Editing Dionysus (section)

====Interpretation====
[[File:Dionysos Indians Massimo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Mosaic of Dionysus fighting the Indians, [[Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne|Palazzo Massimo]] Rome, 4th century AD]]
In the Orphic tradition, Dionysus was, in part, a god associated with the underworld. As a result, the Orphics considered him the son of Persephone, and believed that he had been dismembered by the [[Titans (mythology)|Titans]] and then reborn. The earliest attestation of this myth of the dismemberment and rebirth of Dionysus comes from the 1st century BC, in the works of [[Philodemus]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]].<ref>Henrichs, p. 61.</ref> Later, Neoplatonists such as [[Damascius]] and [[Olympiodorus the Younger|Olympiodorus]] added a number of further elements to the myth, including the punishment of the Titans by Zeus for their act, their destruction by a thunderbolt from his hand, and the subsequent birth of humankind from their ashes; however, whether any of these elements were part of the original myth is the subject of debate among scholars.<ref>Meisner, pp. 249&ndash;50; Graf and Johnston, pp. 195&ndash;6 n. 7 to p. 65.</ref> The dismemberment of Dionysus (the ''[[sparagmos]]'') has often been considered the most important myth of Orphism.<ref>According to Meisner, p. 238, "[o]ver the last two centuries, many scholars have considered this narrative of Dionysus and the Titans to have been the central, defining myth of Orphism". See, for example, Nilsson, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1508326?seq=1 p. 202], who calls it "the cardinal myth of Orphism", and Guthrie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-C6wNyrxUO8C&pg=PA107 p. 107], who describes the myth as "the central point of Orphic story". According to Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=333 p. 307], it is "commonly regarded as essentially and peculiarly Orphic and the very core of the Orphic religion", while Parker 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dsOEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA495 p. 495], writes that "it has been seen as the Orphic 'arch-myth'.</ref>

Many modern sources identify this "Orphic Dionysus" with the god [[Zagreus]], though this name does not seem to have been used by any of the ancient Orphics, who simply called him Dionysus.<ref>According to Gantz, p. 118, 'Orphic sources preserved seem not to use the name "Zagreus", and according to West 1983, p. 153, the 'name was probably not used in the Orphic narrative'. Edmonds 1999, p. 37 n. 6 says: 'Lobeck 1892 seems to be responsible for the use of the name Zagreus for the Orphic Dionysos. As Linforth noticed, "It is a curious thing that the name Zagreus does not appear in any Orphic poem or fragment, nor is it used by any author who refers to Orpheus" (Linforth 1941:[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=337 311]). In his reconstruction of the story, however, Lobeck made extensive use of the fifth-century epic of Nonnos, who does use the name Zagreus, and later scholars followed his cue. The association of Dionysos with Zagreus appears first explicitly in a fragment of Callimachus preserved in the Etymologicum Magnum (fr. 43.117 P), with a possible earlier precedent in the fragment from Euripides ''Cretans'' (fr. 472 Nauck). Earlier evidence, however, (e.g., ''Alkmaionis'' fr. 3 PEG; Aeschylus frr. 5, 228) suggests that Zagreus was often identified with other deities.'</ref> As pieced together from various ancient sources, the reconstructed story, usually given by modern scholars, goes as follows.<ref>West 1983, pp. 73–74, provides a detailed reconstruction with numerous cites to ancient sources, with a summary on p. 140. For other summaries see Morford, p. 311; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA35 p. 35]; March, [https://archive.org/stream/March.Jenny_Cassells.Dictionary.of.Classical.Mythology#page/n787/mode/2up s.v. Zagreus, p. 788]; Grimal, s.v. Zagreus, p. 456; Burkert, pp. 297–298; Guthrie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-C6wNyrxUO8C&pg=PA82 p. 82]; also see Ogden, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ2pAK9luwkC&pg=PA80 p. 80]. For a detailed examination of many of the ancient sources pertaining to this myth see Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=333 pp. 307–364]. The most extensive account in ancient sources is found in [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/206/mode/2up 5.562–70], [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/224/mode/2up 6.155 ff.], other principal sources include [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3E*.html 3.62.6–8] (= Orphic [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/316/mode/2up fr. 301 Kern]), [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3E*.html#64 3.64.1–2], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4A*.html#4 4.4.1–2], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#75 5.75.4] (= Orphic [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/316/mode/2up fr. 303 Kern]); [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi006.perseus-eng1:6.87-6.145 6.110–114]; [[Athenagoras of Athens]], ''Legatio'' 20 [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_II/A_Plea_for_the_Christians#cite_ref-66 Pratten] (= Orphic [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/138/mode/2up fr. 58 Kern]); [[Clement of Alexandria]], '' [[Protrepticus (Clement)|Protrepticus]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/clementofalexand00clem#page/36/mode/2up 2.15 pp. 36–39 Butterworth] (= Orphic [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/110/mode/2up frs. 34, 35 Kern]); [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 155, 167; ''[[Suda]]'' s.v. [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&page_num=1&searchstr=zeta,4&field=adlerhw_gr&num_per_page=1 Ζαγρεύς]. See also [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.18.4 7.18.4], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.37.5 8.37.5].</ref> Zeus had intercourse with Persephone in the form of a serpent, producing Dionysus. The infant was taken to [[Mount Ida]], where, like the infant Zeus, he was guarded by the dancing [[Korybantes|Curetes]]. Zeus intended Dionysus to be his successor as ruler of the cosmos, but a jealous Hera incited the Titans to kill the child. Damascius claims that he was mocked by the Titans, who gave him a fennel stalk (''thyrsus'') in place of his rightful scepter.<ref>Damascius, Commentary on the Phaedo, I, 170, see in translation Westerink, ''The Greek Commentaries on [[Plato]]'s Phaedo'', vol. II (The Prometheus Trust, Westbury) 2009</ref>

Diodorus relates that Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and that his birth narrative is an allegory for the generative power of the gods at work in nature.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3E*.html#64 3.64.1]; also noted by Kerény (110 note 214).</ref> When the "Sons of Gaia" (i.e. the Titans) boiled Dionysus following his birth, Demeter gathered together his remains, allowing his rebirth. Diodorus noted the symbolism this myth held for its adherents: Dionysus, god of the vine, was born from the gods of the rain and the earth. He was torn apart and boiled by the sons of Gaia, or "earth born", symbolizing the harvesting and wine-making process. Just as the remains of the bare vines are returned to the earth to restore its fruitfulness, the remains of the young Dionysus were returned to Demeter allowing him to be born again.<ref name=diodiii>[[Diodorus Siculus]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/3E*.html 3.62–74].</ref>