Becoming like god in Plato: Dionysus, ecstasy and the immortal soul

To what extent does Plato modify the Dionysian Mysteries as a framework through which to initiate the philosopher into becoming like a god and attaining an immortal soul?

In this project I aim to demonstrate the extent to which Plato was influenced by both the Dionysiac and the Dionysian Mysteries.

The theme of the Dionysiac relates to the Greek god Dionysus who was the god of wine, ecstasy, religious frenzy, madness, fertility, death, comedy and tragedy.

The Dionysian Mysteries were rites and initiations practiced by the bacchants, the followers of Dionysus, who aspired to achieve both immortality and union with the god Dionysus through ecstasy and madness.

To demonstrate the influence of Dionysus on Plato's philosophical and religious thought, I concentrate on three dialogues from Plato's middle period: Phaedo, Symposium, and Phaedrus. Central to each of these dialogues is Plato's ambition for man to become like god.

This being so, Plato employs Dionysian imagery and language from the Dionysian Mysteries as a framework through which to initiate the philosopher.

Philosophy, therefore, is a divine activity the purpose of which is to perceive the eternal Forms, become like a god and attain immortality (as far as a human being can).