Manuwald, G; (2019) Dionysus / Bacchus / Liber in Cicero. In: Mac Góráin, F, (ed.) Dionysus and Rome Religion and Literature. (pp. 157-176). De Gruyter: Berlin, Germany.

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Abstract

This chapter examines the occurrence of the god’s different appellations Dionysus, Bacchus and Liber in the works of Cicero as well as their various functions and connotations. A range of perspectives on the god emerges across the surviving corpus of Cicero’s works: philosophical, oratorical, rhetorical and epistolographic. The view taken of the god generally corresponds to the immediate rhetorical aim of Cicero or whichever of his characters is speaking. Significant examples are discussed under several headings: cultural theologies, metonymical value of Bacchus/Liber, Bacchic raving and Liberalia – a festival of freedom? From a linguistic point of view, Cicero employs all three names depending on the context: he refers to Liber when pointing out positive aspects of the Roman god and the associated festival and cult, chooses the name Bacchus metonymically for wine and its derivatives to illustrate raving, and speaks of Dionysus in discussions of the Greek god and his genealogy. The term Bacchus and related words tend to appear in passages with more negative connotations than the designation Liber; similarly, Cicero regarded the erection of statues of Bacchants in his house as inappropriate for his image.

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