Icon of the Orthodox Church, realized in the XVI century and exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. The image represents Christ as the “true vine” (John, 15, 1-5), sitting on the branches and surrounded by the Apostles.

Wine and the vine are recurring elements in the Old Testament, where Noah is described as the first vine grower. Symbol of prosperity and of God’s benevolence, this element has been resumed vigorously in the Gospel: the first miracle of Jesus was the changing of water into wine during the wedding at Cana. The climax of identification is reached in the episode of the Last Supper, during which Jesus established a direct relationship between the wine and his own blood, with the words: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew, 26, 28-29). However, it is hard not to see an analogy with the Greek god Dionysos, who was not only master of the vine cultivation, manifesting himself in the frenzy produced by wine, but was in some way represented in plant-like form as the vine-tree itself, under the epithets of Dendrítes (“of the trees”) and Endendros (“in the tree”). Thus, Dionysos represented a sort of vital fluid, an energy which produced frenzy and zest for life, manifesting itself in the growing and fructifying of vegetation, as well as in the enthusiasm of the possession cult. The figure of Jesus seems to heir a part of this symbolism, excluding the aspects more linked to the euphoric and ecstatic dimensions, and retaining the relationship with the enlivening force manifested in the vine shoot.

[Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_the_True_Vine_icon_ %28Athens,_16th_century%29.jpg]