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Apollo vs. Dionysus
In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus
are both sons of Zeus.
Apollo is the god of the Sun,
lightness, music, and poetry,
while Dionysus is the god of wine,
ecstasy, and intoxication.
In the modern literary usage of the concept,
the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus
symbolizes principles of
individualism versus wholeness,
light versus darkness,
or civilization versus primal nature.
You can further see differences in the way
each of the gods is portrayed.
Apollo is the beardless youth,
symbolizing rational, polite society.
Dionysus is a bearded man,
symbolizing the rough, primal
nature of the beast.
Frederick Nietzsche explores these themes
in his book The Birth of Tragedy.
But if you don't have time to read Nietzsche ... Apollo Dionysus sun earth ego id psyche eros stoic Epicurean mind heart reason emotion thinking feeling order chaos restraint excess male female hierarchy equality science art system spontaneity compulsiveness impulsiveness city country classicism romanticism civilization nature
The band Rush also explores these themes on their album Hemispheres, especially in Cygnus X-1 Book I and Book II. In the constellation of Cygnus lies a mysterious black hole that is simply titled "Cygnus X-1" (Cygnus X-1 is believed to be an actual black hole). An explorer aboard the ship "Rocinante" is curious about the black hole as it draws him in ("The x-ray is her siren song..."). Eventually, the pull of gravity is too great. ("Every nerve is torn apart") suggests the death of the traveler yet he carries on into Book II which further suggest his cognitive awareness and spirit are all that remain.
The traveler is left in a mysterious land, finding himself in a world caught up in the struggle between Heart and Mind. The logical thinkers are led by Apollo and the emotional people are ruled by Dionysus. Apollo has his people build cities and explore the depths of science and knowledge, but Dionysus lures many of them into the "forests" and provides love, which many felt that Apollo's society was missing. Civil war breaks out as the two different ways of life clash. This leads up to the point where the Rocinante spins through the black hole of Cygnus X-1 and into this mysterious land. (At this point in the song "Hemispheres", a short snippet of the song "Cygnus X-1" plays, representing the place where the two pieces join.)
When the explorer spirit reflects on what he sees, he becomes tormented in the lack of balance of the people who insist on the extremes they were presented with. Provoked by all the unacceptable fighting, the spirit of the lost hero lets out a silent scream, which is felt by the warriors. This causes the people to cease their struggle and unite together. The explorer is regarded as a hero, and is deemed "Cygnus, the God of Balance" for his arrival that brought the two sides together. Here are the lyrics:
[I. Prelude]
When our weary world was young
The struggle of the ancients first began
The gods of love and reason
Sought alone to rule the fate of man
They battled through the ages
But still neither force would yield
The people were divided
Every soul a battlefield
[II. Apollo / Dionysus]
[Apollo: Bringer Of Wisdom]
'I bring truth and understanding
I bring wit and wisdom fair
Precious gifts beyond compare
We can build a world of wonder
I can make you all aware
I will find you food and shelter
Show you fire to keep you warm
Through the endless winter storm
You can live in grace and comfort
In the world that you transform'
The people were delighted
Coming forth to claim their prize
They ran to build their cities
And converse among the wise
But one day the streets fell silent
Yet they knew not what was wrong
The urge to build these fine things
Seemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consulted
And the Bridge of Death was crossed
In quest of Dionysus
To find out what they had lost
[Dionysus: Bringer Of Love]
'I bring love to give you solace
In the darkness of the night
In the Heart's eternal light
You need only trust your feelings
Only love can steer you right
I bring laughter, I bring music
I bring joy and I bring tears
I will soothe your primal fears
Throw off those chains of reason
And your prison disappears'
The cities were abandoned
And the forests echoed song
They danced and lived as brothers
They knew love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplenty
And they slept beneath the stars
The people were contented
And the gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon them
And it caught them unprepared
Bringing wolves and cold starvation
And the hearts of men despaired
[III. The Battle Of Heart and Mind]
The universe divided
As the heart and mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow
Hemispheres
Part III: continues here:
Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded
Hemispheres
Some who did not fight
Brought tales of old to light
'My Rocinante sailed by night
On her final flight'
To the heart of Cygnus' fearsome force
We set our course
Spiralled through that timeless space
To this immortal place
[IV. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance]
I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold...
I see the gods in battle rage on high...
Thunderbolts across the sky...
I cannot move, I cannot hide...
I feel a silent scream begin inside...
Then all at once the chaos ceased
A stillness fell, a sudden peace
The warriors felt my silent cry
And stayed their struggle, mystified
Apollo was atonished
Dionysus thought me mad
But they heard my story further
And they wondered, and were sad
Looking down from Olympus
On a world of doubt and fear
Its surface splintered
Into sorry Hemispheres
They sat a while in silence
Then they turned at last to me
'We will call you Cygnus
The god of Balance you shall be'
[V. The Sphere: A Kind Of Dream]
We can walk our road together
If our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free
If we pursue a different aim
Let the truth of love be lighted
Let the love of truth shine clear
Sensibility
Armed with sense and liberty
With the heart and mind united in a single
Perfect sphere
In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus
are both sons of Zeus.
