Description
No other god of the Greeks is as widely present in the monuments and nature of Greece and Italy, in the sensuous tradition of antiquity, as Dionysos. In myth and image, in visionary experience and ritual representation, the Greeks possessed a complete expression of indestructible life, the essence of Dionysos. In this work, the noted mythologist and historian of religion Carl Ker nyi presents a historical account of the religion of Dionysos from its beginnings in the Minoan culture down to its transition to a cosmic and cosmopolitan religion of late antiquity under the Roman Empire. From the wealth of Greek literary, epigraphic, and monumental traditions, Ker nyi constructs a picture of Dionysian worship, always underlining the constitutive element of myth.
Included in this study are the secret cult scenes of the women's mysteries both within and beyond Attica, the mystic sacrificial rite at Delphi, and the great public Dionysian festivals at Athens. The way in which the Athenian people received and assimilated tragedy in its immanent connection with Dionysos is seen as the greatest miracle in all cultural history. Tragedy and New Comedy are seen as high spiritual forms of the Dionysian religion, and the Dionysian element itself is seen as a chapter in the religious history of Europe.Author: Carl Kerényi
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 10/06/1996
Pages: 608
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.84lbs
Size: 7.94h x 6.04w x 1.25d
ISBN13: 9780691029153
ISBN10: 0691029156
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Folklore & Mythology
- Religion | Antiquities & Archaeology
About the Author
Carl Kerényi was professor of classics and the history of religion in his native Hungary and later became a citizen of Switzerland. He died in 1973 at the age of 76. His works include Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter and, with C. G. Jung, Essays on a Science of Mythology: The Myth of the Divine Child and the Mysteries of Eleusis.