Bacchus

Dionysus or Dionysos, is the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure
of Greek mythology. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and
beneficial influences. The geographical origins of his cult were unknown, but almost all myths depicted
him as having "foreign" (i.e. non-Greek) origins.
He was also known as Bacchus and the frenzy he induces, bakcheia. He is the patron deity of
agriculture and the theatre. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one's
normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of
the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the
"cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the living and the dead.
In Greek mythology Dionysus is made to be a son of Zeus and Semele; other versions of the myth
contend that he is a son of Zeus and Persephone. He is described as being womanly or "man-
womanish".

The Ludovisi Dionysus with panther, satyr and grapes on a vine (Palazzo Altemps, Rome)
The name Dionysos is of uncertain significance; its -nysos element may well be non-Greek in origin,
but its dio- element has been associated since antiquity with Zeus (genitive Dios). Nysa, for Greek
writers, is either the nymph who nursed him, or the mountain where he was attended by several
nymphs (the Nysiads), who fed him and made him immortal as directed by Hermes.
The retinue of Dionysus was called the Thiasus and comprised chiefly Maenads.

Main article: Cult of Dionysus

The above contradictions suggest to some that we are dealing not with the historical memory of a cult
that is foreign, but with a god in whom foreignness is inherent. And indeed, Dionysus's name is found
on Mycenean Linear B tablets as "DI-WO-NI-SO-JO", and Karl Kerenyi traces him to Minoan Crete,
where his Minoan name is unknown but his characteristic presence is recognizable. Clearly, Dionysus
had been with the Greeks and their predecessors a long time, and yet always retained the feel of
something alien.
The bull, the serpent, the ivy and the wine are the signs of the characteristic Dionysian atmosphere, and
Dionysus is strongly associated with satyrs, centaurs, and sileni. He is often shown riding a leopard,
wearing a leopard skin, or in a chariot drawn by panthers, and may also be recognized by the thyrsus he
carries. Besides the grapevine and its wild barren alter-ego, the toxic ivy plant, both sacred to him, the
fig was also his symbol. The pinecone that tipped his thyrsus linked him to Cybele, and the
pomegranate linked him to Demeter. The Dionysia and Lenaia festivals in Athens were dedicated to
Dionysus. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionysian Mysteries, which were comparable to and linked
with the Orphic Mysteries, and may have influenced Gnosticism.

Bacchanalia
Bacchus
Introduced into Rome (c. 200 BC) from the Greek culture of southern Italy or by way of Greek-
influenced Etruria, the bacchanalia were held in secret and attended by women only, in the grove of
Simila, near the Aventine Hill, on March 16 and 17. Subsequently, admission to the rites were extended
to men and celebrations took place five times a month. The notoriety of these festivals, where many
kinds of crimes and political conspiracies were supposed to be planned, led in 186 BC to a decree of
the Senate — the so-called Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, inscribed on a bronze tablet
discovered in Calabria (1640), now at Vienna — by which the Bacchanalia were prohibited throughout
all Italy except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate. In spite of
the severe punishment inflicted on those found in violation of this decree, the Bacchanalia were not
stamped out, at any rate in the south of Italy, for a very long time.
Dionysus is equated with both Bacchus and Liber (also Liber Pater). Liber ("the free one") was a god
of fertility, wine and growth, married to Libera. His festival was the Liberalia, celebrated on March 17,
but in some myths the festival was also held on March 5.

