Yet know this of the gods, and know it well,
That we and mortals form a single spell.
Dionysus, Hades, these are but tags,
They ease the tongue as back and forth it wags.
True names do nature spring forth from:
Once call our names and gods must come!
In rare gustation dine we here tonight!
For you, my feast; for me, your pleasant sight!
And for them both, I raise my glass to cheer:
Let all that’s sober end before the year!
Let music, wine and wantonness prevail!
Let revelry erase the dry and stale!
And light your mortal youth that burns so strong,
For I, the God of Wine, who’s lived too long.
And when my followers stand - or rather, sprawl -
Across the landscape, shall the dreary fall!
And when my wine the final frown shall lift,
Then sprawled amidst the rest, I’ll share the gift!
Let wine make us wise, and feasting for all!
Till morning shall rise, or each of us fall!
Evil sobriety! It shall not last the night!
For I have found munitions, ample for the fight!
The vine divine, from whence the grapes of wine!
I tend its thirsts, and it doth water mine!
The beasties of the Earth and air,
I do invite to be my fare!
Bacchus confronts us in a shady place, A tangled grove, and he, astride a cask. Gross limbs and belly, small besotted face, And lips pursed to the uptilted flask. A buxom dryad, white against his tan, Attends him (sturdy spirit o' the trees) ; As free a woman she as he a man, But gracious-limbed enough to please. Sportive, she smoothes his unambrosial hair, And binds a ruddy vine about his brows; A filet fit for marry-makers, where the wild and tendrilled berry grows. But stay, dryad, what need hath Bacchus' head of leafy trimmings ? Twist a leaf or two and wreathe his hardy nudity instead~ Garland him largely, Dryad, do !
He saw the noble beast collapse in blood and dirt,
Lashed by the owner’s cruel and ruthless crop
He rushed to cradle its head upon his stained coat,
And wept with sorrow that choked his broken heart.
He shared the pain of the majestic steed,
He cursed the world, its deceits, and all its sin.
He knew the truth was far beyond his reach,
He felt his faith, belief & reason crumble within.
For wasn’t he / the voice of the unfathomed deep -
Questioning / God and all ancient morality.
Dreaming / of will, and power, and ecstasy, -
Sparking / and de-catechizing minds / with originality.
But in that moment he was just a simple man
Who loved a lamb more than his Übermensch.
Who gave up his mind for one last act of sanity
Who became a mythical hero despite his Mensch.
The sacrificial lamb with a final breath doth whisper -
...“”Dionysus, The Crucified” - I am…your Zarathustra””
An angel may light the righteous way.
The tap may be narrow and up.
It may be a rainy day.
Dionysus chuckles.
For his drunk fellows,
He always finds
Kinky tricks
To make beer
And wine
Flow!
Deity of Greek myths
Descendent of Great Zeus
Demeter birthed this son
Dwelled on Mount Olympus
Divined as god of wine
Devoted to vino
Drama enthusiast
March 4, 2022
Greek Mythology Contest
Sponsored by Joseph May
checked with howmanysyllables
Doomed, his mom was mortal
Dad's thigh (Zeus) his birth place
Dubbed the "god of the grape"
Developed winemaking
Danced with drunken pleasure
Dithyrambs: songs for him
Double: Roman Bacchus
March 4, 2022
contest: Greek Mythology (pleiades)
sponsor: Joseph May
HMS - syllables checked
Will you believe
What they say about
My life and my heart?
Do you not doubt
That all I know
Is drunken mirth?
A purposeless child—
Is that all I am worth?
Will you ever see
That there always is
History that is hidden;
A past that you'll miss
Should you only watch
For what you believe now?
For years ago, I was
One who knew how
To induce madness
And spread insanity.
I found power in
Wildness and inhumanity.
Wine is always more
Complex than its royal gleam.
And I am more dangerous
Than I may first seem.
Do not believe
What they say I am —
I am so much more than
What they've forced me to become.
Dancing the intoxicating dance of Dionysus
Ummm well I got that special feeling now
Somewhere deep in the mountains overlooking
Athens, sounds of ecstasy echo through the
Night as a pillar of fire grows higher and higher
Feeding the soul full of desire...
And by the light of the moon we work ourselves
Up into a sexual frenzy, we exchange partners from
One group to another, just one really big orgy all
Night long as if in a trance and everybody gets
Their chance...
Well this is what you call t-total bliss, my skin on
Your skin and these lips find many more places to
Kiss its pleasure out of this world as someone's cup
Overflows and fills you up inside, this is eroticism and
Passion in over drive...
Oh yeah and ooooh baby, baby you work me up in
A damn hot sexual frenzy as the shadows from the
Altar’s hand burns a fire, higher and higher ummmm
And feeding the soul full of desire, during the
CEREMONY OF DIONYSUS, enough wine, show me
Yours and I'll show you mine...
Well it has nothing to do with love, it’s just the
CEREMONY, CEREMONY OF DIONYSUS!
The concepts of the Apollonian and Dionysian are famously linked to the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus are both sons of Zeus. Apollo is the god of reason and the rational, while Dionysus is the god of the irrational and chaos. The content of all artistic creation is based on the tension created by the interplay between these two.
Dionysian passion fills my soul
With a stream of life that knows no restraint,
Your frantic current defies all control-
Awakens the devil within the saint.
Injected with life, I'm lost in your force
As waves of strange visions rend me apart,
For purpose that has no ending, no source-
Oh, come to my rescue, creative art.
Apollo, come harness this raging stream,
With power of reason, channel the surge,
Reshape my voluptuous, savage dream-
Transmute its horror to aesthetic urge.
Bring order to chaos—hold tight your rein-
Come, challenge this frenzy of energy!
You both are needed—the crazy, the sane-
Dionysus! Apollo! Balance me!
i run thru ashes of pompeii
and i bring good news
it's great food
and my grapes will come to fruition
but i sleep close to the street
next to the mummies
nectar and jam
my news is the same
as it was from the last time
do you recall
as
when no one held regard to the mother
then the blast came
do not give the
neoanthropologists
a chance to excavate
your grinning skulls
as
the rich volcanic soil holds the DNA of
thousands of dreamers