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| Miranda Mason Class of 2019 |
Have you ever heard of Dionysus? The Greek god of wine and good cheer? He is
best known for traveling the world and bringing joy to the many miserable
people in it. He was accompanied by a
joyous band of dancing nymphs and musically inclined goat-footed men. I had the pleasure of reading some stories
about him lately, and rather than a mere drunken god, I found that he was a
rather caring one. According to myth, he
planted the first vines and brought the gift of wine to lighten the spirits of
men. His music, dancing, and wine
brought pleasure to the people who were beaten down and saddened by difficult
lives or troubling duties. This helped
people to be friendly and joyful, and it was good. However, when bestowing the gift of wine upon
men, he would warn them to limit how much they drank and how much they shared
with others.
When one king named Icarius was given
the gift of wine, he did not heed Dionysus’ warning. He left plenty of alcohol
out where anyone could access it without limitation, and it was because of this
that a group of men who worked near his palace were able to become thoroughly
drunk one night and began raiding the castle.
The king was overtaken, as they raped and pillaged and murdered in their
drunken madness, and the violence was capped when the raving drunks stoned King
Icarius and threw his body down his well, where he lay dead. They then
meandered into the woods, soaking in blood, to be hunted down later by men who
sought justice for the senseless slaughter.
It was the next day that King Icarius’ daughter Erigone arrived back
from a voyage to another kingdom and could not find her father among the
ruins. She took her prized dog to search
for his body, and when she found him in the well, her heart broke. So rended
was her heart by the loss of her father in this tragic accident that when she
saw a tree which had fallen across the well under the pressure of the mob, she
hung herself in grief. Indeed, even her
dog was broken-hearted at the occasion and at the loss of her beloved owner, so
that she howled at the spot until she too fell over dead.
Dionysus wept at the sight of how his
gift had been abused, and asked his father Zeus to place the king, princess,
and hunting dog among the stars as an apology for the tragedy his kindness had
provoked, and hoped that this would serve as a reminder to others to heed his
warning and drink sparingly. Despite
this tragedy, Dionysus knew that his wine could still do good for others if
they didn't abuse it, and so he continued his journey throughout the known
world sharing his joy.
Everywhere Dionysus went he was
worshipped for easing the perceived hardship of the multitude of sad men. He
was careful to give drink to those who needed to feel happier, and make sure
that people used his drink to encourage other joyful actions, such as music and
dancing and storytelling. After giving his gift to all of the known world,
Dionysus and his cheerful fellows ventured off the map in search of others who
might enjoy his gifts. It was then that Dionysus and his merry-makers came
across an unusual society. In this society the people worked together to take
care of one another. They had a sense of neighborly kindness to all, and were
governed by fairly applied laws. Children
were educated in peace, not war, and men and women were united as equally
important parts of society. Most
importantly, all those who lived in this society took care of each other so
that no one wanted for anything.
Dionysus, when he found this
civilization, was quite amazed, and when his merry makers prepared to dispense
alcohol among the people who lived there, he stopped them, saying, “These men
do not need it. They are joyous
already.” He recognized that wine was good for saddened souls, but was only
necessary for those who felt pain, not the already happy. He also realized that wine, like any
medicine, should be taken in small doses, or lives can be at risk. The god of wine was not a drunkard, but a
painkiller looking to help miserable people to be happy.
As in all Greek myths, there are
lessons to be learned from the adventures of Dionysus. He teaches that in the right quantities, for
the right people, alcohol can be helpful, but he doesn’t imply that it is a
cure, so much as an anesthetic. Alcohol
doesn’t serve as a cure, but as a numbing sensation for some time. It can act as the wall-breaker, which allows
proud men to express their emotions, to dance and have fun that they otherwise
frown upon as weak, and which distracts them from their troubles. However, the alcohol itself doesn’t fix
anything. Maybe it makes it easier to
forget sorrows, but sorrows remain, which is why Dionysus not only shared wine,
but taught men to make it too, so that they would be able to self-medicate.
It is important to understand that the
Greek myths of Dionysus teach the value of alcohol, but only in the way one
values other prescriptions: only a patient needs treatment, and only the
troubled need alcohol. The ancients
didn’t see alcohol as morally bad or good, but rather as a tool of men, likely
to simultaneously reveal a man to others and hide his sorrows from
himself. In order to permanently make a
man feel better, he must either be drunk for all of his life, or fix his
problems. If someone were to choose to
stay drunk all of his life, it would be the same as a patient who chooses to
take morphine without getting himself stitched up, so he may feel nothing, but
be dying all along. There must be
healing performed to save him, not just numbing.
Miranda Mason, a sophomore student from Corinth, Ky., studies biology, liberal studies and political science.