Books about Dionysos from Amazon.com

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 Kerényi 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, Kerényi 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.

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Price: $23.09 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Written in Wine is a collection of devotional writings dedicated to the ancient Greek god Dionysos by his modern worshippers The world of Dionysos is one of wildness, freedom, mystery and intoxication, a dangerous and boundary-blurring place where nature is alive with wonder. Come with us as we revel with the god on the mountainside and explore the furthest reaches of our own selves under his frenzied inspiration. Inside these pages you will find essays, poetry, rituals and fiction, as well as personal accounts of Dionysian experiences..
Price: $17.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

These critically diverse and innovative essays are aimed at restoring the social context of ancient Greek drama. Theatrical productions, which included music and dancing, were civic events in honor of the god Dionysos and were attended by a politically stratified community, whose delegates handled all details from the seating arrangements to the qualifications of choral competitors. The growing complexity of these performances may have provoked the Athenian saying "nothing to do with Dionysos" implying that theater had lost its exclusive focus on its patron. This collection considers how individual plays and groups of dramas pertained to the concerns of the body politic and how these issues were presented in the convention of the stage and as centerpieces of civic ceremonies. The contributors, in addition to the editors, include Simon Goldhill, Jeffrey Henderson, David Konstan, Franois Lissarrague, Oddone Longo, Nicole Loraux, Josiah Ober, Ruth Padel, James Redfield, Niall W. Slater, Barry Strauss, and Jesper Svenbro.

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Price: $24.19 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Dionysos is one of the most-studied ancient Greek gods for students and academics He is popularly known as the god of wine and frenzied abandon, and has great significance for theatre -- drama, in fact, originated as part of the cult of Dionysos. However, Seaford's book covers a wider range of issues, such as mystery, cult and philosophy, which have been overlooked by many studies. As a volume in the Gods and Heroes series, this work will provide an indispensable introduction to the subject, or reference point for higher levels of study..
Price: $22.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Translated from the Greek of Euripides with an Original Interpretation of the Myth of Kadmos. The Bakchai were the followers of Bakchos, also named Dionysos, the God of Seership and reputed founder of the sacred Mysteries. Those who were initiated in these Mysteries were called Bakchoi, since the initiate was said to become one with his God. Illustrated by J. Augustus Knapp..
Price: $14.07 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Ancient Athens was unique in its politics, extraordinary in its religion and fanatic about its poetry. Yet its creativity peaked in a time of prolonged, avoidable and catastrophic war; the brilliance of Greek tragedy blazed while the people who made it were bringing ruinous defeat upon themselves.

This book describes the parallel lives of Athenian democracy and Athenian tragedy--how and why they concurrently arose, blossomed and died, shaped especially by a fatal Athenian penchant for war. The author, an actor visiting the Theater of Dionysos at Athens (where the Greek tragedies premiered), considers what hints time has left us of the life and death of Greek tragedy and of the three tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides) some few of whose plays survive. He demonstrates how drama emerged from a fusion of four unique elements in Greek culture: bardic poetry; open sporting competition; uncodified religion; and exploratory philosophy. With glimpses of the authors, backers, performers and audiences who collectively created that astounding body of work, the book imagines the evolution of the tragic genre from a practitioner's viewpoint..
Price: $30.65 [Notify me when price goes down.]