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In ancient Greek religion and , Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards, fruit, vegetation, fertility, , insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and .Hedreen, Guy Michael. Silens in Attic Black-figure Vase-painting: Myth and Performance. University of Michigan Press. 1992. . p. 1James, Edwin Oliver. The Tree of Life: An Archaeological Study. Brill Publications. 1966. p. 234. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Greeks (a name later adopted by the ) for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia.In Greek "both votary and god are called Bacchus". Burkert, p. 162. For the initiate as Bacchus, see , 491. For the god, who alone is Dionysus, see , 211 and Euripides, Hippolytus 560. His wine, music, and ecstatic dance were considered to free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful.

(2016). 9781316715215, Cambridge University Press.
His , a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents.Olszewski, E. (2019). Dionysus’s enigmatic thyrsus. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 163(2), 153–173. Those who partook of his mysteries were believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.Sutton, p. 2, mentions Dionysus as The Liberator in relation to the city festivals. In , 379–385: "He holds this office, to join in dances, 380 to laugh with the flute, and to bring an end to cares, whenever the delight of the grape comes at the feasts of the gods, and in ivy-bearing banquets the goblet sheds sleep over men."

His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms. Traditionally the cult of Dionysus has been said to have originated from Asia Minor and introduced to the Greeks via .Reginald Pepys Winnington-Ingram, Sophocles: an interpretation, Cambridge University Press, 1980, p. 109 Google Books previewZofia H. Archibald, in Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (Ed.) Ancient Greeks west and east, Brill, 1999, pp. 429 ff. Google Books preview But, his name is mentioned in Linear B tablets from Pylos; so, he might be of Mycenaean origin.Thomas McEvilley, The Shape of Ancient Thought, Allsworth press, 2002, pp. 118–121. Google Books preview In Orphism, he was variously a son of and ; a or underworld aspect of Zeus; or the twice-born son of Zeus and the mortal . The Eleusinian Mysteries identify him with , the son or husband of . Most accounts say he was born in Thrace, traveled abroad, and arrived in Greece as a foreigner. His attribute of "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults, as he is a god of , sometimes called "the god who comes".Rosemarie Taylor-Perry, 2003. The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited. Algora Press.

Wine was a religious focus in the cult of Dionysus and was his earthly incarnation. Wine could ease suffering, bring joy, and inspire divine madness. Festivals of Dionysus included the performance of sacred dramas enacting his myths, the initial driving force behind the development of theatre in Western culture. The cult of Dionysus is also a "cult of the souls"; his feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.

(1999). 9780847694426, Rowman and Littlefield. .
He is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god.Corrente, Paola. 2012. Dioniso y los Dying gods: paralelos metodológicos. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Scholars note parallels between Dionysus and as dying-and-rising gods, though key differences and contexts complicate direct comparisons.

Romans identified Bacchus with their own , "the free Father" of the festival, patron of viniculture, wine and male fertility, and guardian of the traditions, rituals and freedoms attached to coming of age and citizenship. However, the Roman state treated independent, popular festivals of Bacchus () as subversive, partly because their free mixing of classes and genders transgressed traditional social and moral constraints. Celebration of the Bacchanalia was made a capital offence, except in the toned-down forms and greatly diminished congregations approved and supervised by the State. Festivals of Bacchus were merged with those of Liber and Dionysus.

