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Bacchus God of Wine
Shown w/
Aquino base !
1,790 72" tall
(5 ft 2 in)
801 Lbs-19"l-19"L on base
Estimated shipping weight 980 lbs
Dionysus also known as Bacchus was the god of wine and
inspired madness, and a major figure of Greek mythology. He
represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its
social and beneficial influences. The geographical origins of his
cult were unknown, but almost all myths depicted him as having
"foreign" (i.e. non-Greek) origins.
He was also known as Bacchus and the frenzy he induces,
bakcheia. He is the patron deity of agriculture and the theatre. He
was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from
one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. The divine mission
of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end
to care and worry. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to
the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over
communication between the living and the dead.
In Greek mythology Dionysus is made to be a son of Zeus and
Semele; other versions of the myth contend that he is a son of Zeus
and Persephone. He is described as being womanly or "man-womanish".
Dionysus had an unusual birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting
him into the Olympian pantheon.
His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his
father Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus's wife, Hera, a jealous and
vain goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant.
Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in
her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to
believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious,
Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as
proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she
persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, cannot look upon a god
without dying, and she perished. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus,
however, by sewing him into his thigh.
(can
be used as fountain piece)
Cast from Carrara marble in Borgo san
Giacomo, Italy.
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