Paradoxes

By the classical period Dionysus was to be found everywhere in the Greek world, but when we look for tangible traces of his presence or activity, he is hard to pin down. He had many small sanctuaries, but rarely a substantial temple. Greek theaters were called tou Dionusou, ‘‘[the place] of Dionysus,’’ and every Greek theater was built in his honor. Nevertheless, a famous Greek proverb could claim that Greek drama had, ‘‘nothing to do with Dionysus’’ (Pickard-Cambridge 1962:124-6). Bulls were slaughtered in sacrifice to the god at his major city festival in Athens, the Dionysia, but the goat, the more common sacrificial victim mandated for him in local regulations for sacrifice elsewhere, was not even allowed on the Athenian acropolis (Burkert 1985:229).

Dionysus had a fluid identity. Although ranked as a god, he had a mortal mother. He was born twice, once from his dead mother and a second time from his father’s ‘‘male womb’’ (Euripides, Bacchae 95). He was recognized as divine and therefore immortal, but his tomb was shown to visitors in the temple of Apollo at Delphi (FGrH 328 fr. 7; Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 365a; Pierart 1996). In the archaic period he is depicted as a mature adult, bearded and composed. However, he is also represented as a youth with hair to the shoulders (Euripides, Bacchae 150, 235, 455) and described as ‘‘shaped like a girl’’ (thelomorphos: Bacchae 353) or as looking ‘‘like an unmarried girl’’ (Antoninus Liberalis 10.1). Dionysus did not belong to the original group of twelve gods on Olympus, but he is included in the group of twelve as depicted on archaic Attic pottery (Long 1987:4-5). The branch he carries (bak-khos) is a sign of his identity. Called Bakkhos, Bakkhios, or Bakkheus himself, he shares his title with his mortal worshipers, Bakkhoi (masculine) or Bakkhai (feminine). As a god he should have fed on nectar and ambrosia and never felt a twinge ofindigestion, but Aristophanes could put him on the stage suffering from a bout of diarrhea (Frogs 479-88). Finally, although he himself is not shown in sexual arousal (Jameson 1993:47-50), Dionysus is called enorkhes (with testicles intact), on Lesbos and Samos; naked satyrs in his entourage are highly sexed and often depicted with erections (Lissarague 1990b), and erect phalloi were a ritual item in his dramatic festivals.

Dionysus freely crosses gender boundaries, and often appears on vases in the same garments as his female worshipers. In one of his first appearances in Greek tragedy his dress is so much like a woman’s clothing that Lykourgos calls him ‘‘girlie-boy’’ (gunnis; Aeschylus, Edonians fr. 61 TrGF). Dionysus regularly wears a kroketos, ‘‘party dress,’’ and mitra, ‘‘headband,’’ clothing normally worn by females (Bremmer 1999:187; Loraux 1990:37-8). On Delos he even inherits a hand-me-down garment from Artemis. When the Chorus of Sophocles’ Oedipus sings about Dionysus’ wardrobe, it chants:

I call on the one who wears the golden mitra on his head, the god who gave his name to this land, Bakkhos, with his ruddy face, to whom they cry ‘‘Euoi,’’ the one who wears the same outfit as the maenads... (Oedipus Tyrannus 209-12)

Finally, in a society where most rituals were divided by gender and female attendants rarely served male gods, Dionysus is often tended by an official priestess of the city. When his rites are restricted to women, his attendants are usually female, but when associated with the theater, Dionysus is always served by male priests.