Note 179 — Chapter VI · DIONYSUS THE MAN
Reading edition
Just as Völcker has pointed out that the true meaning of the Prometheus myth was forgotten from the time of Homer and Hesiod onward, I feel convinced that the true meaning of more than three-quarters of the Dionysian myth was forgotten long before historic times. I do not believe that Dionysus as the raw-meat-eating deity has ever been satisfactorily explained, even by ancient writers, and all kinds of far-fetched interpretations have been advanced, most of which strike too wide of the mark to be worth considering.