Before going over the claims that Peter Joseph makes about parallels between Jesus and Dionysus, a word has to be said about the graphic which appears on screen at the moment. It depicts an apparent pagan deity in a pose we recognize as crucified which found its way onto the cover of the book The Jesus Mysteries. We now know that the style of the depicted crucifixion comes from around 500 A.D., (that is well within the Christian era) and is suspected of being a forgery.
Besides, contrary to the impression given by Zeitgeist, the image isn’t even supposed to be that of Dionysus, but of Orpheus. So not only has Zeitgeist been caught in the act of making questionable to outright false claims, it is highly revealing that they resort to showing a possibly fraudulent (and definitely anachronistic) artifact in the attempt to push their Anti-Christian agenda.
Now that I got that out of my system, on to the actual claims Zeitgeist makes:
Dionysus of Greece, born of a virgin on December 25th, was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine, he was referred to as the “King of Kings,” “God’s Only Begotten Son,” “The Alpha and Omega,” and many others, and upon his death, he was resurrected.
There are various versions of the birth of Dionysus, but to claim that he was born of a virgin is problematic, as according to ancient sources, such as Pseudo-Apollodorus:
“Zeus fell in love with Semele and slept with her, promising her anything she wanted, and keeping it all from Hera. But Semele was deceived by Hera into asking Zeus to come to her as he came to Hera during their courtship. So Zeus, unable to refuse, arrived in her bridal chamber in a chariot with lightning flashes and thunder, and sent a thunderbolt at her. Semele died of fright, and Zeus grabbed from the fire her six-month aborted baby, which he sewed into his thigh. After Semele’s death the remaining daughters of Kadmos (Cadmus) circulated the story that she had slept with a mortal, thereafter accusing Zeus, and because of this had been killed by a thunderbolt. At the proper time Zeus loosened the stitches and gave birth to Dionysos, whom he entrusted to Hermes” (Bibliotheca 3. 26 – 28, 2nd Century A.D)
Historian Andrew Dalby, in his biography of Bacchus (alternate name for Dionysus) describes the sorts of sexual escapades that Zeus had with Semele, describing that he would transform several times in the process. In fact, right before her infamous request to see Zeus as he really was which resulted in her death, they had just finished making love. (Dalby, pages 21 to 25)
Yet other versions have a Dionysus born of Persephone, yet it is also clear that even this is by a sexual union.
It is true that Dionysus was a traveler, supposedly having gone as far as India. But being a travelling teacher and miracle worker are so generic as to be irrelevant. The claim that he turned water into wine is a clear abuse of the facts that we have. In reality, he was a wine maker, and taught humans how to produce it.
For anyone who knows about Greek Mythology, the titles “king of Kings,” and “only begotten son” being applied to Dionysus really ought to bring them pause. Zeus was the king of the gods, so if any mythological deity in the Greek pantheon would have such a title, by all rights, it would be Zeus, not Dionysus. Dalby does mention one myth in which the Titans were angered because Zeus sat Dionysus on his own throne and announced to the gods that he would be their king. . . that is, right before they murdered him (Dalby 42, 43).
But in the end, even assuming this title was used for Dionysus, it proves way too much, or rather nothing at all. The reason for this is that the title “king of kings” was commonly used in the ancient world. For example, the Persian king Xerxes I boasted it for himself:
I am Xerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of countries containing many kinds of men, king in this great earth far and wide, son of king Darius, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan stock.
And yet no one would argue that King Xerxes was a myth, or that his story was plagiarized because he happened to have a title that others had used.
Also, Dionysus was only one of many offspring that Zeus had, such as Heracles, Apollo, Argus and Perseus. I’m not going to bother listing them all. The “only begotten son” is simply not a viable title for any one of Zeus’s children.
And finally, as for the death and resurrection — The Child Dionysus was abducted by the Titans, sliced into seven pieces with a knife, boiled in a caldron, eaten (according to at least one version), and then his heart which was still beating was salvaged and used to spawn a new Dionysus. (Dalby, 42, 43) If someone thinks this is a valid parallel between Jesus being scourged, mocked, crucified, dying for us, being placed in a tomb and resurrected, then they face the insurmountable challenge of actually justifying their position.
References and Links:
The Orpheus Amulet from the cover of The Jesus Mysteries, By James Hannam
Bacchus: A Biography, by Andrew Dalby
Dionysus, Theoi.com
Persephone, Theoi.com
Dionysus, Ancient History Encylopedia
Zeus Family, Theoi.com
Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions: XPh (“Daiva inscription”), Livius.org
Dionysus and Jesus, By James Patrick Holding, Tektonics.org
Da Pacem Domine 