Appellations

Sculpture of Dionysus, commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Qingdao Beer. Qingdao
Beer Museum, Qingdao, Shandong province, China
Dionysus sometimes has the epithet Acratophorus, by which he was designated as the giver of unmixed
wine, and worshipped at Phigaleia in Arcadia.In Sicyon he was worshiped by the name Acroreites. As
Bacchus, he carried the Latin epithet Adoneus, "Ruler". Aegobolus, "goat killer", was the name under
which he was worshiped at Potniae in Boeotia. As Aesymnetes ("ruler" or "lord") he was worshipped at
Aroë and Patrae in Achaea. Another epithet was Bromios, "the thunderer" or "he of the loud shout". As
Dendrites, "he of the trees", he is a powerful fertility god. Dithyrambos is sometimes used to refer to
him or to solemn songs sung to him at festivals; the name refers to his premature birth. Eleutherios
("the liberator") was an epithet for both Dionysus and Eros. Other forms of the god as that of fertility
include the epithet in Samos and Lesbos Enorches ("with balls" or perhaps "in the testicles" in
reference to Zeus' sewing the babe Dionysus into his thigh, i.e., his testicles). Evius is an epithet of his
used prominently in Euripides' play, The Bacchae. Iacchus, possibly an epithet of Dionysus, is
associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries; in Eleusis, he is known as a son of Zeus and Demeter. The
name "Iacchus" may come from the Ιακχος (Iakchos), a hymn sung in honor of Dionysus. With the
epithet Liknites ("he of the winnowing fan") he is a fertility god connected with the mystery religions.
A winnowing fan was similar to a shovel and was used to separate the chaff from the grain. In addition,
Dionysus is known as Lyaeus ("he who unties") as a god of relaxation and freedom from worry, and as
Oeneus he is the god of the wine press.
In the Greek pantheon, Dionysus (along with Zeus) absorbs the role of Sabazios, a Phrygian deity. In
the Roman pantheon, Sabazius became an alternate name for Bacchus....

Mythology
Birth
Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His
mother was a mortal woman. Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes, and his father Zeus, the
king of the gods. Zeus' wife, Hera, a jealous and prudish goddess, discovered the affair while Semele
was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone (in other stories a nurse), Hera befriended Semele, who
confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe
her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal
himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted
and he agreed. Therefore he came to her wreathed in bolts of lightning; mortals, however, could not
look upon an undisguised god without dying, and she perished in the ensuing blaze. Zeus rescued the
foetal Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born on Mount
Pramnos in the island of Ikaria, where Zeus went to release the now-fully-grown baby from his thigh.
In this version, Dionysus is borne by two "mothers" (Semele and Zeus) before his birth, hence the
epithet dimētōr (of two mothers) associated with his being "twice-born".
In another version of the same story, Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone, the queen of the
Greek underworld. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titans to rip
Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. Zeus drove the Titans away with his thunderbolts,
but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena, Rhea, or
Demeter. Zeus used the heart to recreate him in the womb of Semele, hence he was again "the twice-
born". Other versions claim that Zeus gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her.
The rebirth in both versions of the story is the primary reason why Dionysus was worshipped in
mystery religions, as his death and rebirth were events of mystical reverence. This narrative was
apparently used in several Greek and Roman cults, and variants of it are found in Callimachus and
Nonnus, who refer to this Dionysus with the title Zagreus, and also in several fragmentary poems
attributed to Orpheus.

Early life
The legend goes that Zeus gave the infant Dionysus into the charge of Hermes. One version of the story
is that Hermes took the boy to King Athamas and his wife Ino, Dionysus' aunt. Hermes bade the couple
raise the boy as a girl, to hide him from Hera's wrath. Another version is that Dionysus was taken to the
rain-nymphs of Nysa, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care Zeus rewarded them
by placing them as the Hyades among the stars. Other versions have Zeus giving him to Rhea, or to
Persephone to raise in the Underworld, away from Hera. Alternatively, he was raised by Maro.
When Dionysus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious
juice; but Hera struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the
earth. In Phrygia the goddess Cybele, better known to the Greeks as Rhea, cured him and taught him
her religious rites, and he set out on a progress through Asia teaching the people the cultivation of the
vine. The most famous part of his wanderings is his expedition to India, which is said to have lasted
several years. Returning in triumph he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but was
opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduction on account of the disorders and madness it
brought with it.
As a young man, Dionysus was exceptionally attractive. Once, while disguised as a mortal sitting
beside the seashore, a few sailors spotted him, believing he was a prince. They attempted to kidnap him
and sail him far away to sell for ransom or into slavery. They tried to bind him with ropes, but no type
of rope could hold him. Dionysus turned into a fierce lion and unleashed a bear onboard, killing those
he came into contact with. Those who jumped off the ship were mercifully turned into dolphins. The
only survivor was the helmsman, Acoetes, who recognized the god and tried to stop his sailors from the
start. In a similar story, Dionysus desired to sail from Icaria to Naxos. He then hired a Tyrrhenian pirate
ship. But when the god was on board, they sailed not to Naxos but to Asia, intending to sell him as a
slave. So Dionysus turned the mast and oars into snakes, and filled the vessel with ivy and the sound of
flutes so that the sailors went mad and, leaping into the sea, were turned into dolphins.
Pentheus