Apollo is the god of the Sun,
lightness, music, and poetry,
while Dionysus is the god of wine,
ecstasy, and intoxication.
In the modern literary usage of the concept,
the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus
symbolizes principles of
individualism versus wholeness,
light versus darkness,
or civilization versus primal nature.
You can further see differences in the way
each of the gods is portrayed.
Apollo is the beardless youth,
symbolizing rational, polite society.
Dionysus is a bearded man,
symbolizing the rough, primal
nature of the beast.
Frederick Nietzsche explores these themes
in his book The Birth of Tragedy.
But if you don't have time to read Nietzsche ... Apollo Dionysus sun earth ego id psyche eros stoic Epicurean mind heart reason emotion thinking feeling order chaos restraint excess male female hierarchy equality science art system spontaneity compulsiveness impulsiveness city country classicism romanticism civilization nature
The band Rush also explores these themes on their album Hemispheres, especially in Cygnus X-1 Book I and Book II. In the constellation of Cygnus lies a mysterious black hole that is simply titled "Cygnus X-1" (Cygnus X-1 is believed to be an actual black hole). An explorer aboard the ship "Rocinante" is curious about the black hole as it draws him in ("The x-ray is her siren song..."). Eventually, the pull of gravity is too great. ("Every nerve is torn apart") suggests the death of the traveler yet he carries on into Book II which further suggest his cognitive awareness and spirit are all that remain.
The traveler is left in a mysterious land, finding himself in a world caught up in the struggle between Heart and Mind. The logical thinkers are led by Apollo and the emotional people are ruled by Dionysus. Apollo has his people build cities and explore the depths of science and knowledge, but Dionysus lures many of them into the "forests" and provides love, which many felt that Apollo's society was missing. Civil war breaks out as the two different ways of life clash. This leads up to the point where the Rocinante spins through the black hole of Cygnus X-1 and into this mysterious land. (At this point in the song "Hemispheres", a short snippet of the song "Cygnus X-1" plays, representing the place where the two pieces join.)
When the explorer spirit reflects on what he sees, he becomes tormented in the lack of balance of the people who insist on the extremes they were presented with. Provoked by all the unacceptable fighting, the spirit of the lost hero lets out a silent scream, which is felt by the warriors. This causes the people to cease their struggle and unite together. The explorer is regarded as a hero, and is deemed "Cygnus, the God of Balance" for his arrival that brought the two sides together. Here are the lyrics:
[I. Prelude]
When our weary world was young
The struggle of the ancients first began
The gods of love and reason
Sought alone to rule the fate of man
They battled through the ages
But still neither force would yield
The people were divided
Every soul a battlefield
[II. Apollo / Dionysus]
[Apollo: Bringer Of Wisdom]
'I bring truth and understanding
I bring wit and wisdom fair
Precious gifts beyond compare
We can build a world of wonder
I can make you all aware
I will find you food and shelter
Show you fire to keep you warm
Through the endless winter storm
You can live in grace and comfort
In the world that you transform'
The people were delighted
Coming forth to claim their prize
They ran to build their cities
And converse among the wise
But one day the streets fell silent
Yet they knew not what was wrong
The urge to build these fine things
Seemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consulted
And the Bridge of Death was crossed
In quest of Dionysus
To find out what they had lost
[Dionysus: Bringer Of Love]
'I bring love to give you solace
In the darkness of the night
In the Heart's eternal light
You need only trust your feelings
Only love can steer you right
I bring laughter, I bring music
I bring joy and I bring tears
I will soothe your primal fears
Throw off those chains of reason
And your prison disappears'
The cities were abandoned
And the forests echoed song
They danced and lived as brothers
They knew love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplenty
And they slept beneath the stars
The people were contented
And the gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon them
And it caught them unprepared
Bringing wolves and cold starvation
And the hearts of men despaired
[III. The Battle Of Heart and Mind]
The universe divided
As the heart and mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow
Hemispheres
Part III: continues here:
Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded
Hemispheres
Some who did not fight
Brought tales of old to light
'My Rocinante sailed by night
On her final flight'
To the heart of Cygnus' fearsome force
We set our course
Spiralled through that timeless space
To this immortal place
[IV. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance]
I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold...
I see the gods in battle rage on high...
Thunderbolts across the sky...
I cannot move, I cannot hide...
I feel a silent scream begin inside...
Then all at once the chaos ceased
A stillness fell, a sudden peace
The warriors felt my silent cry
And stayed their struggle, mystified
Apollo was atonished
Dionysus thought me mad
But they heard my story further
And they wondered, and were sad
Looking down from Olympus
On a world of doubt and fear
Its surface splintered
Into sorry Hemispheres
They sat a while in silence
Then they turned at last to me
'We will call you Cygnus
The god of Balance you shall be'
[V. The Sphere: A Kind Of Dream]
We can walk our road together
If our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free
If we pursue a different aim
Let the truth of love be lighted
Let the love of truth shine clear
Sensibility
Armed with sense and liberty
With the heart and mind united in a single
Perfect sphere
