Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility, Latin Bacchus, son of Zeus and Semele
Semele von Zeus wished for Zeus to appear to the council of jealous Hera, who appeared to her in the guise of her nurse, to appear to her in her actual form.
This one, bound by the promise to fulfill her every wish, appeared in thunder and lightning and burned Semele. Her unborn child, Dionysus, rescued Zeus and carried it out sewn into her thigh. Shele's sister Ino or the nymphs of Nys cared for and educated Dionysus.
On the island of Naxos he married the desperate Ariadne (Ariadne's thread = solution from a confused situation). There, Theseus, who had promised her marriage, abandoned her in her sleep. The crown of Ariadne, her wedding gift from Dionysos, was transferred to heaven as a constellation ("Northern Crown").
In the wake of the wine god satyrs and silenes, horse-like beings as well as nymphs were to be found. His admirers, the maenads (Greek:"Frenetic"), also known as Bacchantinnen, roamed for Dionysos during ritual processions, clothed with the fur of the fawn with torches, the Thyrsos - staff with pine cones at the top - swinging, dancing through the woods and the God's feastful swarm in rapturous rage, dancing through the woods and the mountains In the tumult, they tore up young animals and devoured them raw.
Pentheus, the king of Thebes, resisted the introduction of the Dionysos cult and wanted to prevent women from participating in the feast of God. On the advice of the God he had not recognized, whom he had captured, he took part in the celebration as a spectator in the forest mountains without permission and was torn apart, discovered by the raging maenads. His mother carried the bleeding head home in rapturous rapture and recognized what had happened too late.
The orgiastic, ecstatic train, also known as Bacchanal, was originally only approved for women, but was significantly reduced in the official cult in Greece. The reason for this was desolate, sometimes criminal debauchery. The cult centered on a phallic procession.
Teenager depiction of the head of the Dionysus covered with vines and leaves. Mask exhibit of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Replica reduction.
Also available in original size with 36 cm, weight 2,4 kg, for the price of € 74, -.
The theatre (Greek:"venue") was an existential component of Greek culture and civilization.
Since the end of the 6th century BC, tragedies, comedies and satyr plays have been performed in Athens every year. These events, similar to those held in other parts of Greece, were the result of primitive cultic performances in honour of the wine and fertility god Dionysus, and as a part of the state festivities, they were initially held only during the Great Dionysia in March, and since the 2nd half of the 5th century B. C., also at the Lenaeae in January.
Five comedies were performed in one day in the order determined by the ticket, and on the following days three tetralogies, each consisting of three tragedies and one satyr play, were performed. The selection of the plays to be performed was made by city officials. They made the actors available to the poet and named a chorister, who had to ensure the organizational and financial performance. The poet himself directed the production. After the performance, a jury decided on the order of the dramas and distributed the prizes in the form of tripods, natural objects, etc.
The audience was drawn from all social classes of the population. The state reimbursed the entrance fee to the less fortunate, while visits to the theatre were completely free of charge in the Roman Empire.
The actors' costumes corresponded to the character of the drama. In the tragedies they were long downbeat coloured robes with rich ornamentation, and the actors wore masks. A high hair attachment on the masks, as well as high boots (cothurs) with strong leather soles made her figures appear higher. In the comedies, the actors also wore masks, usually short robes, and often a leather phallos. Extensive leather upholstery on the stomach and buttocks gave their bodies grotesque shapes.
The theatre masks worn by Greeks and Romans consisted mostly of model-shaped, stucco-fixed, painted canvas with eye and mouth opening and attached wig. There is a large number of masks, mainly in terracotta, also in marble, in life-size and survival size.
