Hupo what?

We spent a day talking about hupokeimenon and the triangular relationship it makes. This thing acts as a seed would, and “sprouts” two other things, which are opposites of each other. After thinking about this for some time I noticed the connection between this and Pollan’s book, Botany of Desire. In it he frequently refers back to Apollo, Greek god of truth and prophecy, and Dionysus, god of wine and all around madness. These two gods are essentially the opposites of one another, and were used as metaphors for the two ways in which Pollan saw people using the various produce he explored in his book. I believe that desire in itself is the hupokeimenon, with the two opposites being the Apollonian path and the Dionysusian path. The two paths broken down can be viewed as what is ordered, and what is not. And with BoD each food item with its associated desire lead people down a certain path. The Apollonian path leads to a more “wholesome” area, this would be the Johnny Appleseed, hemp products, or the potato fields of modern famers. This path falls in line with the characteristics of Apollo. The Dionysusian path on the other hand leads to places of disorder such as John Chapman’s hard cider, marijuana growers and the Incan potato farmers. Essentially the root of desire leads to good and bad decisions, relative to societies standards of course. In my opinion these two examples fit perfectly into Aristotle’s model, and helped me fully understand the relationship between them.