Drunken Characters in Literature and History
Dionysus soon picked out a special few of his train and made their special traits flow through the wine.
Achilles
Arguably one of the most eminent characters in literary history, Achilles, was a great lover of wine. And being a devout follower of Dionysus away on on the battlefield, the God gave wine the property of exciting courage and bravery on the battle field. It's true that Achilles is part God himself, but with the inclusion of wine, he was nearly invincible. When in drunken rage on the battle field, no one could match him and prowess. It pushed Achilles to Godlike feats of strength that the Gods needed fate to stop his unstoppable might. Whenever we get drunk and have the courage to do something unthinkable, we have Achilles to thank.
Falstaff and other Life-Affirmers
Then came a point in history where many famous authors of imaginative literature noticed this side effect of wine and gave their characters the habit of drinking. They came to be termed “vitalists,” as their habit of drinking reaffirmed their life and made them better for it. Characters such as Sancho Panza in Don Quixote, Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. All of these characters were written based on real intelligent men and women that were simply heightened in their character because of alcohol. Shakespeare’s Falstaff said famously about sack, a type of wine: “So that skill in the weapon is nothing without sack, for that sets it a-work; and learning a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil till sack commences it and sets it in act and use.” Here we see the character attributing his valour and intelligence to the gift of wine.