What did Dionysius look like?

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So many of you have asked for more about Dionysius after last week’s post.  [Crickets chirping]  Nonetheless, this week, I collected some of my favorite images from around the web.

Here’s a 2nd century ACE Roman statue of Dionysius, or Bacchus, copied from an earlier Hellenistic model.  I saw this one years ago at the Louvre.

There are two common versions of the god.  Like the statue here, he is sometimes depicted as a handsome, beardless young man, a derivation of the earlier, popular Greek kouros, an idol of the masculine ideal, which also seems to have been the prototype for statues of Apollo.

 

 

A Roman bust, from Tyre, provides more facial detail for Dionysius, and the depiction of a horn on his head.  Dionysius was associated with animals, and mythological hybrid creatures like the satyr.

 

 

 

I had the opportunity to see this piece at the museum of Delos, an ancient archaeological site.  It was originally a mosaic from the atrium pool of a wealthy home that has been named the House of Dionysius.  The story here is  Dionysius riding back from the East, his reputed birthplace, on a panther.  He’s seen with his common symbols – a thrysos (a pine-cone tipped staff) and a wreath of ivy.  He certainly looks androgynous here, in fact – could he be cross-dressing?

This is a glass cameo from the 1st century ACE, at the Petit Palais in Paris.  Dionysius (Bacchus) is the little child, and the description says the older man in the picture is a satyr, giving Dionysius grapes.

 

 

Here’s Caravaggio’s painting of Bacchus, where he looks especially flamboyant, yet cherubic at the same time.  It’s from the 16th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A painted vase by an ancient Greek artist known as Kleophrades shows an older, bearded Dionysius with a panther pelt as a cape and a cup of wine.

Finding Dionysius

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Dionysus

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Dionysius.

My work-in-progress POSEIDON AND CLEITO features him as a supporting character.  Perhaps, true to his nature, his portrayal eludes me.  At times, he demands the spotlight, and his appearances send the story into disarray.  At other times, I try to coax out of him his reason for being in the narrative, and he’s elusive about his purposes and his motivations.

It would be easier if he could be pinned down as a good guy or a bad guy, thus moving the story forward by either helping or hindering the hero Poseidon.  So far, Dionysius gets in some jabs at the hero, and creates some chaos.  But the tension is fairly low-wattage.  For an epic story, there needs to be big conflict moving things along, on the magnitude of life or death situations.  Dionysius seems to just want to introduce emotional tension – desires, loves, jealousies, and some mild contempt.

I need to study and understand this guy some more.  So I figured I would do a Q & A piece with him this week.  Readers:  meet Dionysius.

ANDREW PETERS:  Thanks so much for joining me at andrewjpeterswrites.com.

DIONYSIUS:  My pleasure.  It is an honor to be recognized by such an accomplished literary talent.  Your website is exquisite.

AP:  Thank you.  I hadn’t meant to bring this up in our interview, but since you mention it, I wonder what you make of the Internet and our modern digital age.

D:  I love the freedom of it.  You can meet so many people and never leave home.  I love Facebook and Twitter.

AP:  I imagine you have many followers.

D:  I do.  From all parts of the world.  I love exchanging pictures.  I can send you some, if you like.  I have galleries and galleries with photos from all of my parties.  I understand you enjoy handsome men.

AP:  Well yes, but I’m married.

D:  Then you can share them with your husband.  You’ll both enjoy them.

AP:  You’re probably right about that.  But, if I may, let me ask you some questions about your story, and this novel POSEIDON AND CLEITO—

D:  It’s coming along terrifically, isn’t it?

AP:  Actually, I’m having some problems.  And they mainly have to do with you.  Let’s start at the beginning.  Can you tell me about your background?

D:  My father was the God of Thunder.  My mother told me he struck a lightning bolt in her tummy, and along came me.

AP:  I don’t mean to start things off argumentatively, but an on-going question in the story is whether or not you are truly who you say you are.  Could you shed some light on that?  I mean, are you really the son of a god?

D:  I never knew my father, so all I can say is what my mother told me.  As a child, I was curious about him, but my mother would only say their affair was brief.

She was a restless sort, like me.  She wanted to travel the world, and she kept company with many men.  She left me in the care of a childless couple when I was very young, and they raised me as their own.

AP:  Do you have magical powers?

D:  Magical powers, no.  Talents, yes, I’ve been told.  I’ve a good signing voice.  I’m well-skilled in all sorts of carnal pleasures.  I can turn a phrase, make people laugh.  I adore organizing parties.

AP:  Charisma seems to be your secret weapon.  And there’s something a bit mysterious, or spell-binding, about that.  Everyone you encounter falls in love with you.

