Ages of Dionysos

The film “Ages of Dionysos” emphasizes the fact that the god Dionysos is being artistically depicted in stages of evolution corresponding to the sequence of the periods of vineyard cultivation, but not necessarily identical to them. Thus, during the preparation of the “Anthesteria” in Athens, the citizen conveyed the start of grape cultivation by representing the deity in an early embryonic stage. The prenatal period of the god and his double birth lasted through springtime. The second seasonal phase, that of summer, is the “karpotaxia”, corresponding to the god’s depiction as an “adolescent”. Adolescence is considered to be the third stage of the grape god’s evolution, the allegory of the vine ripening. The “bearded” representation of Dionysos and of his escort (thiassos), now coincides with the coming of age of the god, with the “spirit” and the “gift of wine” to humanity, as well as with the ecstatic state of drunkenness. During the winter stage (Rural Dionysia and Lenaea) the followers of Dionysos invoke their “Lacchus”, referring to his symbolic death/dismemberment. He will reappear in a triumphant way at the beginning of spring, producing a state of “Holy Mania“ to his female followers. Transgressing the barriers of his rural rites, Dionysos begins his great voyage throughout the Mediterranean, giving birth to new, political interpretations of the theatre “genre” and introducing a new era.