Controversy was stirred by a tableau vivant (‘living picture’) in the Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that performed (or parodied) da Vinci’s The Last Supper. The scene was enacted by a cast of drag queens and a peculiar near-naked man painted head to toe in blue. Enough has been said about the event itself; I want to talk about that man in blue. The Opening Ceremony’s creative director has since explained that this man represented none other than the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. It raised the question, what was this scene? A mockery of the sacred, or a celebration of the pagan?
I find myself oddly well placed to talk about this. Two years ago, I completed my doctorate at Cambridge University. My thesis? A contrast between the Gospel of John and the portrayal of Dionysus’s opponents in Euripides’ tragedy, The Bacchae. For three years I immersed myself in this play and took as many classes as I could on Dionysus. And now I discover that my thesis on Greek poetry has real-world application! It’s every doctoral student’s dream come true!
Who Was Dionysus?
Dionysus was peculiar for many reasons. Though an Olympian, he was the only god to be born of a human mother. Though his origins were Greek, he was often thought to be a foreign god. Though a man, he looked effeminate. He was a god of contradictions and confusion. His cult was famous for their secret mysteries, which involved (it was said) orgies and the eating of raw flesh. Dionysus was also worshipped in Rome as ‘Bacchus’. The cult was believed to be so scandalous, that the Roman Senate outlawed the gathering of its worshippers.
Similarities Between Dionysus and Jesus
What does Dionysus have to do with Jesus? It may surprise you to learn that many people have suggested links between the two. The Paris Olympics is simply the latest in a long line of comparisons drawn between Jesus and the god of wine. People have pointed out that they were both ‘sons of God’, both born of a human woman, and both began cults that were held in suspicion. Some scholars of John’s Gospel even draw links between Dionysus as the god of wine and Jesus who turned water into wine (Jn 2:1–12).
Most comparisons between the two are drawn from the myth of Dionysus found in Euripides’ The Bacchae. In this play, Dionysus returns to his home city of Thebes disguised as a human leader of the Dionysiac cult. Upon arrival, he is rejected by the city and its king who do not believe that Dionysus is really a god. Despite displaying an array of miracles, Dionysus continues to be persecuted and is finally arrested.
Differences Between Dionysus and Jesus
However, instead of being crucified, Dionysus places King Pentheus under a spell and leads him into the woods where his mother (also under a spell) mistakes him for a lion and tears him apart with her bare hands in ritual dismemberment.
Despite some surface-level similarities, the stories of Dionysus and Jesus are radically different. Different not just in content, but in wisdom. The Bacchae offers the wisdom of the world, where blessing is found in the power of this terrifying god who cruelly destroys his enemies. The Gospel offers the wisdom of the cross, where God came not to be served but to serve, and to die a humiliating death for his enemies.
This contrast wasn’t lost on pagans when they first heard the gospel. Celsus, an early Greek opponent of Christianity, sought to dismantle this strange new philosophy with his book, The True Word. In one surviving part of the book, he compares what he considers the ludicrous ending of the Gospel with that of The Bacchae:
But no calamity happened even to him who condemned him, as there did to Pentheus, viz., madness or discerption.
For Celsus, it was unimaginable that Jesus would not fight back like Dionysus. This was his knock-down argument: how could any god allow himself to be so humiliated? Of course, the Gospels answer this question, though (like many opponents of Christianity) I doubt that Celsus ever properly read what he was critiquing.
But others did. And it didn’t take long for many to see how much better Jesus was. Whereas Dionysus killed his enemies, Jesus died for sinners like us. Whereas Dionysus offered the lusts of the flesh, Jesus gives us the desires of our hearts. Dionysus promised transcendence in the flow of wine and the indulgence of orgies, yet in Christ we sit in the heavenly realms. Dionysus instils terror in those who refuse to worship him, but Jesus shows us the love of a Father who welcomes his children home.
The Olympics Return to Mount Olympus
This brings us to Paris 2024, where the Olympics returned to Mount Olympus. Two millennia ago, the ancient world began to exchange Dionysus for Jesus. And it seems as though the world now wants to swap back. The tableau vivant at the Opening Ceremony was indeed a living picture of our world today. A world of chaos and contradictions. A world of hope deferred and fears fulfilled. A world desperately clutching to the lusts of the flesh. A world terrified of being cast out if it doesn’t join the Bacchic dance. The great tragedy in all of this is that they do not know what they do. They don’t realise what they are giving up for this vapid festival of Dionysus.
This scene should be imprinted on the minds of every Christian, because this is the world that we must reach with the Gospel. And the wonderful news is Jesus is so, so, so much better than Dionysus. Christians convinced people of this once before. We can do it again.
