This was one of those pulp novels that has a great concept but mediocre execution, in my opinion, but it was entertaining, nevertheless. In an undisclosed future, the Greek/Roman pantheon of gods have returned to rule over modern man. Their agenda seems very confused, in my admittedly mortal opinion: they take steps to protect humanity from itself by doing things like eliminating nuclear weapons, television, and other religions, but they never eliminated war in general. Perhaps they owned Raytheon stock. In this absurdist future, random citizen William Forrester gets selected to be a temporary stand-in for Dionysus at the upcoming Bacchanalia, and this is where I think the authors missed their opportunity. Most of the novella is centered around the bacchanal and juvenile drama surrounding the ritual orgy, which is only a tiny sliver of the possibilities available to authors who have decided to draw upon Greek and Roman Mythology. But it was the late 50’s and this is pulp fiction, after all, so what else should I expect? This was still a fun read, and it gave me a chance to rant about why prostitution is NOT the “oldest profession in the world,” and to talk about how little is actually known about precisely what testosterone does and how it works.

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