The Greek word lysios comes from “lysis,” which means “setting free” or “unraveling.” I want to pick up this thread to reflect a bit more on the nature of Dionysian loosening and epiphanies, by spending some time with the myth of Ariadne, the god’s wife and intimate. Both are part of the history of the god and his rites continued to inspire them, literally and metaphorically, for hundreds of years.ĭionysos and Ariadne. “The Loosener” refers to the experiences of dissolution of self and dismemberment of the body. The one who loosens your grip on fantasies of certainty or egoic self-importance, loosens your grip on daily reality and perhaps on sanity. In the last podcast I said Dionysus was called “the Loosener” or lysios in Greek, the loosener of limbs and of minds. Life in the body and the mystical meaning of mortality. But there’s no escape from Dionysus because he is the energy of life itself– vulnerable, beautiful, profligate, and savage. Today I want to talk some more about Dionysus, about the energies and experience personified by this ancient god, whom Walter Otto aptly named “the epiphany god.” Mainstream Western culture has been uneasy with what Dionysus represents for thousands of years, alternately repressing and denying it, relegating the Lord of Souls to the periphery.

Wherever you may be in this wide, beautiful, crazy world of ours, you are part of this story circle. I’m your host and personal mythologist Dr.

Hello, and welcome to Myth Matters, storytelling and conversation about mythology and why myth matters to your life today. Transcript of “Into the Labyrinth and Ariadne’s Thread”

Walter otto dionysus