The most complex of all the Greek gods-master of madness and intoxication, phallic deity, urbane inventor of wine and of the symposium, patron of Athenian music and drama, merciless hunter, comforter of the dying-the figure of Dionysus has fascinated artists, philosophers, and poets for over two thousand years.

Numbering among its contributors an international group of scholars, including philologists, historians of religion, epigraphers, art historians, classicists, and archaeologists, Masks of Dionysus examines specific historical and social contexts of the image of Dionysus in the Greek world and considers his influences in the modern world, particularly during the last two centuries. The twelve essays, all either new or published in this form in English for the first time, address such subjects as the influence of Dionysus on Greek tragedy and art, his connection with mystery religions and concepts of the afterlife, and the spread of his cult to Etruria. Representing some of the most fruitful recent approaches to the phenomenon of Dionysus and well illustrated, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of classical literature and ancient history, the history of religion, art history, classical philology, and archaeology.