Timothy Birdnow

This is from a professor of antiquities via Facebook:

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Joseph Guillermo

As a teacher of ancient philosophy and philosophy of art, the apologetics by the Paris Olympics that arranging their performers along the composition of Da Vinci's "Last Supper" is actually a homage to "Bacchal Banquet" is such a weak rationalization that grasp at straws. Aside from the arrangement being evocative of the more popular Last Supper of Jesus, which I think is what triggers people, I have to point out that the choices are nowhere near other Bacchial-themed paintings like that of Caravaggio, Titian, or Velázquez. Heck, the blue choice for Bacchus is weird because he is usually dark-skinned in the ancient Greek imagination, and the usual iconography of gods with blue complexions is usually evocative of Dharmic traditions that portray Rama or Krishna to represent their tranquil disposition. As such, the apologetics feel like a poorly thought-out PR statement that people with little knowledge of art and ancient Greco-Roman history might accept uncritically.

Moreover, this interpretation is odd because Bacchus, the Latin version of Dionysus, was never celebrated in the Ancient Olympics. The Olympic festival was an event that celebrated physical excellence and the rational control of the body's energy. As the name "Olympics" suggests, it honored Zeus, the god of Olympus, and in some sources, his son Heracles, known for his physical excellence during his twelve labors.

In contrast, Dionysus is the god of harvest, intoxication, and ecstasy. His celebrations were so rambunctious that even pagans reported other pagans celebrating them secretly outside the city walls and in the shadows of the forest because they were too scandalous for the conservative Romans. Bacchus is the mad and raging one and the only physical feat he is known for is how he tears animals and even people into pieces for amusement, only to resurrect them and repeat the process. His thiasus of maenads were infamous for their orgies of dismemberment and feasting on raw meat, which horrified even other pagan contemporaries.

Bacchus is such an awkward choice, especially when you look at how he was never mentioned in the official website of the Olympics' myth: https://olympics.com/ioc/ancient-olympic-games/mythology. Heck, the list they provided is what I expected would be the pagans gods they could have made homage to: Apollo, the god of health and archery; Hera, the goddess of oaths and monogamous marriage; Athena, the goddess of wisdom and controlled spiritedness; and Zeus, the protector of the family.

Unless, of course, the intention is to communicate that the gay and trans community embodies these irrational, uncontrollable traits of tearing up animals and people for amusement, which would be a bizarre and disturbing message to be proud of, especially in the context of the Olympics.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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