Mito y culto
One of the most important works on the figure of Dionysus, the Greek god of theater, ecstasy and fertility. Written in 1933, it remains a must-read for all scholars of Greek mythology.
In this study, Walter F. Otto expounds with depth and rigor what Dionysus meant in the divine Greek world, in terms of his rites and symbols, as well as the role of the mask and the Dionysian in the tragedy. The interest of the work is that his thesis, based on a deep and rigorous knowledge of the Greek sources and culture, deviate significantly from the usual approaches. Otto strongly opposes rationalistic hypotheses that attempt to artificially adapt to the modern mentality what for him represents the true religious essence of the Greek spirit, which can only be known by understanding the primordial meaning of the ancient ceremonial cult and myth.
