DIONYSUS

A Greek fertility god, god of vegetation, especially the vine, god of wine and later of the pleasures of civilization. Son of ZEUS; his mother is variously thought to be SEMELE, DEMETER, PERSEPHONE, or IO, DIONE, or LETHE. The most common myth identifies his mother as Semele. The Romans called him BACCHUS. In early times, Dionysus was associated with orgiastic rites and generally wild behavior. As the cultivation of grape vines spread throughout GREECE, so did the worship of Dionysus and the ensuing orgies, called Dionysian or Bacchic festivals. Later, however, Dionysus was also celebrated as a cultivator of the soil, a lawgiver, a peacemaker, and a patron of tragic art.Among his followers were the CENTAURS, MAENADS, SATYRS, and Sileni, all of whom were depicted in ancient art as enthusiastically sometimes frighteningly demented, carrying staffs and wearing animal skins and crowns of ivy and grape leaves.

The young Dionysus was not honored as a god and he was forced to flee from Greece. He traveled through Europe, ASIA MINOR, and North Africa. Many adventures marked his passage as he spread his knowledge of the cultivation of the vine and the making of wine. Dionysus learned to use the divine power he had inherited from his father, Zeus. He inspired devotion, especially among women, and finally returned to Greece in triumph as a true god. APOLLO, the beautiful god of the arts, admitted Dionysus to his shrine at DELPHI. Thus Dionysus joined the OLYMPIAN GODS. The acceptance of Dionysus into Greece after many struggles may refer to the conflict between old and new religions in the ancient world. Dionysus represents the very ancient cult of the spirit of nature and fertility. It found expression in human sacrifice, nature worship, and orgiastic rites, as did the cult of Dionysus. Apollo represents the Dorians and other migrants who invaded peninsular Greece. These newcomers brought with them their own gods and cults but learned to accept the ancient deities and rites. Dionysus was often depicted as a seminude, youthful god, his head crowned with vine leaves and grapes, and carrying a goblet of wine in one hand and a staff topped with a pinecone in the other. In earlier art he was shown as a mature, bearded man crowned with ivy.

References

Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z, Revised Edition

by Kathleen N. Daly