Devotee of Dionysus

I’ve been wanting to make something like this for a long while, and talking to my friend @olympianbutch today gave me the push I needed to do so. When I was starting out as a Hellenic Polytheist years ago, this is the kind of resource I needed. So I hope you all enjoy and find this helpful!

Introductory Reading:

Ancient Greek Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

Athenian Popular Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

Greek Religion by Jan N. Bremmer

On Greek Religion by Robert Parker

Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship by LABRYS

Comprehensive Guides:

Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

Companion to Greek Religion edited by Daniel Ogden

Understanding Greek Religion by Jennifer Larson

Rethinking Greek Religion by Julia Klindt

The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow and Julia Klindt

Polytheism and Society by Robert Parker

The Gods and Theology:

Ancient Greek Cults by Jennifer Larson

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow, Julia Klindt, and Robin Osborne

Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion by Ellie Mackin Roberts

Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World (Routledge Series)

Offerings and Sacrifice:

Personal Experience and Materiality in Greek Religion by K.A. Rask

Singing for the Gods by Barbara Kowalzig

Smoke Signals for the Gods by F.S. Maiden

Sharing with the Gods by Theodora Suk Fong Jim

Primary Sources:

Theogony & Works and Days by Hesiod

The Homeric Hymns

The Orphic Hymns

Sources for the Study of Greek Religion by David Rice and John Stambaugh

Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Valerie M. Warrior

Dionysus!!

He was very fun to draw, I really like to use combination on yellow and purple :]

every time i look through the "Dionysus" tag, all i get is percy jackson, the hades game, cute fanart of him and'/or ariadne, or funny haha memes. so few people seem to understand that Dionysus is not just some silly little androgynous fella who loves wine and his wife. He's a god of contradictions, being both one of the oldest and youngest gods worshipped for thousands of years. He's a liberator, not only of the mental cage and burdens of society, but literally, he would travel around and free people who were being treated unfairly.

I've read that archaeologists still sometimes can't tell if art is of Jesus or Dionysus. Dionysus gave us theatre, a way to tell stories on a much grander scale to a much wider audience. He sees no gender or sexuality, for he is of them all, and he calls and accepts everyone who desires to be free.

Sure, yes, he can be silly, he can be flamboyant, and he'll do anything for his loved ones, but he's not just a goofy guy for people to use in joke text memes. this is my patron god. he's been with me my whole life. part of my life is devoted to theatre, my greatest passion, because of him. i feel comfortable with my mental illnesses and femininity because of him. yes, i may call him my dude and think of him as my fun, goofy uncle or whatever, but he seriously means a lot to me. practically every aspect of my life has been touched by him. he frees me from my doubts and insecurities. he encourages me to pursue life's delights in spite of my struggles. he gives me HOPE.

A quick summary:

The researcher behind the finding is Giulia Rossetto, currently undertaking a PhD (edit: Rossetto is post-doctorate) at the University of Vienna, Austria and is working on the Sinai Palimpsests Project.

The document in question is a medieval parchment. On one of the layers of the parchment features a new text that is written in poetic hexameter and is about Dionysus.

According to Rossetto, the text is taken from the Orphic Rhapsodies (probably in 24 volumes):

The palimpsest manuscript Sin. ar. NF 66 is one of the treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine located in the Sinai Peninsula. Nowadays it consists of a few fragmentary parchment sheets, but originally it was a larger codex of ca. 300 folia. Some of these leaves have been purloined from the Sinai and are now kept in Cambridge, Leipzig, and Saint Petersburg, while others have been lost. The codex contained the Lives of Palestinian monastic Saints in Arabic translation and was copied at the Monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem in the first quarter of the 10th century. It was later brought, under unknown circumstances, to the Sinai. All preserved folia are palimpsests, with scriptiones inferiores in Greek and Christian Palestinian Aramaic. This article focuses on one of the Greek erased texts – a previously unknown classical text in hexameters of mythological content – and offers its editio princeps. Based on an analysis of codicological and palaeographical features, combined with that of linguistic and stylistic elements, it will be suggested that the Sinai hexameters might originate from the Hieroi Logoi in 24 Rhapsodies, i.e. the longest lost Orphic poem we know of.

^ Description of her article on Academia.edu

The text tells about the childhood of Dionysus in the Orphic theogony and especially the details about "the toys of Dionysus".

“Healing is not quick; It is not painless And it is not linear. You will fall down, Cry out and bleed, But you will grow And become stronger With each shaky breath.

Don’t hold it in; Scream as loud as you must! Cry until there is nothing left! Bandage your wounds And get back up if you fall down! Then smile to yourself Because you have already grown And you are healing.

The mountain may seem Too steep and too dangerous. The path may look Too scary and too dark, But I believe in you And I know you can conquer Any obstacle in your way Because you are strong and resilient.

If it gets too much, Reach out your hand And cry out my name! I will come to hold you Until you can stand on your own. You are never alone, Not when you have So many gods on your side.

Let’s pretend i have posted regularly the last months okayyy xd. Anyways let’s start and as always if I made a mistake please tell me so I can correct it.

PLANTS/SEEDS

Figs & fig trees

Ivy leafs

pinecones

Wild vegetation

Cinnamon

Silver Fir

Bindweed

CRYSTALS/STONES/ETC/

Food/Liquids

Wine

Grape juice (don’t drink alcohol if you are a minor/can’t please)

Grapes

Honey

Olive oil

Apples 

Eggs

Berries

GENERAL

Cats, big cats (lions, leopards, lynxes, tigers)

Percussion instruments

Purple/Green/Red things

Sex toys

DEVOTIONAL ACTS

Watch theater/musicals

Write a play even if you don’t know how to

Learn how wine is made

Have fun, do fun things that you like

Have a party (We are in covid so zoom parties pls)

Donate/help saving his sacred animals that are in extinction 

Research about him! Get to know your deity!

I sing Dionysus, lord of wine and Madness - he comes! Hurry To the double flute! Hurry, revelers, To the drums and rattles - let their clatter Fill the air! Everywhere grow the ivy And the grape, entwining the doorposts, The lintel - the air is thick With the god today! Already I can hear The approach of his chariot, Drawn by sleek panthers and spotted leopards - Before him and behind Are ranks of satyrs, Silenus With his drooping horse-tail: feel The earth shudder under their dancing! Thyrsi held high, Maenads shriek: Euie! Euie! Io Bromie! Water and wine gush out Of the rocks; heavy is the scent of myrrh… Where is the god? Do you See him? Does he come as he came Once to Ariadne, When cruel Theseus had left her Lying on Naxos’ shore, in iron Bands of sleep? She woke in fear… The god! A young man In fawnskin robes, long black locks Falling down his shoulders - see Them shake! “Come, Minos’ daughter, To the stars, the endless revel! No death nor age, only the gleam Of wine in ladles, poured from fire to fire Through the black sky, where you and I Will mingle in love, forever.” Now just as then, appear, Bacchic king! I taste you in the wind - Down from Nysa’s craggy slopes descend! Fill my legs with dancing, My heart make pound in my chest, Until I run mad through hill and glen With the god in my brain, the god in my guts - Full to bursting with Dionysus Who rules the wine-cup. Hail to you, Bromius - ever will you bubble Onto my lips, even as I turn to another song.

I actually am trying to find methods to make PDFs more accessible and Holy fuck I’m literally neurodivergent what is your problem.

What's even anons point? Helping poor people also helps many nd people?