Dionysus, (Bacchus) was a the god of wine. Thebes was his own city, where he was born, the son of Zeus and Semele, a daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes. The vine and ivy were sacred to this god; his sacrifices consisted of goats and pigs.

      Hera determined to get rid of Semele when she discovered Semele was pregnant. She disguised herself as the girl's old nurse, Beroe. She succeeded in persuading Semele to insist that her divine lover appear to her in his full majesty as a god of thunder. The rash girl made Zeus promise to grant whatever boon she asked, then demanded what Hera had suggested. Zeus reluctantly agreed having sworn by the river Styx. He visited Semele with a display of thunder and lighting which caused her death. Zeus snatched the unborn child from her womb and sewed it into his own thigh. In due course he opened the stitches and removed the infant. Hermes took the baby to the place called Nysa, where certain nymphs were in charge of his upbringing, thus the title "Dithyrambos," meaning "twice born." His childhood was spent in innocence and happiness among the nymphs, satrys, herdsmen, and vine-tenders of Nysa. Dionysus was born of fire and nursed by rain, the hard buring heat that ripens the grapes and the water that keeps the plant alive.

      At manhood he set out on a journey through all known countries, even into the remotest parts of India, instructing the people how to tend the vine, and how to practice many other arts of peace. He was praised everywhere as the greatest benefactor of mankind. He met occasionally with great resistance on his journey, but always overcame it and punished those who opposed him most severly. Read about his treatment of Lycurgus and Pentheus in "The Two Great Gods of Earth."

      The Maenads, (Bacchantes) were Dionysus' female votaries who accompanied him when he traveled. Frenzied with wine they rushed through woods and over mountains uttering sharp cries, waving pine-cone-tipped wands (thyrsi). They danced and sang exultant songs, wearing fawn-skins over their robes. Nothing could stop them. They would tear to pieces the wild creatures they met and devour the bloody shreds of flesh.

      The worship of Dionysus was centered in two ideas so far apart; of freedom and joy and of savage brutality; man's blessing sometimes his ruin. The reason that Dionysus was so different at one time from another was because of the double nature of wine, his symbol. He was man's benefactor and he was man's destroyer.

      The sufferings which the god was supposed to endure in winter led him to be associated with Demeter in the mysteries of Eleusis. His festival, the Great Dionysia, was open to all the world. The ceremony became more elaborate each year. Drama developed out of his worship. A theater became the scene of splendid dramatic performances. The poets were the prophets and priests. Actors and singers took part in the sacred performances. All ordinary businees was stopped, no one could be put into prison, and spectators along with the writers and the performers, were engaged in an act of worship whose purpose was to purify the emoitions. The greatest poetry in Greece was written in tragic plays and was never equaled except by Shakespeare. Comedies were produced but tragedies far outnumbered them.

      Like Persephone Dionysus died with the coming of the cold. Unlike her, his death was terrible: he was torn to pieces, in some stories by the Titans, in others by Hera's orders. He was always brought back to life. He presented death and resurrection which first centered in Persephone, but she held power in death as queen of the Underworld. Dionysus was never thought of as a power in the kingdom of the dead. He only rescued his mother from it.

ACTIVITIES:
Dionysus activity

KEY TEST WORDS:
Dinoysus (Bacchus and Liber) god of wine. Symbols: vine, tiger. Twice born, raised by the nymphs of Nysa, educated by Silenus, a satyr, the Maenads (Bacchantes) his female followers, and drama evolved out of his worship service.

The Lesser Deities

The Underworld

Footnotes:
Having more titles than any of the other deities, he was styled the "God of many names." (Bromios, Lyaeos, Dithyrambos, Bakchos, and Liber.)
In works of art Dionysus was represented under a variety of forms. As the "Indian Bakchos" he is presented as a man of years, with worthy respect, a long beard, a diadem on his brow, and long drapery sweeping to his feet. As a beautiful youth Dionysus appears almost feminine, beardless, his hair falling in long tresses, and adorned with a wreath of ivy or vine tendrils, sometimes wearing the skin of a stag over his shoulders, and often in a car drawn by panthers or lion, or riding on one of these beasts. He also appears as a child when he is being handed over by Hermes to the care of Silenos and the nymphs of Nisa.

SOURCES:
Jane Smith
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Edward Tripp's "Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology"
"Manual of Mythology" by Alexander S. Murray.