Dionysus (or Bacchus, in the Latin rendering) is the Greek god of wine, drunkenness, fertility, insanity, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theater. In his The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche describes the tension between the Apollonian and Dionysian ideals in art, religion, and culture. He refers, of course, to Dionysus, who represents pleasure, the uncontrollable, unpredictable chaos of nature, and femininity, and his counterpart, Apollo, who represents man-made structure, discipline, order, and masculinity.
Fine work--great piece on Camille. Any idea what she's up to now? Cheers, Mark Edmundson (mwe@virginia.edu)