Latest news with #Dionysus
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Ecstasy' Review: The Gods Made Them Crazy
The past few years have seen a spate of novels that draw on classical antiquity of both fact and myth, from 'historically accurate' retellings of ancient sagas, such as 'Circe' (2018) by Madeline Miller, to a queer version of Caesar and Cleopatra (in space). Similarly addressing the realm of mysterious gods and heroic women—but from a slightly different angle—is 'Ecstasy' by Ivy Pochoda , whose previous novels include the 2023 thriller 'Sing Her Down.' 'Ecstasy' is a loose modern retelling of Euripides' 'The Bacchae,' a play in which a king's refusal to acknowledge the divinity of Dionysus—the god of wine and madness—brings destruction to the royal family. Ms. Pochoda's story is told from several points of view but the main one is that of Lena, a widow traveling with her pregnant daughter-in-law and son, Drew, to the Greek Island of Naxos. They stay at her late husband's last real-estate development, a luxury beach resort that is almost ready to open. Along with them is Hedy, Lena's friend from the years when they were both impoverished ballerinas traveling the world. Now Lena is a well-behaved member of the extremely wealthy, and Hedy is going blind. But the resort has a problem: Squatters, all women, have refused to move from a prime piece of beach, claiming it is theirs by spiritual right. Drew insists they should be evicted, but local authorities are reluctant to act; the possible presence of an ancient ruin of cultural significance in a cave nearby seems to support the squatters' case. Lena, intrigued by the women's revelry and missing her own wild youth, is drawn into the beach-party scene—to her son's irritation and rage. It soon comes out that the women—in ancient times they would have been called maenads—are driven to their fits of ecstasy by drinking an elixir that a dealer sources from a god in chains. Drew declares war on all of them, setting fire to their encampment and trying to lock up his mother. The ending, let's just say, is perfectly Greek.
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I worked the night shift and spent it chatting with a guy in the UK. He flew to the US to meet me, and we've been together for 27 years.
Back in 1997, I was working the night shift when I met a man online who lived in the UK. We started chatting every night for hours, and after six months, he flew to the US to meet me. After dating for three months, we got engaged, and we've been together ever since. In 1997, I met my husband thanks to an obnoxious coworker. I was a 27-year-old data entry clerk at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. My coworkers were other recent graduates making ends meet. We were friends — all of us except one. This particular coworker, as she liked to remind us, came from a wealthy family. She didn't talk to us often — that is, except when she felt like bragging, as she did the day she trounced into the office to announce her brother had won a radio. My coworkers and I decided we, too, would win something. And our prize would be cool because it would be won online. (Remember, in 1997, the internet was a shiny new toy.) Unfortunately, I was the only one with a computer, as very few people had personal computers then. So, every night, I entered all of us into a plethora of competitions. I got in the habit and kept at it even after I got a much better-paying job, working the night shift at a publishing plant. In the process, I discovered a site that paid virtual coins for clicking on other webpages. One of the sites it paid me to visit was American Singles, a simple and slightly boring bulletin board. As I was about to log out, I met a 26-year-old guy calling himself Dionysus. We immediately hit it off, and I stayed logged on. We chatted every night for 6 months He was finishing his degree, and though he was in the UK, because I was working the night shift, it was basically like we were in the same time zone. We talked about everything, for about six hours each night for six months. I told him things I hadn't shared with anyone else. In fact, I got so wrapped up in talking to him that I completely forgot to keep entering contests. I chatted with abandon, completely unaware that he was paying for the internet by the minute. When his bill came, he decided it would be cheaper to fly to the US to meet me in California. He asked if that would be OK, and I said yes. Then, he came to the US to visit me I was both anxious and excited, and those co-workers, with whom I was still friends, didn't help. They asked how I knew the man I was talking to wasn't a 60-year-old grandmother. I didn't; I'd only learned three months into chatting that his real name was Adrian. His timing was also unfortunate. At the time, there was a story all over the news about a stalker using the internet to prey on a young girl. So, when I told my mom a guy I met online was coming, she panicked. "He's an ax murderer, I'm driving down," she said. I begged her not to come, but our conversation did nothing to alleviate the apprehension that had been building. A stranger from another country would soon be staying in my apartment. Was this a good idea? It was a bit awkward at first, but we got through it When we finally met, we discovered a few cultural differences. Though English people generally don't tend to have a flair for the dramatic, picking up stakes and coming to a new country just to meet someone you've been chatting with online is pretty bold. So, Adrian tried to compensate during our first visit by making his surroundings a bit more English. On his first night in the US, we had pizza. I opened the box and took a slice. He sat staring at it. "Do you have a knife and fork?" he inquired. I assured him I did. "Can I have them?" I gaped, and watched with amusement as he attempted to eat a pizza with utensils. After a while, he gave up and ate with his hands. (When we went to the UK to meet his family, I understood. You can't eat British pizza any other way.) Since pizza was not an unalloyed success, I decided to take him to