10/8/19 Lillian Tong PD1

10/08/2019

Lillian Tong PD 1

Modern Mythology 2020

Aim: How do the stories of Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus demonstrate the human qualities of coming-of-age, sexuality, and indulgence?

At the start of class, there was a Whole Group Discussion question, asking “How is morality evident in the story of Dionysus? What is the duality in his relationship with humanity?” 

A majority of the class agreed on the notion that Dionysus’ existence reminds humanity of the need for general respect of your surroundings; especially the people and the way you treat them. Paulina brought up a great quote from the book, on page 71, detailing how “The reason that Dionysus was so different at one time from another was because of his double nature of wine and so of the god of wine. He was man’s benefactor and he was man’s destroyer.” She added an example to this quote, how Dionysus gave the Pentheus, the King of Thebes, a chance to redeem himself and right his wrong for the despicable character he showed the disguised [Dionysus], who showed nothing but gentleness in response (even though his followers were in binds and faced persecution). 

Ms. Fusaro brought up the quote:

“Dionysus was centered in these two ideas so far apart-of freedom and ecstatic joy and of savage brutality”, which answered the question on the duality of his relationship with humanity.

In Vino Veritas - Lillian very expertly used her prior knowledge of Snape’s interrogation method of using Veritaserum, or truth serum, and the Spanish word for wine Vino, to quickly deduce that quote was “In wine there speaks the truth”.

We can say that this is a true statement as evident in Ratatouille when Chef Skinner was interrogating Alfredo Linguini about his knowledge of Remy, or the rat in the hat, under the influence of expensive wine. In the end, all he managed to get were comical, but still TRUTHFUL answers.

With this quote, she was able to draw up the connection of the Greeks valuing BALANCE, specifically in this situation with the balance between indulgence and restriction. 

This, of course, was referencing alcoholism in the sense of blissful ignorance that wine may bring, but will also carry the burden of “going overboard” as alcohol can bring crazed states to those who abuse it. 

After a couple of rounds of passing the conch, we moved on to group discussion questions:

• Hades asks Persephone not to think of him negatively, yet his possession of her is portrayed as a “rape”. How does the violence associated with this relationship affect the story itself?
• Would you consider Dionysus’ punishment of Pentheus justified? Explain your reasoning.
• Any comparisons between Dionysus and Christ? Use your Learn-to-Read packet for helpful details.
• What connections can you make between Demeter and Pentheus’ mother? What can we elicit about the idea of motherhood from these two women?

     Group 1 answered the first question, drawing connections from childhood as it is very much a common story of a simple girl out of nowhere falling in love with a mysterious man of power and they live happily ever after. In the story of Hades of Persephone, as we grow older we see an adult theme that is very heavily glossed over: the fact that Hades very much raped and manipulated Persephone’s childhood innocence for his own selfish agenda. 

     In a sense, it made the story much more realistic, bringing to light the complexity of such a relationship where Hades asks Persephone to overlook his upbringing as the gloomy God of the Underworld, rather than the guy that just took her against his will.

     In Group 3, Daniel made a good note about the connection between the wine of Dionysus and Christ. At communion, one would drink a small portion of wine to symbolize the connection between self and Christ. As Dionysus bends wine to his will, he can have greatly different impact on those who drink wine at a small, leisure pace as compared to those who greatly abuse the wine in a sinful way.

Student Reflection:

     The duality that is Dionysus helps to remind us of our sins in life and gives warning to the fact punishment is most often not quick and unprecedented, but cultivated in the fields of ignorance and abuse. As Dionysus showed Pentheus mercy for the first couple of times the Thebian king insulted the god, this side of Dionysus resembles the sweet and easygoing nature of wine, which is “Man’s benefactor”. But because the alcohol is so pleasant, it is also very easy to underestimate and abuse, such as the behavior that Pentheus continuously directed towards Dionysus. And the fate that befell Pentheus exemplified the unforgiving side of Dionysus, “Man’s destroyer” which did not come without blame on the victim and the aforementioned warning. A fait accompli, of sorts.