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Euripides - The thyrsus and the ivy [interpretation]
Identifier
013517
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
From the Internet - an interpretation of Dionysus as described by Euripides
A description of the experience
The thyrsus and the ivy
Dionysos is considered to be a god of fertility, especially the lush growth of grapevines, ivy and other green plants.
The thyrsus which the god carries is a fennel stalk topped by a pine cone and wrapped in ivy
The maenads, followers of Dionysos, pound the ground with the thyrsus, which drips honey and causes milk and wine to gush up from the earth; a phenomenon into which it is not difficult to read sexual symbolism.
(Euripedes, lines 700-715)