIRST, & THAT FROM THE DREGS OF THE WINE VAT ... 

PILLARS OF FLAME AROSE INTO THE SKY BEFORE SHE SPOKE ...

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WE STARTED THIS EPISODE WITH ARIADNE, WHO LAY ASLEEP ON A BEACH. THESEUS HAD SLIPPED AWAY ON THE SEA LEAVING THE GIRL TO LUCK.

HER SHOCK AT WAKING & SEEING THE FACE OF DIONYSOS ... CAUSED HER TO FAINT. BUT HER SHOCK QUICKLY PASSED.

DIONYSOS BECAME ENAMORED OF HER & ARIADNE FELL HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HIM. AFTER A BRIEF COURTSHIP, THE TWO MARRIED & BUILT A PALACE ON THE ISLAND.

BUT ARIADNE HAD KEPT A SECRET FROM DIONYSOS ... THE DAY BEFORE SHE HAD LEFT CRETE, FLEEING FROM HER FATHER, SHE HAD CUT A DEAL WITH THE GODDESS ARTEMIS.

FOR PROTECTING HER FROM ANY DISASTERS ON THE SEA, ARIADNE PROMISED ARTEMIS SHE WOULD REMAIN A VIRGIN. ARIADNE KEPT HER VOWS LESS THAN A MONTH.

A DECADE LATER WHILE DIONYSOS WAS OFF ON BUSINESS, ARIADNE WALKED DOWN FROM THE PALACE TO THE BEACH TO SWIM.

ARTEMIS WAS WAITING. WHEN ARIADNE SAW HER, SHE STOOD PROUDLY, TRYING TO STARE DOWN THE GODDESS.

ARTEMIS SIMPLY RAISED HER BOW & SHOT ARIADNE IN THE THROAT ... OF COURSE: THE PRINCESS HAD FAILED TO KEEP HER VOW ...

FOR MORE ON THIS STORY, YOU'LL WANT TO CHECK OUT MY NOVEL, HOMO DIVINITAS. IN IT ARIADNE & DIONYSOS REAPPEAR IN THE MODERN WORLD. FIND IT ON AMAZON.

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THERE'S A FURTHER TWIST TO THIS SADNESS. DIONYSOS' RAVES BEGAN ONLY AFTER ARIADNE'S DEATH. FOR MONTHS AFTER, HE CONFINED HIMSELF TO THEIR EMPTY PALACE ...

TIME DID NOTHING TO SOFTEN THE MEMORIES. HE BEGAN TO WEAR HER GOWNS, TRYING TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN THE LIVING & THE DEAD.

HIS FEW FRIENDS THOUGHT HIM MAD. "POOR LORD DIONYSOS," THEY'D WHISPER, "HE THINKS HE CAN BRING HER BACK BY WEARING HER SILK."

HE KNEW WHAT THEY WHISPERED, BUT IGNORED THEM ALL.

ONE AFTERNOON, INSPIRED SUDDENLY BY THE SOFT MOVEMENT OF HER CLOTHING AS HE PACED THE ROOMS OF THE PALACE, HE TOOK A FEW, HESITANT DANCE STEPS.

EXPERIENCING A RUSH OF JOY HE HAD NOT FELT IN MONTHS, HE WANDERED DOWN TO THE SMALL VILLAGE AT THE END OF THE ISLAND.

DISGUISED IN HER CLOTHING, HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD BE HOLDING A DANCE THAT NIGHT. ONLY WOMEN COULD ATTEND.

THE DANCE THAT TOOK PLACE WAS A SENSATION, & TO HIS SHOCK, ALL WHO ATTENDED ENTERED A STATE OF  ECSTASY. AND SO BEGAN THE DIONYSIAN RAVES ...

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OH, THERE'S STILL ANOTHER ELEMENT I SHOULD MENTION. THIS CIRCLES BACK TO THE WINE-GOD'S PREFERENCE FOR WOMEN'S CLOTHES.

IN OUR EPISODE ABOUT ZEUS, I TOLD THE STORY ABOUT SEMELE. SHE WAS DIONYSOS' MOTHER & BECAME PREGNANT BY ZEUS. BUT SHE NEVER SAW HER CHILD. 

REMEMBER THAT ZEUS' WIFE, HERA, BECAME INSANELY JEALOUS WHEN SHE LEARNED OF THE AFFAIR?

SHE CONVINCED SEMELE TO PERSUADE ZEUS TO SHOW HIMSELF TO HER IN HIS FULL THUNDER-GOD APPEARANCE. SEMELE WAS ... INSTANTLY INCINERATED.

BUT ZEUS PLUCKED THE BABY DIONYSOS FROM HER WOMB A MOMENT BEFOREHAND. HE SECRETLY ASKED SEMELE'S SISTER TO RAISE THE CHILD.

BECAUSE HER SISTER KNEW HERA WOULD NEVER TOLERATE THE ARRANGEMENT, SHE BROUGHT DIONYSOS UP AS A GIRL, DRESSING HIM IN GOWNS & BOWS.

AS A CONSEQUENCE, EVEN AS DIONYSOS GREW INTO MANHOOD, HE NEVER ABANDONED HIS FONDNESS FOR FEMININE THINGS.

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ALL OF THIS BEING SAID, HOW DO WE JUDGE DIONYSOS IN OUR TIME?

INDISPUTABLY, HE WAS A GOD OF MADNESS, ECSTASY, INNOVATION &, ODDLY ENOUGH, ROMANTIC LOVE ...

CELEBRATED THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD FOR GIFTING WINE TO MANKIND, HE WAS ALSO THE UNINHIBITED — & UNEXPECTED — LIBERATOR OF WOMEN.

ONE OF HIS LASTING INVENTIONS WAS THEATER, WHICH IN THE MODERN ERA LED TO RADIO, THEN MOVIES & EVEN TO MEDIA SUCH AS THESE PODCASTS.

WE REMEMBER TOO THAT HIS GENTLE HEART COULD TURN VIOLENT ON A WHIM, & HIS MAENADS COULD TURN ENTIRE CITIES UPSIDE DOWN ...

... IN THE END, WE REMEMBER HIS FRENZIED RAVES, THE DANCING, THE ECSTASY & THE MAENADS WHO FOLLOWED HIM FROM TOWN TO TOWN.

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IN OUR NEXT EPISODE WE LOOK AT ONE OF THE OLDEST RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD. IT WAS CALLED THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES ... 

ALL WHO ATTENDED WERE AMAZED & ... EUPHORIC. WE, TOO, WILL JOIN THE THRONGS OF ATHENIANS & WALK WITH THEM TO ELEUSIS TO SEE WHAT'S UP.