When we look at the Greek Gods, we all tend to know who the
twelve Olympian gods. This comes to a matter of which gods actually belong in
the twelve Olympians as there is always a discrepancy between which gods belong
in which category. Hence we have a problem with the issue of Dionysus and weather
he is in fact an Olympian god or not is open for a debate. The question is
having we as scholars created these terminologies for the sake of our own ideas
and concepts of beliefs. How far does the concept of being an Olympian or
Chthonian god matter? Parker states
‘What is at issue is the whole shape of the divine world as seen by the
Greeks’(Parker,2011,80) Parker mentions an interesting point when dealing with
the aspects of terminology. To the Ancient Greeks was a god Chthonian or
Olympian any less or more important than a view of another one of the gods. Was
there a difference in the way the Ancient Greeks worshiped Aphrodite to the way
they worshiped Demeter? Chthonian were
seen more as earth gods and sacrifices were made more towards the earth and
land, unlike the Olympians which dealt with the aspects libations for god
instead of the earth to name one of the differences.
When dealing with chthonian gods and Olympic gods in terms
of Hades, again we find him a hard god to be placed. He is said to be a
chthonian god as he is the master of the underworld. The sacrifices would have
been made at night towards Hades and libations being given to the earth. The
problem we face with Hades, is the concept of is he even a chthonian god
himself. He neither seems to really fit either or. As being the brother to two
Olympian gods it hard to understand with a god that had so much responsibility
placed upon him that he isn’t considered to be as an important as either Zeus
or Poseidon. They were given the term by the Greeks of “TheoiKhthonioi” which
is the term that belong to the 45 gods and goddess of the underworld.
When looking at the Volute Krater from Apulia depicting
Afterlife scene, which is now kept in the Toledo Museum of Art, here again we
see Hades coming into contact with Dionysus in the underworld.
Volute Krater
They are shown shaking
hands greeting each other in the underworld, Dionysus can be associated with
continuation of life and death traveling from both earth to the underworld.
When looking at the vase there seems to be a connection that can be made
between the Krater is connected with the Orphic-Dionyasic eschatology and by
reflecting the texts of Pelinna leaves. (Torjussen,87) Torjussen makes the
comment of the writing in the Penlinna leaves keeps the connection between that
of the vase and the role of the Dionyasic. Both depicted Hades as a main deity
in the role but in the Penlinna leaves Dionysus is not presented unlike the
Krater where he is actually seen interacting with Hades. As Trojussen states ‘The differences between
the two sources are just too vast for them to be considered products of the
same eschatology.”’(Trojussen,93) Trojussen makes an interesting comment, they
may not indeed be depicting the same scene but its putting the two chthonian
gods together. It is clear from both sources that there is a connection between
them both and the underworld. With this said there is the concept that Dionysus
is the connection between the Olympian and the chthonian gods. There is the
concept that with Dionysus he is the link between Hades and Zeus or even that
they are all one of the same. This then leads back to one of the original
posing questions, how do we define what is classed as an Olympian god to what
is a Chthonian god? This meaning we would have no term for any of the gods,
which in turns we can view Hades on a par to the other gods.
Bibliography
Parker R, (2011) On
Greek Religion. Cornell University Press, 2011
Online sources
Torjussen,S.S, Dionysos
In the Underworld an Interpretation of the Toledo Krater. http://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nordlit/article/viewFile/1801/1677
last accessed: 24/03/2013
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