Dion

The Macedonic cult of Dionis (Paionian Dyalos; lat. Dionysus), Sabazius, Bachus, Nimrod, Tammuz/Dumuzi, Zagreus, Osiris-Serapis, etc. is one of the oldest mythological appearances known to humanity. His name is founded in immemorial timeworn forgotten past. According to his astrological and animalistic attributes, the time frame of his conception coincides with the Zodiacal Era of Bull, which spans from 4th to 2nd millennium BCE.
The Macedonic Paionians gave the origin of the name Dyaus, from a root-word which means ‘to shine’: Dya/Da - ‘to’, and Us - ‘rising, up’ (like the sun) and/or Usvity - ‘incandescent’. Same meaning is to be found in the Sanskrit ‘Vas-anta’ - spring, from the word root ‘vas’ - shine, heat. Russian prominent linguist Vadim Tsymbursky proposed interpretation of the name Dionis on the basis of Macedonic onomastics: "Our God” – ‘Douh-naš’ in plain Macedonian.
When these first Pre-Indo-Europeans fashioned the other gods out of the forces and forms in nature, this root-name was implied for Dionis as well. His primordial cult is strongly associated with the archaic mythological creatures as kentaurs, maenads, satyrs, sileni, etc. Dionis was originally a god of the fertility and nature, associated with wild and ecstatic religious rites; in later traditions he was also the god of wine, of ritual madness and ecstatic behavior, who loosens inhibition and inspires creativity in music and poetry. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionisiac Mysteries, which were comparable to and intricately linked with the Eleusian and Orpheic Mysteries, which are again one and the same with the manifestations of most primordial mysteries of Cabiri , mentioned already by Herodotus as thought by Pelasgians  to the men from the isle of Samothrace.

Much has changed in the time between Alexander the Great and our modern society, yet the fundamentals of athletics and competition have maintained a similar relevance over the millenia.  Due to biases from ancient authors and many modern scholars, not a large amount of archaeological attention has been directed to the topic of Macedonian athletics.  A lack of physical evidence has induced either guesswork or an avoidance of scholarship altogether.  Additionally, the agones from King Philip II and Alexander III's careers have been treated as isolated events and not as phenomena related to politics, the military, and cultural identity.  This work will implement an interdisciplinary approach in order to incorporate data from physical remains and analyze the symbolic communication of ancient sports in this specific time period.  Though it may be impossible to fully comprehend the complete extent to which athletics contributed to Macedonia's pursuit of Greek identity, I believe that this course of study is a new academic route to understanding the impact of the agones on larger societal issues and the transmission of Greek culture over time and space.

Με την επέκταση της αυτοκρατορίας του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου και τη μετέπειτα δημιουργία των ελληνιστικών βασιλείων από τους επιγόνους του στα κατακτημένα  εδάφη της Ανατολής, ήταν φυσικό και επόμενο να επέλθει ένας συμφυρμός νέων και παλιών λατρειών.  Έτσι λοιπόν, οι Έλληνες ήρθαν σε άμεση επαφή με τη λατρεία της θεάς Ίσιδος στην Αίγυπτο και ειδικότερα στην κοσμοπολίτικη πόλη της Αλεξάνδρειας. Η Ίσις αφού απέβαλε ως ένα βαθμό τα ανατολικά χαρακτηριστικά της, εξελληνίστηκε και συνταυτίστηκε με τις περισσότερες από τις θεές του ελληνικού πανθέου. Όπως μας πληροφορεί ο Ηρόδοτος στο έργο του, το όνομα της Ίσιδος στα ελληνικά είναι Δήμητρα. Η Ίσις, ομοίως με τη Δήμητρα, είναι θεά της γονιμότητας της γης και των σιτηρών και συμβολίζει τη ζωή, καθώς και την ευφορία του ποταμού Νείλου όσο καμία άλλη θεότητα στο αιγυπτιακό πάνθεο.