Firmicus Maternus records the symbolon of Osiris' Roman initiates (mystai) as "Be of good cheer, O mystai, for the God is saved, and we shall have salvation from our woes." (The Error of the Pagan Religions, 2.21). According to Plutarch, Osiris is "laughter-loving," (On Isis and Osiris, 18) and in The Great Hymn to Osiris, the following is proclaimed: "There is joy everywhere, all hearts are glad, every face is happy, and everyone adoreth his beauty."
According to Nonnos, the God Aion complained to Zeus about the laborious, care-ridden life of mortals. Zeus declared that he would beget a son who was to dispell the cares of the human race, and bring them a message of joy. (Dionysiaca 7:7) This was Dionysos, who according to Euripides in the Bacchae, "ends our worries" (450), "keeps the household safe and whole though the other Gods dwell far off in the air of heaven" (466-67) and is a "lover of peace" (500). For, as Horace said, "Who prates of war or want after taking wine?" (Carmina 1) Wine is the tangible symbol and fluid vehicle of the God. When people wish to speak of his blessings, they use wine to symbolize it. Hence we have, "Wine is mighty to inspire new hopes and wash away bitter tears of care." (Horace, Carmina 4) "Wine frees the soul of subservience, fear, and insincerity; it teaches men how to be truthful and candid with one another." (Plutarch's Symposia 7.10.2) And Aristophanes adds, "When men drink wine they are rich, they are busy, they push lawsuits, they are happy, they help their friends." (The Knights) Dionysos' blessing is for everyone - male and female, young and old. (Euripides' Bacchae 205) And it is very important - for "where Dionysos is not, love perishes, and everything else that is pleasant to man." (Bacchae 769)
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