Starbucks, thinking, who doesn't know about Starbucks? It turned out, the British. (The chain's first store opened in London in 1998, and Adrian had never been to one before. He asked me if it was named after Battlestar Galactica.) Welcome to America. But we persevered and, over time, learned one another's routines, insecurities, and quirks. When it got serious, I took him to meet my mom. She really liked him — possibly because he passed the test of not hacking me to death. We dated for about three months after he came to the US. During that time, we toured San Francisco and camped on the beach in Monterey. Then, he asked me to go to the UK for two weeks to meet his family. His family was incredibly welcoming, and one of his friends took a week out of his life to show me their corner of England. I loved it, and I loved his family. When we got back to my apartment in Davis, we settled down to watch a documentary about mummification. As the narrator described the process, Adrian asked me to marry him. I said yes, and we eloped in 1999. It's been 27 years since we met in person. We are now 54 and 53 years old, and of course, we are still chatting. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
Business Insider
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
I worked the night shift and spent it chatting with a guy in the UK. He flew to the US to meet me, and we've been together for 27 years.
In 1997, I met my husband thanks to an obnoxious coworker. I was a 27-year-old data entry clerk at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. My coworkers were other recent graduates making ends meet. We were friends — all of us except one. This particular coworker, as she liked to remind us, came from a wealthy family. She didn't talk to us often — that is, except when she felt like bragging, as she did the day she trounced into the office to announce her brother had won a radio. My coworkers and I decided we, too, would win something. And our prize would be cool because it would be won online. (Remember, in 1997, the internet was a shiny new toy.) Unfortunately, I was the only one with a computer, as very few people had personal computers then. So, every night, I entered all of us into a plethora of competitions. I got in the habit and kept at it even after I got a much better-paying job, working the night shift at a publishing plant. In the process, I discovered a site that paid virtual coins for clicking on other webpages. One of the sites it paid me to visit was American Singles, a simple and slightly boring bulletin board. As I was about to log out, I met a 26-year-old guy calling himself Dionysus. We immediately hit it off, and I stayed logged on. We chatted every night for 6 months He was finishing his degree, and though he was in the UK, because I was working the night shift, it was basically like we were in the same time zone. We talked about everything, for about six hours each night for six months. I told him things I hadn't shared with anyone else. In fact, I got so wrapped up in talking to him that I completely forgot to keep entering contests. I chatted with abandon, completely unaware that he was paying for the internet by the minute. When his bill came, he decided it would be cheaper to fly to the US to meet me in California. He asked if that would be OK, and I said yes. Then, he came to the US to visit me I was both anxious and excited, and those co-workers, with whom I was still friends, didn't help. They asked how I knew the man I was talking to wasn't a 60-year-old grandmother. I didn't; I'd only learned three months into chatting that his real name was Adrian. His timing was also unfortunate. At the time, there was a story all over the news about a stalker using the internet to prey on a young girl. So, when I told my mom a guy I met online was coming, she panicked. "He's an ax murderer, I'm driving down," she said. I begged her not to come, but our conversation did nothing to alleviate the apprehension that had been building. A stranger from another country would soon be staying in my apartment. Was this a good idea? It was a bit awkward at first, but we got through it When we finally met, we discovered a few cultural differences. Though English people generally don't tend to have a flair for the dramatic, picking up stakes and coming to a new country just to meet someone you've been chatting with online is pretty bold. So, Adrian tried to compensate during our first visit by making his surroundings a bit more English. On his first night in the US, we had pizza. I opened the box and took a slice. He sat staring at it. "Do you have a knife and fork?" he inquired. I assured him I did. "Can I have them?" I gaped, and watched with amusement as he attempted to eat a pizza with utensils. After a while, he gave up and ate with his hands. (When we went to the UK to meet his family, I understood. You can't eat British pizza any other way.) Since pizza was not an unalloyed success, I decided to take him to Starbucks, thinking, who doesn't know about Starbucks? It turned out, the British. (The chain's first store opened in London in 1998, and Adrian had never been to one before. He asked me if it was named after Battlestar Galactica.) Welcome to America. But we persevered and, over time, learned one another's routines, insecurities, and quirks. When it got serious, I took him to meet my mom. She really liked him — possibly because he passed the test of not hacking me to death. We dated for about three months after he came to the US. During that time, we toured San Francisco and camped on the beach in Monterey. Then, he asked me to go to the UK for two weeks to meet his family. His family was incredibly welcoming, and one of his friends took a week out of his life to show me their corner of England. I loved it, and I loved his family. When we got back to my apartment in Davis, we settled down to watch a documentary about mummification. As the narrator described the process, Adrian asked me to marry him. I said yes, and we eloped in 1999. It's been 27 years since we met in person. We are now 54 and 53 years old, and of course, we are still chatting.
