"Let Us Adore And Drink!" A Brief History Of Wine And Religion

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http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/let_us_adore_and_drink_a_brief_history_of_wine_and_religion-151800


By The Conversation | December 25th 2014 07:30 AM | 1 comment | Print | E-mail | Track Comments


The Greeks hailed Dionysus (also known as Bacchus) as their patron god of wine, said to provide ecstasy and spiritual vision to his devotees. Pictured is Caravaggio's 1595 masterpiece Bacchus. Wikimedia

By Robert Fuller, Bradley University

In a letter to the Abbe Morellet in 1779, Benjamin Franklin mused that the strategic location of the elbow is proof that God desires us to drink wine. After all, had God placed the elbow lower on the arm, our wine glass would never make it all the way to our mouths. Had the elbow been placed higher, our glass would shoot straight past our lips.

“From the actual situation of the elbow,” Franklin wrote, “we are enabled to drink at our ease, the glass going directly to the mouth. Let us, then, with glass in hand adore this benevolent wisdom; – let us adore and drink!”

Franklin’s contention was offered as lighthearted fun. But it does remind us that wine, more than other beverage, is intimately connected to celebration and worship.

Wine and religion: ageless companions

The Egyptians, for example, associated several gods with wine as early as 4,000 B.C. Hathor, the Egyptians' patron god of wine, was duly honored on a monthly “Day of Intoxication.”

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[libodem]

1. Mmmmmm

Wine.

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2. Here is to Bacchus!

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3. .