greek gods in new york

09

three hours later.

Dionysus went to the bathroom to wash his face, and when he came back he was much more awake.

At least I've known him for so long, and this is the first time I've seen him with clear eyes.

Dionysus sat on the sofa in the living room. He lifted his shawl hair, bent down and reached for the wine bottle at his feet.

It was Loki who reacted quickly and took the bottle with liquid in it first.

"Good wine," he sniffed lightly at the mouth, "Isn't it a waste to drink alone?"

Dionysus glanced at Loki, then turned to me.

He didn't ask why Loki came here with me, he just tilted his head and thought for a moment: "What did you just say?"

I:"……"

Fine.

At least this can prove that his terrible speech just now was completely drunk and crazy, and it cannot be taken seriously.

I don't want to send my uncle to the police station myself.

"I have an assignment for my philosophy class next week." I had to bite the bullet and repeat it again. "The theme is Nietzsche. You can write about anything. It's okay to extend Nietzsche to other spiritual realms. Loki said you know a little about Nietzsche." , so I come here to ask you, where should I start writing."

"Nietzsche..."

Dionysus' expression became extremely complicated.

He fell into chaos again, seemed to be thinking, seemed to be intoxicated, and froze in place as if no one else was there. Loki and I could not disturb Dionysus wandering in his own world at all.

The room was silent for a full 2 ​​minutes, and then Dionysus suddenly came back to his senses: "Please sit down, Nicole, we can talk slowly."

finally come back!

I breathed a sigh of relief.

In all fairness, although my dad doesn't like me getting in touch with this cheap relative, the handsome uncle who is engaged in metal is still very cool in my heart.

And Dionysus has been kind to me.

Especially after just accepting Athena's taunt.

Dionysus: "What would you like to hear about?"

I sat down: "Uh, whatever?"

Anyway, if I took philosophy class, I didn’t take it. Apart from knowing that there is such a philosopher in the world, I basically know nothing.

Dionysus sighed: "Nietzsche..."

I hurriedly took out the pen and paper.

Dionysus closed his eyes: "I'm late."

Me: "What?"

"I was in Turin then," said Dionysus calmly, "but it was already in the spring of 1889 when word of his madness reached me. I was late and had to go to Jena The University Mental Hospital is visiting him."

The pen I was about to record suddenly stopped.

Wait a moment.

Dionysus means...

He knew Nietzsche and had seen him? !

Meryl told me before that Nietzsche was an unrecognized philosopher when he was alive, and he ended up going crazy.

And now-

Dionysus said he visited Nietzsche after he went mad.

I looked up in shock, and found that not only me, but even Loki on the side showed a look of astonishment.

Only Dionysus turned a deaf ear.

"But it's okay to be crazy," Dionysus lowered his eyes, his slender eyelashes covered his eyes, "it's okay to be crazy."

As he spoke, he chuckled.

"After going mad, I said that I was Dionysus, the representative of intoxication, carnival and pain in his heart, and he also believed it. If a person is sober, how can he believe such a statement?

"I've visited him a few times, and he's always in pain, but he's also blissful—don't look at me like that, Nicole, a sane person doesn't understand that. He doesn't need sympathy, and he doesn't I need the empathy of the world. He refers to madness and chaos as the truth and origin in my name, so it is not normal to embrace me in the end, indulge in irrational ravings, and never look up for the illusion of reason? "

I didn't understand, not a single word.

Perhaps as Dionysus said, "a sober man cannot understand."

But I can feel the sadness and sorrow surrounding Dionysus.

This kind of emotion only occurs when you lose someone important to you, right?

"he……"

I carefully considered the sentence: "He is your very good friend."

Dionysus nodded: "Thousands of years, Nicole, he is the only one who understands me."

"Human beings are too fragile, Nicole," God of Dionysus sighed, "Even in the past, when Zeus was the king of gods, he could bring people back to life and save his hybrid offspring, but even Zeus, You ask him, if he dares to make a guarantee that a modern human being who has fallen into madness will be sane?

"Even Zeus couldn't do it. In the seven or eighty years since his death, I often think that if I had gone earlier, even a few months, even if I didn't tell him who I really am, just to say that I agree with him. Talking about aesthetics and philosophy with him, will the result be different, will he stick to the reason given by the sun god, so as not to sink into the abyss?"

Apollo?What about Apollo?

I wrote down Apollo's name in my notebook.

"He's right, Nicole."

