Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy: A study of the God Dionysos: history, myth and lore Kindle Edition

Dionysus is the Lord of Frenzy, well actually a whole more than that. I realize that when I say Dionysus people tend to think of wine and vines, but that is only part of it. This wonder and informative book by Vicki Bramshaw opened up a whole new vista.The origins of Dionysus seem to stem from the island of Crete, where there was a horned God called Zagrreuss. Yet Dionysus has another origin coming from Thrace, and this horned god was called Sabazios. In fact there are many gods who fed into the Dionysus current and included amongst those are Osiris and Tammuzi, of Babylon.Dionysus is a true Lord of the Hunt, he is associated with animals and with hunting. In fact he is an eater of raw flesh. Yet he is also vegetarian. Dionysus was a true liminal god who embraced opposites.According to Greek legend Dionysus was born from an illicit affair between Persephone and Zeuss. Zeuss took the form of a snake and then seduced her in a cave. From this union Dionysus was born. Hera in her jealousy wanted Dionysus destroyed. So she hired some Titans to do the job. They distracted him with a mirror and got his lightning bolts from him. They killed him and devoured him. Zeuss in his anger zapped them with a lightning bolt and from their ashes created man kind and he ate Dionysus’s heart. This represent one of the phases of Dionysus. The Zagreuss Dionysus from Crete who is associated with wine and mead is the Dionysus of the underworld. He brings winters relief from the summer’s scorching sun.As things progressed Dionysus was reborn from a mortal woman named Semele. Hera in her jealousy convinced her to ask Zeuss if she could see him in real form. Zeuss’s real form was lighting and this quick view burned Semele to ash. Zeus then took Dionysus and put him in his thigh. Dionysus’s second birth corresponded to Sabazios or bromios. This was the hunter god who went into a frenzy and would devour raw flesh. Hew was the Lord of the Summer Sun.Dionysus’s final form was that of Iachen, this too has some precedence in Egypt and Thrace. Dionysus goes down to the underworld to rescue Ariadne from death. He does so and ascends to Heaven.Dionysus was a god of physical passions, mead, wine, hunting , protection and liberation. He was the only God of the Greek pantheon who could possess his follower. Often times they held their rights outside of the city and the government was not always favorable toward them. Dionysus fought many battle. Associated with Dionysus are pine, goats, bulls, grapes honey, snakes, panther and figs. This review is only the tip of the iceburg. Book is loaded with tons of information on Dionysus.

book is solid if youre beginner to mythology but its a bore if youre a pro. its heavy on historical variations of the deity, reads like a well written Wiki page but lacks the juice you would want.

The Gods of the ancient Greeks are almost annoyingly familiar, with one notable exception, Dionysus. Alone among them, he embraces and transcends destruction and creation, male and female, birth and death, divine madness and prophecy.The puzzling associations of Dionysus, from his association with viticulture, the sacred bull, the underworld, and the animating power of the Gnostic cosmos are explored in this extensively researched book.My own interest was piqued through tantalising similarities between the frenzied trance of initiates, and similar patterns found in distant cultures.However, this is a book about Dionysus, not comparitive religious study, thus associations are left to the reader to discover.Ultimately, this book will be most useful to those who are not satisfied with the dismissal of Dionysos as the crass god of drunkenness, those who are fascinated by his reach, his paradoxical nature, and those who strive to grasp the truth behind the myth.

If you already know the myths it references, you might get some good scholarly interpretations from this book.I don’t know the myths, and after a few chapters of trying to piece them together from the fragments being analyzed, I called it a day, and gave up.

It's sadly rare to find a pagan text with footnotes and a bibliography... but Ms. Bramshaw delivers. I was in a low, dispirited, cynical place when I finally bought this book, and it helped me find my way back to the god who very literally saved my life.Io Arsenothelys!(Edited due to blasted autocorrect deciding to rename the author.)

This is a thoroughly researched book on the god of epiphanies. It comes via a pagan vein but will prove useful to any and all interested in Dionysus. With an extensive bibliography and footnotes it is a worthy read indeed

I enjoyed this book but like a good number of e-books, it could have used better proof reading. The footnotes are in Roman numerals and there are many. I wish they were in Arabic numerals. I found the Roman numerals focusing. But, that was just me. content is interesting and informative. I recommend it to anyone interested in Dionysus.

Lots of new (to me) and fascinating information! A really great place to begin learning more about Dionysus. The book explores his various aspects and epithets in an engaging way. Would recommend!

Vikki Bramshaw gives a detailed and highly readable account of the worship of Dionysus in the ancient world. She covers the various stories, myths, beliefs and festivals associated with the god and indicates how from a neo-pagan perspective they are relevant today.One aspect that stuck me but which was outside the scope of the book was the impact of Dionysus on early Christian beliefs. Time and again the themes and stories echo those in Christianity - particularly from the Gospel of John.In all a very enjoyable read and something to inspire and delight anyone with a belief in the mystery and wonder of the universe.

Very informational.

I absolutely loved this book. Vikki is an excellent writer, she explains really complex matters in a way that it seems almost simple to understand and that is how you know when someone truly knows about a subject. It has helped me a lot to understand Dionysos in a deeper and profound way, as she gives historical and mythological context.