Bacchus and Ariadne

Euripides wrote a tale concerning the destructive nature of Dionysus in The Bacchae. Since Euripides
wrote this play while in the court of King Archelaus of Macedon, some scholars believe that the cult of
Dionysus was malicious in Macedon but benign in Athens. In the play, Dionysus returns to his
birthplace, Thebes, ruled by his cousin, Pentheus. He wanted to exact revenge on the women of Thebes,
his aunts Agave, Ino and Autonoe and his cousin Pentheus, for not believing his mother Semele when
she said she had been impregnated by Zeus, and for denying that Dionysus was a god and therefore not
worshipping him. Pentheus was slowly driven mad by the compelling Dionysus, and lured to the woods
of Mount Cithaeron to see the Maenads, female worshippers of Dionysus who often experienced divine
ecstasy. When the women spotted Pentheus, they tore him to pieces like they did earlier in the play to a
herd of cattle. Brutally, his head was torn off by his mother Agave as he begged for his life.

Lycurgus
When King Lycurgus of Thrace heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned all the
followers of Dionysus; the god fled, taking refuge with Thetis, and sent a drought which stirred the
people into revolt. Dionysus then made King Lycurgus insane, having him slice his own son into pieces
with an axe, thinking he was a patch of ivy, a plant holy to Dionysus. An oracle then claimed that the
land would stay dry and barren as long as Lycurgus was alive, so his people had him drawn and
quartered; with Lycurgus dead, Dionysus lifted the curse.

Prosymnus
A better-known story is that of his descent to Hades to rescue his mother Semele, whom he placed
among the stars. He made the descent from a reputedly bottomless pool on the coast of the Argolid near
the prehistoric site of Lerna. He was guided by Prosymnus or Polymnus, who requested, as his reward,
to be Dionysus' lover. Prosymnus died before Dionysus could honor his pledge, so in order to satisfy
the shade of his erastes the god fashioned a phallus from an olive branch and sat on it at Prosymnus'
tomb. This tradition was widely known but treated as a secret not to be divulged to those not privy to
the god's mysteries. It was the source of the custom of parading wooden phalloi at the god's festivities.
This story is told in full only in Christian sources (whose aim was to discredit pagan mythology). It
appears to have served as an explanation of the secret objects that were revealed in the Dionysian
Mysteries.

Ampelos
Another pederastic myth of the god involves his eromenos, Ampelos, a beautiful satyr youth whom he
loved dearly. According to Nonnus, Ampelos was killed by the river Pactolus, riding a bull maddened
by the sting of Ate's gadfly, as foreseen by his lover. The Fates granted Ampelos a second life as a vine,
from which Dionysus squeezed the first wine.

Secondary myths
A third descent by Dionysus to Hades is invented by Aristophanes in his comedy The Frogs. Dionysus,
as patron of the Athenian dramatic festival, the Dionysia, wants to bring back to life one of the great
tragedians. After a competition Aeschylus is chosen in preference to Euripides.
When Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, Dionysus found and married her. She bore him a
son named Oenopion, but he committed suicide or was killed by Perseus. In some variants, he had her
crown put into the heavens as the constellation Corona; in others, he descended into Hades to restore
her to the gods on Olympus.
Callirhoe was a Calydonian woman who scorned a priest of Dionysus who threatened to inflict all the
women of Calydon with insanity. The priest was ordered to sacrifice Callirhoe but he killed himself
instead. Callirhoe threw herself into a well which was later named after her.
Acis, a Sicilian youth, was sometimes said to be Bacchus' son.