Dionysus got up from the couch.

"If Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche had lived to this day, he would have found him so right. People today care only for intoxicating experiences, only for the expression of instinct, only for the carnival, pain and madness displayed by everything. one side."

He raised his hands and motioned me to look at the dazzling array of extreme metal posters and surroundings.

"It was popular and brilliant, and then it was eliminated by the times like a comet and became an 'outdated thing'."

Dionysus looked at me.

"Nicole, you asked me what is Dionysian spirit, this is the contemporary Dionysian spirit."

I looked back in silence.

I didn't speak, and I didn't know what to say.

When we left Dionysus' apartment, he politely sent Loki and me out.

The Nordic Liar God stepped out of the room with his front foot, and Dionysus gently grabbed me with his back foot.

"Although your father doesn't like me, Nicole, I'm still your elder," said the handsome man with the shawl, who was sober and rarely said these serious things to me, "but you can tell me that Rocky is your classmate. Father?"

Uh.

If so, I'm afraid Loki's treatment is not much better than that of Zeus, and he will be served by my dad with a car repair wrench.

"I told my godfather," I whispered, "he knows."

"Be careful."

Dionysus warned: "Loki...is not a good god. Although the modern times cannot measure good and evil by the standards of the past, he is really too special. I am afraid you will suffer."

"I will."

I don't trust Loki much per se - helping with homework doesn't count.

My words paused, and I said again: "Well, it's just noon, uh, do you want to have a meal together?"

"No."

Dionysus smiled slightly: "I haven't finished my drink yet, just close the door when you leave."

As he spoke, he waved his hand at me, turned and went back to the house.

His tall figure disappeared into the bedroom.

At that moment, I uncontrollably recalled the "Nietzsche" in the mouth of Dionysus.

Abandoning sobriety and reason, and throwing himself into a new round of drunkenness and intoxication without hesitation.

Suddenly, I probably understood one thing.

That is Dionysus standing among the posters in this room. It seems to be quite different from the image in the myth, but it may be the only one among all the old gods I know who has always remained the same, and his nature and identity have not changed.

What changed was not him, but the times.

…………

……

Three days later, I successfully handed in my philosophy class homework.

Meryl poked her head over and saw the "GOOD" on my thesis, she adjusted the mirror frame in surprise: "That's right, Nicole, I thought it would be Average at best as far as you are usually distracted in class."

I:"……"

It's obviously a compliment to me, but why does it reveal a bit of contempt for me in the words.

If I didn't know that Meryl spoke like this, I would definitely think she was mocking.

"What did you write?" she asked.

I just shoved the paper to her.

Meryl read very fast, she scanned ten lines at a glance: "Nietzsche and metal music? Wow... It's an angle I never thought of."

It's not just that Meryl didn't think about it, if it wasn't for Dionysus, I wouldn't even know that philosophy could have anything to do with rock and roll.

I half understood what Dionysus said.It may be because Meryl has also talked about it, Loki has also mentioned it, and Dionysus himself, I said this god and repeated it several times, so I roughly remembered what Dionysus spirit refers to tragic intoxication Ah, it is a concept of duality opposite to Apollo, the sun god, or something like that.

Then I went home and checked the information on metal music, flipped through the books, and probably wrote such an article.

The train of thought is entirely based on Dionysus himself, and his room full of rock band posters.

He didn't say anything else, and I don't understand either.

And I found out that the "Leibach" band that Dionysus loved most had released an album called "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

No wonder he likes it so much.

However, although the philosophy teacher gave me a "GOOD", the comment was similar to Meryl's idea: the angle is very novel, but the content is a bit shallow.

Of course, I am very clear that this "novelty" is also aimed at a high school student.

That's great!

I also have to thank Loki, without him I would not have thought of Dionysus, let alone get a GOOD evaluation.

"It's something to celebrate."

Meryl was also very happy. She had always believed that it was her fault that I took a philosophy class and failed to do well.

Now getting one that is not "GOOD" means that the usual grades can be improved a lot. She rarely smiled: "Today my mother made roast chicken, would you like to come to my house for dinner?"

"Today...forget it!"

I'm glad too.

On the one hand, it got a good evaluation, on the other hand——

"My dad is back."

As I spoke, I couldn't stop raising the corners of my mouth.

This long-distance transportation took two full months.

My father, Ares, the God of War in the past, and John Hawke, who has a problem with his mind, are finally back!