Sunday, October 7, 2018

The Many Faces of Dionysus

In the ancient Dionysian festivals there would be a particular mythic theme, and various tragic, comic and pastoral works would be presented which all drew from the same myth.

I have an opening line that goes like this:

ΟΙ ΒΛΕΡΟΙΣΙ ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΘΕΟΙ ΟΥ ΛΑΝΘΑΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΔΕ ΤΩΝ ΕΒΛΕΦΕΝΤΩΝ

The gods see all things, and they do not forget the things they have seen.

This line could be the opening for stories in any of three classical modes. Right now I'm working on the tragic, in which case the line can be read as a warning: The gods see all things, and they recompense you accordingly.

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