The Wine of the Gods!

"It could both wake a man up and put him to sleep, dissolve the pain that afflicted the heart and make them liquid and fleeting." pg. 38

Ampelos' body being used to create the vine of which wine was created was extremely interesting. Opening your mind up to such a way of creation, yielded many questions for me. Dionysus was crying for his bisexual partner, Ampelos, which was abnormal for a god. Dionysus was not a cry baby and he was touched so deeply by Ampelos death it "changed his nature, and the nature of the world." Bisexuality! Wow, it was not frowned upon back then... What is going on with the world? We can't live freely like the wonderful mythological times! Ridiculous!

The way Calasso described both, Ampelos and wine, made me see them as one being. The wine is Ampelos but also the way people feel while drinking wine now. Wine is one of the best creations ever and is notorious for making people giggly and happy, as was Ampelos. Dionysus loved him for being just that. It's ironic that wine was created to help Dionysus to forget the pain and bring joy, when now we use intoxication as a horrible coping mechanism for death and a million other things. It seems like the idea of wine has came full circle.