AND HIS CHORUS
OF SATYRS AND MAENADS
young
and dark-bearded, the ancient Greek winegod Dionysus is
depicted on an ancient vase
with
his empty drinking cup, head-wreath of grapevine,
his
lynx cape, and his akimbo ecstatic dancing-and-prancing pose[1]
once
young Dr. mj realized how uncannily detailed and multiple
were
the parallels between Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians
(on
the one hand)
and
the
Greek winegod Dionysus
and
his singing and shouting chorus of unruly drunken satyrs and
maenads
(on
the other)
he
could not let go of the metaphor
his
understanding was forever enlightened by myth
and
the
reality and the myth became one
[1] Image is from
Arthur Cotterell, The
Encyclopedia of Mythology (New York: Lorenz, 1996), p.
37. The ancient Greeks pictured their winegod Dionysus in
this way on their vases and wine amphorae. This is a
photograph of an ancient Greek vase or wine storage jar
(amphora), most likely the latter, since Dionysus was the
god of wine and (ecstatic, religious) wine intoxication.
Ancient Greek wine had a higher alcohol content than
ordinary modern table wine.