Forbes
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The View From Mount Olympus: What The Greek Gods Ate And Drank While Partying
|Medium: Fresco|Creation date: 1518-1519|Located in: Palazzo Farnese, Farnesina, Italy, circa 1518. ... More (Photo by David Lees/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)Rare is the Greek god or goddess who is not a cosmic annoyance to human beings. They are immeasurably flawed, vindictive, irrational, self-serving, mean-spirited and use their powers to outwit each other and mankind. They were also gluttons: According to Homer, the gods lounging atop Mount Olympus 'feasted all day until sunset and ate to their hearts content,' then they would put up their feet and listen to music and poetry. Bacchanalia, before 1659. Found in the Collection of Art History Museum, Vienne. (Photo by Fine Art ... More Images/) Dionysus was a god the Greeks most happily imitated. Called Bacchus by the Romans, he was the privileged son of Zeus himself and god of agriculture, who showed men how to grow wine grapes and make wine; he was also a comic sower of decadence, though he was never depicted as obese by Greek sculptors. He would conduct his conquests surrounded by a retinue of Bacchii that included drunken satyrs and mad women known as maenads who wore crowns of snakes and would tear animals and enemies to pieces. The feasts celebrating Dionysus date to Attica, where a yearly wine festival was held during the winter solstice and grew into raucous, sexually charged, raunchy scenes in which masked men dressed in goat skins, giant phalluses were carried about and flaunted and dances tended towards the obscene. ITALY - CIRCA 2002: Symposium scene, ca 480-490 BC, decorative fresco from the north wall of the ... More Tomb of the Diver at Paestum, Campania, Italy. Detail of the so-called lovers. Ancient Greek civilization, Magna Graecia, 5th Century BC. Paestum, Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Archaeological Museum) (Photo) Drinking parties held in Dionysus's honor, called sympósions, became very deliberate gluttonous events, despite Dionysus's own dictum that a man should drink only three cups of wine at dinner: toasting the first to health, the second to love and pleasure and the third to sleep, after which a guest should go home to bed. Few paid much attention once the party got Red-Figure Psykter, about 510 BC. Wine Cooler with Athletes. Additional Info: The psykter is a ... More vessel used for cooling wine at a symposium. Placed in a large bowl of ice-cold water, the bulbous upper section - decorated here with youths in the gymnasium - would be visible to drinkers. Creator: Smikros. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images) Such banquets were all male, with the exception of naked dancing girls, and the manners and rituals of inviting guests, making the menus and deciding on the entertainment were very involved. During a sympósion guests arrived, their feet would be washed by slaves, then they reclined on couches; a communal cup called a psycter of aromatics was passed around, and the eating part of the banquet began. But the serious drinking came after dinner. The meal would consist of an enormous number of dishes. A poem written around 400 BC called The Banquet describes a feast well appreciated by its enthusiastic author. In came a pair of slaves with a shiny table, and another, and another until they filled the room. They fetched in show-white barley-rolls baskets, A casserole— no bigger than that—call it a marmite, full of a noble eel with a look of the conger about him. Honey-glazed shrimps besides, my love, Squid sprinkled with sea-salt, Baby birds in flaky pastry, And a baked tuna, gods! What a huge one fresh from the fire and the pan and the carving knife. Enough steaks from its tender belly to delight us both as long as we might care to stay and munch. . . . . Then the same polished tables, loaded with more good things, sailed back to us, 'second table,' as men say Sweet pastry shells, crispy flapjacks, toasted sesame cakes drenched in honey sauce, Cheesecake, made with milk and honey, baked like a pie; Cheese-and-sesame sweetmeats fried in the hottest oil in sesame seeds were passed around. At that point, with only small bites called tragemata to nibble on, the guests began to drink as much as they liked of wine cut two-thirds by water. If a man protested that he'd had enough wine and refused another cup, he had to perform some silly entertainment, like dancing naked or carrying the girl flute-player around the room. Parasites was the name given to those who arrived late to the party and mooched off the remains. Only around 500 BC were women invited to join the fun, but they were largely courtesans, prostitutes and female artists. Epicurus (ca.341-270 BC). Ancient Greek philosopher. Bust. Marble. From Villa Casali, Rome (1-160 ... More AD). British