Word: dionysian
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...theologians are hardly alone in recommending the rediscovery of joy to a new generation of believers. In fact, the emphasis on the Dionysian element in life-celebration, song, dance, laughter-is fast acquiring a theology of its own. In The Feast of Fools, Harvey Cox presents Christ as clown and Christianity as comedy, because the world "should not be taken with ultimate or final seriousness." Theologian Sam Keen, 38, pleads a similar case in Apology for Wonder. While he believes that "the wise man is a dancer," he insists that the "authentic" man temper his ecstasy with a sense...
...enthronement of reason included a universal belief in individualism and competition; now that myth is dying. Faith in science and technology has given way to fear of their consequences; traditional institutions and even authority itself are distrusted and often detested. The cultural revolution of the '60s that emphasized Dionysian rather than Apollonian virtues will continue into...
...freedom in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I was suddenly stifled by the Puritan Revolution in England, and staid Victorian laws followed the carefree boisterous spirit of the Regency. It may be that the early '70s will see a period of repressive reaction against the Dionysian tendencies of the young. There may also be a purely spontaneous swing back to discretion and suggestion. "Writers and film makers," predicts Arthur Koestler, "will discover again that pubic hair is less poetic than Gretchen's braids." It is possible, too, that a decline in the work ethic or a weakening...
...hippies than most people realize. "There has always been a potential for murder," he says. "Many hippies are socially almost dead inside. Some require massive emotions to feel anything at all. They need bizarre, intensive acts to feel alive-sexual acts, acts of violence, nudity, every kind of Dionysian thrill...
...Amitai Etzioni applauds the idealism of the young but argues that "they need more time and energy for reflection" as well as more opportunities for authentic service. Ultimately, the great danger of the counter-culture is its self-proclaimed flight from reason, its exaltation of self over society, its Dionysian anarchism. Historian Roszak points out that the rock revolutionaries bear a certain resemblance to the early Christians, who, in a religious cause, rejected the glory that was Greece and the grandeur of Rome. Ultimately, they brought down a decaying pagan empire and built another in its place. But the Second...