Dionysian
adjective
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Dionysus was the Greek forerunner of Bacchus. He was the inventor of wine, which he gave to the human race. For that gift and for all the wild behavior that it led to, Dionysus became immensely popular, and he appears in a great many myths. He is often shown holding a wine goblet, with his hair full of vine leaves, and attended by a band of goat-footed satyrs and wild female spirits called maenads. In the 19th century, scholars such as Nietzsche claimed that the ancient world could be understood as a continuing conflict between the attitudes represented by Apollo and Dionysus--that is, between order and disorder, between moderation and excess, between the controlled and the ecstatic.
Word History
1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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“Dionysian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Dionysian. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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More from Merriam-Webster on Dionysian
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about Dionysian
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