Name
Etymology
The dio- prefix in Διόνυσος]] (; ) has been associated since antiquity with Zeus ( Dios), and the variants of the name seem to point to an original *Dios-nysos. The earliest attestation is the form (di-wo-nu-so), Palaima, Thomas G. University of Texas at Austin, 1998 featured on two tablets that had been found at and dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. At that time, there could be no certainty on whether this was indeed a ,John Chadwick, The Mycenaean World, Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp. 99ff: "But Dionysos surprisingly appears twice at Pylos, in the form Diwonusos, both times irritatingly enough on fragments, so that we have no means of verifying his divinity." but the 1989–90 Greek-Swedish Excavations at , Chania, unearthed, inter alia, four artefacts bearing Linear B inscriptions; among them, the inscription on item KH Gq 5 is thought to confirm Dionysus's early worship.
In Mycenaean Greek the form of is di-wo. The second element -nūsos is of unknown origin. It is perhaps associated with Mount Nysa, the birthplace of the god in Greek mythology, where he was nursed by nymphs (the ),Fox, p. 217, "The word Dionysos is divisible into two parts, the first originally Διος (cf. Ζευς), while the second is of an unknown signification, although perhaps connected with the name of the Mount Nysa which figures in the story of Lykourgos: ... when Dionysos had been reborn from the thigh of Zeus, Hermes entrusted him to the nymphs of Mount Nysa, who fed him on the food of the gods, and made him immortal." although Pherecydes of Syros had postulated nũsa as an archaic word for "tree" by the sixth century BC.Testimonia of Pherecydes in an early fifth-century BC fragment, FGrH 3, 178, in the context of a discussion on the name of Dionysus: " Nũsas (acc. pl.), he Pherecydes said, was what they called the trees." On a vase of the Nysiads are named νύσαι (nusae).Martin Nilsson Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion (1967). Vol. I, p. 567. asserted that νύση (nusē) is a Thracian word that has the same meaning as νύμφη (nýmphē), a word similar with νυός (nuos) (daughter in law, or bride, I-E *snusós, Sanskr. snusā).. He suggested that the male form is νῦσος (nūsos) and this would make Dionysus the "son of Zeus". Jane Ellen Harrison believed that the name Dionysus means "young Zeus". Myths of Greece and Rome, by Jane Harrison (1928). Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a origin of the name, since all attempts to find an Indo-European etymology are doubtful.

Meaning and variants
Later variants include Dionūsos and Diōnūsos in ; Dien(n)ūsos in ; Deonūsos and Deunūsos in ; and Dinnūsos in , besides other variants. A Dio- prefix is found in other names, such as that of the , and may derive from Dios, the genitive of the name of .This is the view of Garcia Ramon (1987) and Peters (1989), summarised and endorsed in Janda (2010:20).

, in his , writes that the name Dionysus means "Zeus-limp" and that Hermes named the new born Dionysus this, "because Zeus while he carried his burden lifted one foot with a limp from the weight of his thigh, and nysos in Syracusan language means limping"., 9.20–24. In his note to these lines, W. H. D. Rouse writes "It need hardly be said that these etymologies are wrong". The , a Byzantine encyclopedia based on classical sources, states that Dionysus was so named "from accomplishing διανύειν for each of those who live the wild life. Or from providing διανοεῖν everything for those who live the wild life." s.v. Διόνυσος .

Origins
Academics in the nineteenth century, using study of and comparative mythology, often regarded Dionysus as a foreign deity who was only reluctantly accepted into the standard Greek pantheon at a relatively late date, based on his myths which often involve this theme—a god who spends much of his time on earth abroad, and struggles for acceptance when he returns to Greece. However, more recent evidence has shown that Dionysus was in fact one of the earliest gods attested in mainland Greek culture. The earliest written records of Dionysus worship come from , specifically in and around the Palace of Nestor in , dated to around 1300 BC.Kerényi, Karl. 1976. Dionysus. Trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton University Press. The details of any religion surrounding Dionysus in this period are scant, and most evidence comes in the form only of his name, written as di-wo-nu-su-jo ("Dionysoio" = 'of Dionysus') in , preserved on fragments of clay tablets that indicate a connection to offerings or payments of wine, which was described as being "of Dionysus". References have also been uncovered to "women of Oinoa", the "place of wine", who may correspond to the Dionysian women of later periods.

Some 19th-century classicists such as identified as a prototype for Dionysus, and argued that he was originally venerated not as a bringer of wine and revelry but as a "custodian of borrowed identities". According to this theory, early Dionysian rites were believed to allow worshippers to temporarily take on another persona – ancestor, animal, and even enemies – supposedly explaining why Dionysus is uniquely associated with theatre, madness, and foreigners.Veronica Ions: The World's Mythology in Colour (1974). Hamlyn Publishing.

Other Mycenaean records from Pylos record the worship of a god named Eleuther, who was the son of Zeus, and to whom oxen were sacrificed. The link to both Zeus and oxen, as well as etymological links between the name Eleuther or Eleutheros with the Latin name , indicates that this may have been another name for Dionysus. According to Károly Kerényi, these clues suggest that even in the thirteenth century BC, the core religion of Dionysus was in place, as were his important myths. At in Minoan , men were often given the name "Pentheus", who is a figure in later Dionysian myth and which also means "suffering". Kerényi argued that to give such a name to one's child implies a strong religious connection, potentially not the separate character of who suffers at the hands of Dionysus's followers in later myths, but as an epithet of Dionysus himself, whose mythology describes a god who must endure suffering before triumphing over it. According to Kerényi, the title of "man who suffers" likely originally referred to the god himself, only being applied to distinct characters as the myth developed.

