(urth) Dionysus

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes]

On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Andrew Mason
<andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>
>> So...we agree that he's is the god of the "vine", not just grape vines.
>> I do not believe specific species of vines mattered to Wolfe for this
>> association one little bit.
>
> I find that most improbable. The title 'god of the vine' is a
> translation of Greek and Latin phrases which referred to the grape
> vine. Dionysus was the god of wine and of grapes and so of the plant
> from which they come, the vine, in the historic sense of that term. He
> is not the god of climbing plants generally. (There seems to be a
> difference between British and American usage here. To me, 'vine'
> primarily means grape vine, and can by extension mean other plants
> that resemble it. I get the sense that to Americans it just means
> climbing plant, without grapes having any special precedence.
> According to the OED the wider sense is first attested in 1563, but
> doesn't become widespread until the 18th century, and is then
> distinctively American. )

But do recall, please, that Wolfe is an American writer. (I almost
wrote "an _essentially_ American writer," but realized that, while
that is my impression, I have no real data to back it up.) As such, he
might be expected to use "vine" in the American sense.

Against this, of course, is the fact that he is steeped in the Classics.

-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes