VISUALIZATION OF WINE IN THE MYTHS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD (bodily mythopoetics of amorphous intuitions)

Abstract

The article analyzes the richest traditions of mythologization of wine images in world culture from antiquity to Dionysian symbols. The Sumerian, Hittite and Ancient Egyptian mythological traditions are analyzed. The gods, to one degree or another associated with wine and winemaking: Geshtiana, Siduri, Telepinus, Esh, Shezmu, Renenutet, Hathor, Osiris are considered in detail. A connection is established between specific elevated states associated with the consumption of wine and models of artistic images present in various cultures. A conclusion is formulated that the process of intoxication and perception of the world in a special, altered state differed quite significantly among different peoples. Thus, the Sumerians were characterized by an elite, magical interpretation of alcoholic visions, inherent only to the chosen ones, and this procedure practically coincided with the ability to read cuneiform texts. The Hittites developed a stage-by-stage ritual intoxication for the purpose of ascending the spiral of the vine to the sky, where wine was a god: either to help a person in their desire to soar; or because of ignorance or weakness of a person, leaving them, which led to catastrophic consequences. Egyptian culture is the only one that, agreeing with the sacred source of wine (connection with Osiris, a stable association with the world of death, emphasizing the sacred alcoholic madness), took wine consumption out of the sphere of sacred ritual. As a result, it turned into an everyday act, inherent to significant sections of the population and, in fact, formed an alcohol-oriented culture without significant condemnation of deviant behavior in a state of extreme intoxication. Rituals of sacrifices to the gods were rather traditional and symbolic in nature and did not prevent mass libations, in which most of the family took part, excluding perhaps infants and very young children. The three types of flows of mythopoetic images and symbols formed in ancient times appear as the basis for various cultures from Iran to Britain already in the era of the Hellenistic-Roman period of European history.