The oldest known image of Dionysus accompanied by his name is found on a by the Attic potter around 570 BC and is located in the . By the seventh century, iconography found on pottery shows that Dionysus was already worshiped as more than just a god associated with wine. He was associated with weddings, death, sacrifice, and sexuality, and his retinue of satyrs and dancers was already established. A common theme in these early depictions was the metamorphosis, at the hand of the god, of his followers into hybrid creatures, usually represented by both tame and wild , representing the transition from civilised life back to nature as a means of escape.

A Mycenaean variant of Bacchus was thought to have been "a divine child" abandoned by his mother and eventually raised by ", , or even animals."

(2026). 9780131826229, Pearson Education.

Epithets
Dionysus was variably known with the following :

Acratophorus, Ἀκρατοφόρος ("giver of unmixed wine"), at in Arcadia.Pausanias, 8.39.6.

Acroreites at .Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Ακρωρεία

Adoneus, a rare archaism in Roman literature, a Latinised form of , used as epithet for Bacchus.Used thus by , Epigrams, 29, 6, and in , 29; see Lee M. Fratantuono, NIVALES SOCII: CAESAR, MAMURRA, AND THE SNOW OF CATULLUS C. 57, Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, New Series, Vol. 96, No. 3 (2010), p. 107, Note 2.

Aegobolus Αἰγοβόλος ("goat-shooter") at , in .Smith, s.v. Aegobolus; Pausanias, 9.8.1–2.

Aesymnetes Αἰσυμνήτης ("ruler" or "lord") at Aroë and in .

Agrios Ἄγριος ("wild"), in .

Androgynos Ἀνδρόγυνος (), refers to the god assuming both the active, masculine and passive, feminine role during intercourse with male lovers.

Anthroporraistes, Ἀνθρωπορραίστης ("man-destroyer"), a title of Dionysus at Tenedos.

, Βασσαρεύς a Thracian name for Dionysus, which derives from bassaris or "fox-skin", which item was worn by his cultists in their mysteries., Psyché, p. 269Smith, William (1870) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol 1 ; retrieved 11 November 2022

Bougenes, Βουγενής or Βοηγενής ("borne by a cow"), in the Mysteries of .Nilsson Vol I, p. 571.

Braetes, Βραίτης ("related to beer") at .Harrison, Prolegomena p.414.

Brisaeus, Βρισαῖος, a surname of Dionysus, derived either from mount Brisa in Lesbos or from a nymph Brisa, who was said to have brought up the god. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Brisaeus

Briseus, Βρῑσεύς ("he who prevails") in .Aristid.Or.41Macr.Sat.I.18.9

Βρόμιος ("roaring", as of the wind, primarily relating to the central death/resurrection element of the myth,For a parallel see // The core meaning is wind as "breath/spirit" but also the god's transformations into lion and bull,Bulls in antiquity were said to roar. and the boisterousness of those who drink alcohol. Also cognate with the "roar of thunder", which refers to Dionysus's father, Zeus "the thunderer".

(2026). 9781118053874, John Wiley & Sons. .
)

Choiropsalas χοιροψάλας ("pig-plucker": Greek χοῖρος = "pig", also used as a slang term for the female genitalia). A reference to Dionysus's role as a fertility deity.McKeown, J.C. A Cabinet of Greek Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the Cradle of Western Civilization, Oxford University Press, New York, 2013, p. 210)Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, 92: 82–83, Loeb Classical Library ( registration required: accessed 17 December 2016)

Chthonios Χθόνιος ("the subterranean")Kerényi 1967; Kerényi 1976.

Cistophorus Κιστοφόρος ("basket-bearer, ivy-bearer"), Alludes To baskets being sacred to the god.Suidas s.v. Kistophoros :

"Kistophoros (basket-bearer, ivy-bearer) : It seems that baskets were sacred to Dionysos and the Two Goddesses Demeter." N.B.

Dasyllius Δασύλλιος ("frequenting the woods") at .Pausanias, 1.43.5

Dimetor Διμήτωρ ("twice-born") Refers to Dionysus's two births.Suidas s.v. Dimetor :

"Dimêtôr (twice-born) : Dionysos."Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 3. 62. 5 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.):

"Dionysos was named twice-born ( dimetor) by the ancients, counting it as a single and first birth when the plant is set in the ground and begins to grow, and as a second birth when it becomes laden with fruit and ripens its grape-clusters—the god thus being considered as having been born once from the earth and again from the vine."

