Who is he?

Written by thehouseofvines

The most recent project I’ve been working on has been a thorough collection of titles and bynames of Dionysos for the Starry Bull tradition. Most sites give the same 12-30 epithets, clearly borrowed from the same couple of sources. Even the list I provided on the Bakcheion was embarrassingly partial and hadn’t been updated in years — so I decided to remedy that. Starting with mine as the base (along with a handful of epithets I’ve been discussing on the blog) I then added stuff I didn’t have from Theoi, YSEE, HellenicGods, as well as a couple lists compiled by scholars. Then I consulted material on Perseus, Kernos, JSTOR, and Academia.edu, looked into the epigraphic corpora, several Byzantine lexicographers, Dionysios, Nonnos, the Greek Anthology, the LSJ, Farnell, the Orphica, the PGM, the Tragic and Comic Fragments and other sources folks don’t normally consider when doing this kind of research. 

Here is the Starry Bull collection of titles and bynames of Dionysos which clocks in at around 44 pages — yes, pages. I’ll be adding to it, and fixing some formatting glitches as I’m able, but it was time to move on to the next phase of the project.

8 thoughts on “Who is he?”

  1. This is astounding — I’ve seen you working on this but to see the final project is just astounding. It makes me want to do something like this for Odin!

    Like

    1. I am so glad that this part of the project is over with.

      And something like this could totally be done for Odin. It’d be a great meditational tool. Once I’m finished with the temple book I’ll give it a shot.

      Like

  2. Thank you for pulling this together and sharing it. I was delighted to find “gleaming with amber” and “amber-loving” on the list.

    Well done, Sannion!

    Like

  3. Wow, this is incredible! What a magnificent offering!! I need to spend more time with this, but I loved spotting “goblin king” on there. :D Μυριώνυμος, indeed! Makes one feel humble to witness this illustration of just how vast and multifaceted and mysterious He is.

    Like

    1. Good eye!

      And that’s why I called it the Starry Bull collection, etc. While about 80-85% of them come from ancient Dionysian sources, there were a few “easter eggs” slipped in.

      Of course the word for lizard used in that epithet comes from an epigram cited in a Byzantine lexicographer which had Dionysian associations (like his other epithet Kolotes having to do with a type of spotted gecko) as opposed to one of 3 or 4 other terms I could have chosen (one of which actually sounded better, though I opted for the more authentic term in the end.)

      After I finish the hymns, I might do a series where I periodically highlight different epithets and offer some context and analysis, etc.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. “After I finish the hymns, I might do a series where I periodically highlight different epithets and offer some context and analysis, etc.”

        I would definitely be interested in that!

        Like

Comments are closed.