SOURCE: Kay, Wallace G. “The Cortège of Dionysus: Lawrence and Giono.” The Southern Quarterly 4 (1966): 159-71.

In the following essay, Kay compares Giono's and D. H. Lawrence's approaches to the Dionysian themes of death and rebirth.

The cult of Dionysus involves two closely related elements: Dionysus as the symbol and god of the seasonal renewal of the plant world and Dionysus as the personified idea of a recurrent death and rebirth. A third strong element of the myth is the concept of inspiration brought about by some kind of communion with the god, a communion caused by participation in some ritual act. The followers of Dionysus, when they reach the frenzied climax of the ritual dance, are in a trance-like state which infuses them with the presence of the god. The divinely possessed votary of Dionysus assumes the powers of the nature-god, to call forth the symbols of...