Liber Dionysi: The Book of Dionysus (Libri Deorum: The Books of the Gods) Kindle Edition

Dionysus (also known as Bacchus, Liber, or Fufluns) is a god of spiritual liberation, political freedom, and ecstatic joy. You may also know him as the god of wine, theatre, festivals, and the wild. He originated in the ancient Mediterranean but today has worshippers all over the world.However, many of the myths of Dionysus have remained scattered throughout multiple works rather than in one coherent volume. With this book, that is no longer. The Liber Dionysi, Latin for the Book of Dionysus, is a compendium of various Dionysian myths. The name itself is a pun - Liber is not only Latin for ‘book’, but is also another name for Dionysus, this word meaning ‘Free one’. This is one of Dionysus’ oldest names, cognate with the Greek Eleuthereus - the Liberator. It is to Dionysus Eleuthereus, god of every liberation, that this book is dedicated.Showing the power of the human and the divine to feel - laugh, love, cry, scream - herein are his births to Persephone and Semele as depicted in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, his loves and losses of Ampelus and Ariadne, his bloody triumph in Euripides’ Bacchae, his farcical descent into hell in Aristophanes’ Frogs, and his ascent to Olympus. These are the texts that evoke his faith. Here is the book of Dionysus. Read more