Dionizos. Archetyp życia niezniszczalnego

by Karl Kerényi, Ireneusz Kania (Translator)

Karl Kerényi (1897–1973) należał w XX wieku do ścisłego grona najwybitniejszych badaczy mitu i religii. Urodził się i działał na Węgrzech, a w 1943 roku osiadł na stałe w Szwajcarii, nie mogąc po wojnie wrócić do kraju. Inaczej niż u innych mitologów dążących do syntezy badania Kerényiego wyróżniają się postrzeganiem mitu i religii w bardzo szczegółowym kontekście codziennego życia danej społeczności. Dlatego mają zawsze charakter fascynującej opowieści, która ożywia mit i odtwarza jego dawny sens dla zwykłego człowieka. W „Dionizosie”, ukończonym w 1969, a wydanym w 1976 roku, autor rekonstruuje narodziny i rozwój kultu Dionizosa (a przy okazji greckiej kultury wina). Wywodzi ów kult z epoki minojskiej, ukazuje boga na tle życia Aten i w nader oryginalny sposób interpretuje narodziny greckiej tragedii. Kerényi maluje niezwykłe obrazy dionizyjskiego żywiołu podczas religijnych, a zarazem wysoce erotycznych misteriów kobiet i w czasie innych greckich świąt. Zmysłowa strona życia starożytnych tworząca jedność z ich życiem religijnym urzeknie i zafascynuje czytelnika tej wyjątkowej monografii.

Genres: Mythology, History, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Classics, Psychology

410 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Károly (Carl, Karl) Kerényi, Ph.D., (University of Budapest, 1919), was one of the founders of modern studies in Greek Mythology, and professor of classical studies and history of religion at the Universities of Szeged and Pécs, Hungary.

Karl Kerenyi is also published under the names Carl Kerenyi and Károly Kerényi, in French as Charles Kerényi and in Italian as Carlo Kerényi.

Reviews

[Don Hackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot arc about the Maenad on True Blood piqued my interest in Dionysos, but this was a serious and difficult book--no special effects, no nudity. Part of the difficulty was the author's frequent assertions of conclusions or interpretations without sufficient grounds that I could see. Another was my limited background in Greek religion, to say nothing of Minoan or Mycenaean. This second problem improved when I started reading with a reference book on Greek religion. Among the things I got from this book: Dionysos was more important to Greek culture than I had ever thought; his cult was especially important in Athens, and included three major festivals; one of these festivals included recitations of poetry honoring Dionysos and this evolved into Greek tragedy; the Greeks distinguished individual lives from Life as a whole or force; and Dionysos represented the latter. I am learning that Greek religion was more complicated than I imagined, and included rituals and festivals; the important festival of Dionysus of the new wine was celebrated in part by male citizens each sitting down and drinking an enormous amount of wine; women citizens stayed home in groups doing Dionysus only knows what to celebrate.

[Doğukan Barbaros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerényi's masterpiece. Sad it was spoiled by the god awful Turkish translation of Pinhan, whatever.

Mind opening to see the Minoan origins of Dionysian cult and its early roots in honey/bee symbolism, caves, (potentially) poppies and dance. Minoan women were really Dionysian.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

boy ...

[Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante e informativo, anche se molte citazioni in greco e in latino non sono state tradotte: inoltre le note a piè di pagina sono inutili (rimandano ad altri libri dell'autore o a scritti, e non spiegano). Nonostante questo, comunque, non si può mettere in dubbio la quantità di lavoro che ci sia stata dietro questo libro, e la raccolta di immagini nelle ultime pagine (anche se in bianco è nero) è stata una buona aggiunta.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the material of this book....the writing not so much. Writing overly verbose and inaccessible too often for my taste. Recommended for people who can tolerate sifting through difficult language to get at some fascinating material. Recommended people interested in Jung, greek mythology, religion.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some parts of this that went a little over my head because the writing could be a bit—extremely—verbose, but as someone who devours anything that has to do with Dionysus, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not an easy read, but well worth it.

[Jesse Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE book on Dionysos. The perfect monograph.

[Nobody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbearably focused on details, but lacking a true unifying and comprehensive theory

[Önder Kurt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bir kültür mahkemesi olsaydı, bu yayınevi ve bu çevirmen mahkemeye verilebilirdi, böylesine rezalet bir çeviriye hiç denk gelmedim; belki biraz türkçeden çok arkaik bir osmanlıca ile çevrilen Schopenhauer kitapları bununla rekabet edebilir, çeviri kepazeliğinde.

