A Comparison Between Jesus and Dionysus as Religious Figures Essay

He rises from the ruins of the once mighty house, that he himself has laid to dust. Here he comes, the son of God (Euripides 34). Jesus, right? Although this would probably be the answer of almost any American (or Christian), this passage describes not Jesus Christ, but Dionysus, the son of Zeus. Although the figures are separated by hundreds of years and represent the faiths of vastly different cultures, the two are remarkably similar. Both were born out of unions between God and a virgin and come down to earth in human form to save the people. Perhaps the most notable comparison is the strong relationship between wine and each of these gods. Wine is at the center of both the Christian and Bacchian experiences.The Epiphany is a Christian feast celebrated on January 6. Even the word epiphany comes from the Greek (manifestation, appearance, or revelation). This festival focuses on two events of Jesus ministry his baptism (Mark 19-11) and the changing of water into wine at Cana (John 21-12). But not only the word came from the Greek the festival of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, was kept on this same day (Grolier). Both festivals deal with a similar theme the revelation of divine power through the creation of wine. The popular Christian story describes Jesus turning barrels of water into the finest wine. In The Bacchae, followers of Dionysus were said to drive sticks into the ground and at the bidding of the God, wine came bubbling up (40).In each myth, wine is taken literally as the blood of the God. Describing Dionysus, the Bacchae state though himself a God, it wine is his blood we pour out (Euripides 18). Christians believe that, through Eucharist, bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. It is through drinking this wine, or blood, that the followers of each God achieve eternal life. Euripides writes that His Dionysus blood, the...

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