D:  That’s very generous of you to say, though I think it’s an exaggeration.  I have been exceedingly fortunate to experience a lovely array of companions.  But not everyone, I think you know, falls under my ‘spell,’ as you put it.

AP:  You’re talking about Poseidon?

D:  Yes.

AP:  What is it between the two of you?

D:  We look at life from different perspectives.  He sees things in absolutes.  I don’t see the point in putting a label on things.

AP:  You get under each others’ skin on a number of occasions.

D:  He can be a bit uptight.  And judgmental.

AP:  In the story, he calls you careless, selfish, and dishonest.  Yet you continue to try to win him over, while he’s always trying to hold the reins on you.  Could there be a love/hate attraction going on there?

D:  I think you’ve unmasked me.  Love/hate attractions are my favorite kind.  They kindle the greatest passion.  Though, concerning Poseidon, I don’t think we’re destined to be lovers.  He is much too conventional.

AP:  He comes across as a bit homophobic at times.  What do you make of that?

D:  I detest homophobia.  I think people who deny pleasure, of themselves or others, have terrible personal problems.

AP:  You see it as a psychological illness?

D:  Most definitely.  When a mind becomes fixed in such a way, seeing ugliness where there is plainly beauty, there are all kinds of ramifications.  I see it as a form of self-hate.

AP:  This leads me to another topic that’s been confusing me.  You have female lovers and male lovers.  Would you describe yourself as bisexual, 50/50, or do you find yourself leaning more one way or the other?

D:  I like the term pansexual.  Men and women are different, but they are equally intriguing to me.  In a sense, men are more of a challenge, and I enjoy a challenge.  So perhaps I’ve spent more time chasing men than women.

AP:  That’s interesting.  In fact, it seems to me your greatest love affair turns out to be with a man.

D:  I hope you’re not referring to Poseidon.

AP:  No.  The young artist.  Cleito’s protégé.

D:  I have a deep affection for him.

AP:  Enough to settle down, and swear off your affairs?

D:  I’m the kind of man who needs to be introduced to new things.  I get that from my mother.  There’s a traveler’s spirit in me that has to be nourished.  If I settle down, that spirit will die.   I don’t think that would be good for either of us.

AP:  Could you have an open relationship?  I mean, where you are emotionally faithful to one partner while having sex outside of the relationship?

D:  If I understand you correctly, I think I’ve been doing that my entire life.

AP:  All right.  Let’s get to the crux of the story.  The two title characters are searching for their place in the world, and it’s a story about overcoming obstacles, and pursuing one’s dreams.  Where do you see yourself fitting into that theme?  Do you have dreams and goals for yourself?

D:  Was my publicist drunk when you arranged this interview?  I had no idea things were going to turn so serious.

Well, let me put it to you this way.  When I wake up each day, sometime after noon, I see the world full of shining possibilities.  I never know who I might meet, whether I will be feasting that night under the stars with a group of newfound friends, or singing for my supper on some street corner in a strange city.  In either case, I’ve always found that the world provides for me.

AP:  What is it that you want?

D:  Happiness.

AP:  Have you ever thought of taking up a profession?

D:  Hmmm…not really.  I’ve a fondness for the performing arts.  Maybe directing.  But I’m really much better suited for lively conversation, and inebriation.

AP:  OK.  I’ll turn to some modern topics.  What do you think of gay marriage?

D:  I favor abolishing marriage completely.  I see it as entirely unnatural.

AP:  What about polygamy?

D:  That’s even worse than traditional marriage.  Not only do you chop off your manhood, but it gets cut up in equal parts for each of your wives.

AP:  Gays in the military?

D:  I believe there should be unfettered sexual contact within all vocations.

AP:  That’s all the time we have today.  Thank you Dionysius.

“Crotchwatchers” finds a home

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I’m thrilled to announce that my short story “Crotchwatchers” has found a home at Diverse Voices Quarterly, Vol. 3 Issue 11-12.

The issue went live today, and is available for download (free) here.

A word to the wary (or voyeuristic) – “Crotchwatchers” is not erotica.  It’s hardly graphic at all.  The title comes from one of the characters’ observations:

“The world is divided into two kinds of people:  people who check out a guy’s crotch when he walks by, and people who don’t.”

That gem of wisdom (paraphrased from an ex-boyfriend) was calling out to me to be parlayed into a story.  It turned into a coming-of-age piece that was influenced by my work with urban gay teens in the 1990’s, and my personal experience.

The setting — New York City’s Christopher Street Piers — was once an unlikely refuge for gay and transgender teenagers, some of them homeless, some of them looking for a place where they could be themselves, hang out with friends and people watch.  Gentrification had yet to come to the spare, concrete platforms jutting out into the Hudson River.

In the early 90’s, I was not much more than a teen myself, and my boyfriend and I would walk out to the end, holding hands, and watch the sun set, while the area filled up with a diverse crowd of ‘bangie boys,’ ‘butch queens,’ boys in drag, and ‘baby dykes.’

