—Keats.
INTERPRETATION.
Semele is the personification of a fertile soil in spring which brings forth the productive vine. Bacchus is regarded as the spiritual form of the new vernal life, the sap of vegetation as manifest in the juice of the grape.
The orgies were but a poetic incarnation of blithe, spiritual youth. The idea of Bacchus is not a simple one. His many titles have given rise to an almost endless number of variations of his story which are in many cases inconsistent and complicated.
ART.
Of the many representations of Bacchus this statue in the Naples Museum is considered one of the most lovely. It is full of gladness and is simple, delicate and beautiful. The child Bacchus is carried on the shoulders of a faun. He holds a bunch of grapes in one hand and clasps the head of the faun with the other. The faun is playing on cymbals and looks back and up at Bacchus with a happy smile.
Apollo and Daphne.
“Was it not well, Apollo, for revenge