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Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life |  | Author: Carl Kerenyi
Creator: Ralph Manheim
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $18.00
as of 7/29/2010 22:36 CDT details
You Save: $17.00 (49%)
Seller: bulldogbooks8
Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 192871
Media: Paperback
Pages: 476
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 0691029156
Dewey Decimal Number: 200
EAN: 9780691029153
ASIN: 0691029156
Publication Date: September 16, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product 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 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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| Customer Reviews:
 Receipt of Dionysos book April 21, 2010
Talila Michaeli (Tel Aviv Israel)
the book has safely arrived and in a perfect condition. Although not new, it is still to my mind perhaps the best research on the subject.
Kernyi's Dionysos January 19, 2006
j-orpheus (Minnesota)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is one of the most fascinating books on ancient myths I have ever read. If you're into ancient pagan religions, you won't be able to put this book down once you pick it up. It's a bit of a tome --lots of scholarly details --but well worth journey.
A true Ariadne's Thread February 26, 2003
Kelly L. (www.FantasyLiterature.com) (Columbia, MO United States)
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
I first encountered Karl Kerenyi by way of another of his books, _Eleusis_, a study of the mysteries of Demeter and Persephone. Let me tell you, I love the way that man's mind worked. In the case of Eleusis, and also in the case of Dionysos, there are secrets that the celebrants of the rites took to their graves. But rather than just say "we'll never know what really went on", Kerenyi leaves no stone unturned in an attempt to figure it out. Using myths, art, and "urban legends" from ancient times, which often dance around secret subjects, Kerenyi puts together a more coherent picture of the religions of these ancient deities. The myths and art may dance around the real mysteries, but if you "dance" around enough and see the material from enough different angles, you can get a pretty good idea of what isn't being said. Dionysos originated on the island of Crete, where he was considered to be the same deity as Zeus, and was a dying and resurrected god who presided over mead and the mysteries of death and rebirth. From there, his cult was taken all over the Mediterranean world, and changed along the way. His rites changed, too, and Kerenyi shows us all of the different ways he was worshipped, from the bull-sacrifice on Crete (with a great chapter on the god's notorious wife Ariadne) to the roving maenads of rural Greece, to the sacred tragedies and comedies of classical Athens. Then we see Dionysos again on the walls of the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii. In a way, _Dionysos_ is differently focused than _Eleusis_, where the author was trying to reconstruct what happened on one particular night. This book is more protean, following the thread of the Dionysus cult throughout distance and time as it changes. Recommended to anyone who loves mythology.
A work of art, both the book, and its subject. May 19, 2000
Hector M. Lugo (Dayton, OH United States)
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
Karl Kerenyi has a way about him. A way to touch the reader with word of clinical precision that none the less convey emotion and power to the reader that is probably as much to do with translator Ralph Manheim as the departed author himself.The subject of Dionysos and the startling workings of his ancient religion are given thorough study, and one is left with a feeling of having experienced the god himself through the writings of the author to whom the subject is so dear. Read this book as an insight into a bygone era, an insight into the human need for religion, an insight into Dinoysos the God, and most especially, an insight into your own mind.
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