Around that time, I started working at an LGBT youth center.  A lot of the kids spent time on the Piers, particularly the lower income Black and Hispanic boys.  There were perils to the Piers.  Some kids got involved in street prostitution, and many complained about being harassed by the police.  Gradually, kids were displaced from the area due to Greenwich Village residents complaining about crime and vagrancy.  The riverfront area went through renovation to become a tidier urban park.

In part, “Crotchwatchers” is a tribute to a vibrant street phenomenon that sadly has no equal nowadays in New York City.  Groups of queer kids still hang out on Christopher Street, outside the bars and shops where they are either too young to enter or don’t have the money to spend anyway.  The neighborhood very well may be safer, but it’s lost some of its soul.

Short Story MIKE’S POND is Live

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Cool news this week:  my short story MIKE’S POND is live on Wilde Oats Issue 9.

You can check it out here.

Odd story about how MIKE’S POND came to be.

It started as an experimental piece while I was participating in a writers critique group back in 2009.  We decided to all try writing horror stories for a change of pace, and it got me thinking about the stories that scared me as a child.

I have an older brother so the source material was considerable.  He used to tell me all kinds of frightening things about the world, bizarre suburban legends, in addition to disturbing “truths” of anatomy.  Did you know that, instead of blood, your butt is full of green juice?

We grew up in a suburb north of Buffalo, New York, where there were many plots of undeveloped, wooded land, tempting exploration grounds for pre-teen boys, especially in the summer when we were largely unattended by our working parents.  There was an overgrown place called ‘Shotgun,’ where supposedly a boy got killed by the father of a girl he got pregnant.  Then there was Mike’s Pond.

Without giving too much of the story away, since I’d really love people to read it, Mike’s Pond evoked the most imaginative tales from my youth.  It was an acre or two of swampy land between the buzzing thruway and our handsome suburban enclave, and it was cordoned off by a fence.

All the legends about the place are true.  Well, at least I heard them at some point.  The characters are fictionalized, and the narrator is more of an amalgamation of me at different points during my teenage years than me as a twelve-year old boy.  The story turned out to be more coming-of-age than horror.  I guess I can’t help myself.

Favorite and Least Favorite 2011 Movies

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A few weeks back I weighed in on 2011 book releases.  This week it’s my annual round-up of films.

I saw a lot of movies this year, and I’d have to say it was a pretty even mix of films I loved, films I liked, and films that were disappointments, of varying degrees.

I narrowed it down to my top favorites, and bottom busts.

THE BEST

J.J. Abrams SUPER 8 has a quirky pre-teen cast (a la GOONIES and STAND BY ME), great intrigue and tension, and truly spectacular special effects.  Everything worked for me.  It was like going back in time and seeing E.T. or Poltergeist as a kid.

Maybe this was the year for good extraterrestrial films.  PAUL takes the genre from a totally different point-of-view, and sensibility, than SUPER 8.  I thought it was equally entertaining, with many laugh out loud moments and a clever skewering of sentimental films in the genre (while managing some tolerable sentimentality in the end).

I didn’t catch many notable gay films this year, but I thought this quiet, British indie drama was a huge achievement.  WEEKEND is about two guys who fall in love at the wrong time.  A one night stand turns into an intensely emotional connection, but one partner is leaving in two days to relocate to the U.S..  It’s a modern, honest portrait of gay love, making no apologies for the fast-paced, and at some times, drug-infused progression of the relationship.

In picking my favorite fantasy film of the year, I could have gone with HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS PART II, or RISE OF PLANET OF THE APES.  Both were excellent.  But I’ll go out on a limb, and declare THOR the winner.  Many people I know hated the collision of the fantasy characters and a contemporary setting.  I thought it worked just fine, not taking itself too seriously, and the Norse mythology brought something fresh to the superhero genre.

THE WORST

Every time I’ve complained to someone about how bad Scream 4 was, they say:  “What did you expect?”  I guess I’d be hard pressed to name a movie franchise that held up its entertainment value on its fourth follow-up, but I really had hope for SCREAM 4.   The previous versions managed to add something new to the movie-within-the-movie, copycat killer schtick.  SCREAM 4 felt flat and gimmicky about five minutes in.

 

 

Kind of the antithesis of THOR, PRIEST was way too earnest and cliché-ridden, trodding the very familiar territory of vampire killers.  As I said to my partner half-way through, I really didn’t care what happened to any of the characters.

 

 

It pains me to pan mythology-based adventures, but unfortunately, they’ve just all been so bad on the silver screen.  IMMORTALS tried to be stylish, but ended up being a baffling, and unintentionally comical clash of fantasy perspectives.