Museum. London, England, Great Britain. (Photo by: Prisma/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) How such a gentle philosopher named Epicurus became equated with the term 'epicureanism' as a license to excessive indulgence, particularly in food and drink, is a unfortunate because he actually advocated 'katastematic pleasure' that is experienced through a harmonious state of mind free of mental distress and pain achieved through a simple life rather than by activating unnatural pleasures like gluttony that take hold of the mind's free will. Ulysses and Circe, ca 1580-1585. Found in the collection of Art History Museum, Vienne. Artist : ... More Spranger, Bartholomeus (1546-1611). (Photo by Fine Art Images/) In Homer's Odyssey, the poet insists that while heroes need proper nourishment, mostly meat and bread, it would be foolhardy for them to indulge in gluttonous behavior. Nevertheless, in The Iliad the hero Odysseus is called by an opponent 'wild for fame, glutton for cunning, glutton for war,' while Odysseus uses the word 'glutton' to describe King Agamemnon as a 'dog-faced' glutton' and 'people-devouring king.' When Odysseus sails into the clutches of the breathtakingly beautiful goddess Circe, she turns his men into swine with a drugged drink (she turns them back, too) and persuades him to feast with her and her maidens on 'enough food and drink to last forever.' And then to bed. Odysseus and his men gave in to her seductions and stuck around the island 'day after day, eating food in plenty, and drinking sweet wine' for an entire Marotti, from Rome, 2nd century. Statuette of naked Herakles in Boston-Oxford type, with ... More club, and lionskin. Copy of work of c460 BC. Dimensions: height: 57 cm. (Photo by Ashmolean Museum/) But the candidate for Super Glutton is the god Herakles (Hercules to the Romans), a bastard son of Zeus whose wife Hera tried to abort him and afterwards tried to make his life miserable. Herakles is, of course, a person of inhuman strength, but he emerges as a comic figure among Greeks who regarded his gluttonous antics as human foibles. From the earliest days of Greek drama Herakles is ridiculed for his brutish way of eating his food, his preference for a good meal versus a good woman and, in Aristophanes's The Bird, even his reluctance to leave a barbecue in order to help save his own father. In an earlier play, The Frogs, Aristophanes had also portrayed Herakles as a god led around by his nose at the thought of food, describing how in a trip to the underworld he had gobbled up sixteen loaves of bread, 20 portions of beef stew, a mess of fish and a newly made goat's cheese—baskets included—then, bellowing and drawing his sword, skipped out on the bill. Though sometimes depicted in terracotta figurines from the 5th and 4th centuries BC as pot-bellied, overwhelmingly Herakles was sculpted in marble and bronze by both Greek and Romans as a male figure of daunting musculature with what today are called 'killer abs.' Alexander the Great on his Sickbed, 1806. Creator: CW Eckersberg. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage ... More Images via Getty Images) Alexander the Great was a mere mortal and a big drinker who on 'on such a day, and sometimes two days together, slept after a debauch.' ALexander's soldiers, named Promachus. won the prize after knocking down four gallons of wine (unmixed with water). But not everyone, especially the local people, was used to drinking so much wine, resulting in 41 deaths from alcohol poisoning. Never defeated in battle, Alexander's demise came at the age of thirty in 323 BC, in Babylon. The earliest reports say that after nights of excessive drinking, the young king fell ill with fever and died two weeks later. Others contend he was poisoned by his viceroy Antipater, while more modern conjectures propose the weary conqueror had picked up typhoid fever or meningitis or was done in by his over-use of the medicine hellebore, then prescribed as a purgative as well as for gout and signs of insanity.
Fox News
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Worker's unusual lunch spot backfires, plus sarcophagus depicts rowdy drinking contest
GRAVEYARD SHIFT: An online poster sparked a debate after revealing eating lunch in a cemetery for peace and quiet. CULINARY TWIST: Researchers find that higher linoleic acid levels from seed oils correlate with improved heart health and lower inflammation. INDULGENT DISCOVERY: Archaeologists recently uncovered a Roman sarcophagus, which shows a drinking contest between Dionysus and Hercules. APPLE A DAY – MacBooks, AirPods, Apple Watches and iPads are all discounted early in the lead up to Amazon Prime Day. Continue reading… CALLING ALL CROSSWORD PUZZLE LOVERS! – Play our Fox News daily crossword puzzle for free here! And not just one — check out the multiple offerings. See the puzzles... Fox News FirstFox News Opinion