Çevirmenin kendisinin kitabı okuduğundan şüpheliyim, kendisi çevirmemiş de bir çeviri programı kullanmış, ve çok hızlıca bir redaksiyon okuması yapıldığı yönünde ciddi kuşku oluştu bende. Örnek mi? “Akademik Edebiyat” nedir? Ben daha önce böyle bir tanım duymadım. Ama tabii ki “academic literature” karşılığı kullanılmış. Ya da, başka kültürülere ait iki farklı tanrısal figürün özdeşliii anlamında “identity of X and Y” , “X ve Y’nin kimliği” olarak çevrilmiş. İnsanları, bir felsefe, edebiyat dili olarak Türkçeden iyice uzaklaştırıyorlar. Artık orjinal kaynaklara ulaşmak için servet sahibi olmaya gerek yok ki; böyle berbat çeviriler varken insanlar niye Türkçeden okusun ki…Maalesef bu kitabın İngilizcesini bulamadım..

Kitabın kendisine gelirsek; berbat çeviriden çıkarsayabildiğimiz kadarıyla çok ilginç şeyler anlatıyor. Mitsel figürlerin, öyle gökten zembille inen, statik, sabit karakterler olmadığını, antik şehirler gibi farklı katmanların üst üste binmesiyle uzun zaman içinde oluştupunj iyi örnekliyor. Dionysos’un nasıl çağlar boyunca katman katman oluşan çok düzeyli bir karakter olduğunu ortaya koyuyor. Pekçok farklı kültürden, yani zoe ve bios olarak, yokedilemeyen ve geçici bireysel yaşamın diyalektiğini dile getiren benzer tanrısal figürlerin bir üst üste binmesi olduğunu anlıyoruz. Ancak kitabın ikinci yarısı bu ana temadan uzaklaşıp, çok detaylı arkeolojik spekülatif analizlere sapıyor ve aşırı sıkıcı olmaya başlıyor.

[Davide Di Tullio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dall'Egitto di Osiride e Iside, passando per la Creta dei micenei, il mito di Dioniso si perde nelle nebbie del tempo, arrivando quasi intatto alle soglie del tardo impero romano.
Un testo formidabile e complesso per quantità di informazioni ed excursus storico-antropologico, corredato da un inserto di immagini fotografiche di reperti archeologici (vasi, bassorilievi, affreschi) che accompagnano l'evoluzione etno-iconografica del mito di dioniso e delle celebrazioni dionisiache.
Un testo imprescindibile per chi voglia approfondire la storia del mito nel rapporto con le civilità in ci e nato e si è diffuso, fino alla definitiva scomparsa.

[Gabriella · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very fascinating read but very little stuck with me, I believe I have a different version but I don't know for sure because the cover was torn off before I got mine.

Three stars because some of the content is not very memorable and none of the pictures of artifacts were included in the text, only at the very end of the book and the pages aren't counted.

(It's about 40 pages of artifacts with brief descriptions, I counted myself)

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sono solo un lettore amatoriale di questi temi, e quindi non so dire quanto le interpretazioni di Kereny siano ancora attuali. Ma la sua ricerca sul mito di Dioniso dagli albori cretesi al tardo classicismo greco e romano è sempre affascinante e a volte entusiasmante. Da tenere sul comodino per tornarci su ancora e ancora.

[Alex Klenin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a very complex research towards the Dionysos but it's focused a lot on a pre-historic Cretan roots of the religion and mostly on Archaic period. Too little on the Orphics vision of Dionysism and almost nothing on a syncretism period and golden-leafed tablets. But these are stories for another books I suppose.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty dated, but it’s a fun read nonetheless. I always get absolutely sucked into this kind of Jungian myth-history stuff, because it’s delightfully readable (it helps that in this case I’d already read Otto), and it does give inspiration for writing.

[Elvina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a hard book to read, its language and structure are not easily accessible. Despite the struggle, I loved reading it. It is so dense with ideas and careful observation of evidence, based on years of Kerenyi's work. It's an essential reading on Dionysus, Dionysian cults and origins of the cults of life's inscrutability such as Christianity. Kerenyi really expanded a nietzschean interpretation so prevalent in modernity. Dionysus doesn't need Apollo to be his solar rational double, as he is quite capable of such duality himself.

[auria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moi boa calidade, rico en mostras iconográficas relevantes. Interesante a ligazón minoica. Retomar