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Dionysian
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Painting by Caravaggio showing a young Bacchus draped in white cloth, wearing a crown of grape leaves, holding a glass of red wine, with fruit and wine on the table.
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Painting by Caravaggio showing a young Bacchus draped in white cloth, wearing a crown of grape leaves, holding a glass of red wine, with fruit and wine on the table.
Caravaggio: Bacchus Bacchus, oil on canvas by Caravaggio, 1596–97; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Dionysian

characteristic
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History

Dionysian, characteristic of the god Dionysus or the cult of worship of Dionysus; specifically, of a sensuous, frenzied, or orgiastic character. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche used the terms Dionysian and Apollonian to analyze and explain the character of Greek tragedy in his book The Birth of Tragedy. According to Nietzsche, Greek tragedy was the result of a fusion of Dionysian and Apollonian elements.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Urnesha Bhattacherjee.