Dionysus

James Wynn · 09 Dec 2010, 20:31 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:31:23 -0600
Subject: (urth) Dionysus
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=uJqirb=oaXyyo5M0n6jOnt6YdVdpdo95eYdXv at mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTi=uJqirb=oaXyyo5M0n6jOnt6YdVdpdo95eYdXv at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4D013C9B.1080702 at gmail.com>

>> James Wynn-
>> So...we agree that he's is the god of the "vine", not just grape vines.
>> I do not believe specific species of vines mattered to Wolfe for this
>> association one little bit.
> Andrew Mason-
> I find that most improbable. The title 'god of the vine' is a
> translation of Greek and Latin phrases which referred to the grape
> vine. Dionysus was the god of wine and of grapes and so of the plant
> from which they come, the vine, in the historic sense of that term. He
> is not the god of climbing plants generally. [snip]

You know, these objections *might* possibly carry more weight with me if 
BEFORE I read The Book of the Short Sun, I had NOT noted that Quetzal 
tracked nicely with Dionysus and argued that the word "inhuma" was 
probably chosen for the semantical association between the bird called 
variously  "inhuma", "unicorn bird", and "horned screamer" with the 
horned god known as the Screamer.

As it is, I then took up the Book of the Short Sun and discovered that 
inhumi are associated with vines and they are possessed by a spirit when 
they feed on blood and the text is packed with overt Dionysian 
references. So, frankly, balking at "gosh, you know those lianas are not 
really *grape* vines, you know" is sorta silly. Especially since "liana" 
is a term that can be applied to ANY climbing plant including grape 
vines. *It's called an allusion. Human's are the grapes of this Dionysus.*

An alzabo is really a hyena, but that didn't stop Wolfe from borrowing 
the name from animal said to dig up graves and sob with a human-like 
voice. It's like complaining that Pas was "killed" by the other gods 
while Zeus was only bound to a chair. So what?

u+16b9
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