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Apollo and Dionysus

            I believe the concept of Apollo and Dionysus can be best described in a social sense. Apollo would be the part of a person that wants to spend the night alone in his or her apartment curled up next to a fire listening to some Beethoven or Brahms while reading Tolstoy's War and Peace. Dionysus on the other hand is the part of a person that wants to start drinking and partying around three in the afternoon and wants to make drunken phone calls to old boyfriends or girlfriends. The question is, are these approaches to art credible? I have come to the conclusion that these approaches are not credible in the evaluation of music and other various forms of art .
             The contrast of Apollo and Dionysus is what makes this discussion so interesting. Apollo lived in the heavens with the rest of the gods representing a very serene and peaceful lifestyle. Dionysus on the other hand dwelled on the lower ground with the mortals, in the common. This contrast between heaven and hell can be seen today in our churches. Everything beautiful and calming such as stain glass windows are set up high and out of reach. The organ pipes are soaring towards the sky in an effort to be closer to the heavens. The sacred animals of each god present us with another set of polar characteristics. Apollo's sacred animals are the swan and dolphin. Dionysus has the bull, snake, lion and panther as his sacred animals (Hayashida). Anyone can see or hear the Apollonian influence in the classic ballet Swan Lake, bearing the name of Apollo's scared animal. Dionysus" animals are all conceived to be ferocious and mean-spirited, ready to rip a man apart which is consistent with the myth that Dionysus was once ripped to shreds and everything was eaten except his heart (Gross). Another concept that each god represents is that of Romanticism vs. Classicism. Romanticism is the heightened interest in nature, individual expression and emotion while Classicism is based more on simple forms and restraint.


Essays Related to Apollo and Dionysus

1. Apollo and Dionysus Dichotomy in Greek Mythology

... radiance of the god of lightning. Zeus rescued Semele's unborn baby and "enclosed him in the recess of his thigh," and from him, the bull-horne god" was born.4 Both Apollo and Dionysus gods established cults; they had a number of followers and demanded they be worshipped. Apart from hi sacred homeland Delos, Apollo also laid out his sanctuary at Crisa, under the snowcapped mountain ... him in the woods. In opposition to the values of restraint and self discipline upheld by Apollo onto mortals, Dionysus thrive on the unexpected from them, encouraging them to go beyond their limits and pe...

  • Word Count: 1445
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Nietzsche: Apollo & Dionysus

... (divorcing one's self from the group and focusing on self-identity) as well as the dynamics of culture. Dionysus could be fairly categorized with intoxication but more generally a link to primal, uncontrolled base emotions. He is the essence of nature and serves as a conduit for thiasos, or the communion of an individual within a group. The presence of Apollo and Dionysus can be seen in both music ... and poetry in a number of ways. Not to confuse their figurative marriage with another familial metaphor, but they are brothers ... as well since they both share in the constitution of poe...

  • Word Count: 1180
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Apollonian and Dionysian Aspects to Literature

... .  Committing any of these seven deadly sins is supposed to be wrong and worth punishment, when these sins are basic human emotion and instinct. The Ancient Greek Deities set a great example for line between exactly what is to be right and wrong. Apollo and Dionysus are sons of Zeus; Father of Gods and men. The characteristics of these two sons of Zeus are dualistic in every ... aspect. Dionysus is the God of wine, epiphany, ecstasy. Dionysus actions are based on primarily emotion, sensuality ... , and chaotic action. He possesses the ability of forgiveness and faith within one's own se...

  • Word Count: 2933
  • Approx Pages: 12

4. Greek Gods And Goddesses

... corn, or a torch."" (Guirand 174) The other Supreme Deity on Earth was Dionysus, called Bacchus in Roman mythology. He was the only god whose parents were not both divines with Zeus and the Theban Princess Semele as his parents. He was the God of Wine and the God of Vine and Thebes was his city. (Hamilton 64-65) "He was first depicted as a bearded ... he wears a long robe such as a woman wore. His head with its long curly hair is crowned with vine leaves and bunches of grapes. In one hand he holds the thyrsus, and in the other, grapes or a wine cup."" (Guirand 178) One of Dionysus' sist...

  • Word Count: 2320
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Greek Gods and Goddeses

... , ears of corn, or a torch." The other Supreme Deity on Earth was Dionysus, called Bacchus in Roman mythology. He was the only god whose parents were not both divines with Zeus and the Theban Princess Semele as his parents. He was the God of Wine and the God of Vine and Thebes was his city. "He was first depicted as a bearded man, of mature ... ; sometimes he wears a long robe such as a woman wore. His head with its long curly hair is crowned with vine leaves and bunches of grapes. In one hand he holds the thyrsus, and in the other, grapes or a wine cup." One of Dionysus" sisters, Athena,...

  • Word Count: 2220
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Dionysus & Apollo

I see many aspects of Apollo and Dionysus in my everyday life. I strive to be more Apollonian in behavior as to be more efficient and accomplish more in with the limited amount of time we are all presented with. I am compelled to make to-do lists and jot down schedules, however, the Dionysian part of my personality just doesn't feel like it. I do not feel I would get ... both predominantly Dionysian concepts when they have little to do with anything other than one's own comfort. I am aware of this problem and have every intention to modify it, but it almost seems as though I"d be betraying my...

  • Word Count: 273
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Greek Values of Reason, Order, and Moderation

... be there long after they had passed. This is probably why early statues depicted the gods, such as the neck amphora with Dionysus and maenads; it was a way to symbolize the permanence of the gods and be humble before them. When looking at the Parthenon it is obvious how heavily ordered it is, ionic columns bring a static order to it while the elaborate ... the gods. In literature, Oedipus can be examined through its ordered sequence of events. The play is based on the original oracle from Apollo, which said that Oedipus would marry his mother, kill his father, and live in shame and mise...

  • Word Count: 1116
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Dufay and Binchois and their music

... individual composition styles that attempt to organize their creative process through analysis of the diametrically opposing views of the gods Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo was the god of peace, intellectual contemplation and logical order, and Dionysus was the god of wine and an orgiastic religion based on the power and fertility of nature. Dufay is considered an Apollinian composer because " in his music the words usually play a subservient role ... ". The Missa Se la fac ay pale is a monument to rationality and order where cadences appear on downbeats and dissonance take into account th...

  • Word Count: 1088
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Goddess Hera - Marriage and Family

... a sight is sure to kill a mortal. Zeus took the child she carried and put him inside his thigh until the time came for Dionysus to be born. When Hera recognized the child as Zeus's illegitimate son, she sent the titans (among other creatures) to kill him. However, they were unsuccessful and Dionysus eventually made the transition into god. Hera punished the goddess Leto for ... Zeus' indiscretion by threatening to curse any land that gave her refuge to bear her son Apollo. It was months before she came across the floating island of Delos, which was neither land ... could give birth wit...

  • Word Count: 1427
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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