Dendrites Δενδρίτης ("of the trees"), as a fertility god. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Dendrites

, Διθύραμβος used at his festivals, referring to his premature birth.

Eleuthereus Ἐλευθερεύς ("of ").

(2026). 9781317606840, Routledge. .

Endendros ("he in the tree").Janda (2010), 16–44.

("with balls"),Kerényi 1976, p. 286. with reference to his fertility, or "in the testicles" in reference to Zeus's sewing the baby Dionysus "into his thigh", understood to mean his testicles).Jameson 1993, 53. Cf. note 16 for suggestions of Devereux on "Enorkhes," Used at according to Hesyichius,Hesych. s.v. Ἐνόρχης. or according to the on Lycophron's Alexandra.

Eridromos ("good-running"), in Nonnus's Dionysiaca.Reece, Steve, "The Epithet ἐρίδρομος in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca," Philologus: Zeitschrift für antike Literatur und ihre Rezeption 145 (2001) 357–359, explains Nonnus' use of this epithet at Dionysiaca 23.28 as a translation of the moribund Homeric epithet ἐριούνιος, which in Cyprian means "good-running."

Erikryptos Ἐρίκρυπτος ("completely hidden"), in Macedonia.

Euaster (Εὐαστήρ), from the cry "euae".

Euius ( Euios), from the cry "euae" in lyric passages, and in 's play, .

, Ἴακχος a possible epithet of Dionysus, associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. In , he is known as a son of and . The name "Iacchus" may come from the Ιακχος ( Iakchos), a hymn sung in honor of Dionysus.

Indoletes, Ἰνδολέτης, meaning slayer/killer of Indians. Due to his campaign against the Indians.

Isodaetes, Ισοδαίτης, meaning "he who distributes equal portions", cult epithet also shared with Helios.

(2026). 9789004092662, Brill Publications.

Kemilius, Κεμήλιος ( kemas: "young deer, pricket").Alkaeus: Temple of Zeus, Hera and "Dionysus Kemilius" (Ζόννυσος Κεμήλιος) Nilsson Vol I p. 575

Liknites ("he of the winnowing fan"), as a fertility god connected with mystery religions. A winnowing fan was used to separate the chaff from the grain. Lenaius, Ληναῖος ("god of the wine-press")

Lyaeus, or Lyaios (Λυαῖος, "deliverer", literally "loosener"), one who releases from care and anxiety.

Lysius, Λύσιος ("delivering, releasing"). At Thebes there was a temple of Dionysus Lysius.Nilsson Vol I p. 574Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.16.6; Fowler, p. 63.

Melanaigis Μελάναιγις ("of the black goatskin") at the festival.

Morychus Μόρυχος ("smeared"); in Sicily, because his icon was smeared with wine lees at the vintage.Mentioned by in The Praise of Folly

Mystes Μύστης ("of the mysteries") at in Arcadia.Pausanias 8.54.5

Nysian Nύσιος, according to , he was called like this by the . Most probably, because according to legend he founded the city of Nysa.

Oeneus, Οἰνεύς ("wine-dark") as god of the .Suidas s.v. Oinops (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 44. 5 and 7. 20. 2) :

"Oinops (wine-dark): 'to wine-dark so-and-so,' to black so-and-so. In the Epigrams: '. . . from which we poured libations, as much as right, to wine-dark Bakkhos and the Satyroi.' But ruddy ( oinôpos) means wine-coloured, bright or black. 'Feeding on the ruddy grape-cluster of Bakkhos.'"

Omadios, Ωμάδιος ("eating raw flesh";); writes in Preparation for the Gospel that Euelpis of Carystus states that in and they did human sacrifice to Dionysus Omadios. Orphic Hymns, xxx. 5 (Taylor), ( Athanassakis and Wolkov), lii. 7 (Taylor), ( Athanassakis and Wolkov).Porphyry, On Abstinance from Animal Food, ii. 55 and note 23, p. 87 ( also at Tertullian.org) (with citations to Orphic Hymns xxxix. 5 and li. 7 substituted for xxx. 5 and lii. 7).

Patroos, Πατρῷος ("paternal") at .

Phallen , Φαλλήν (probably "related to the "), at .Nilsson Vol I, p. 593.

Phleus ("related to the bloοm of a plant").Φλοιός, Φλέος, Φλεύς . (Plut.quest. conviv. p. 683F, Aelian V.H. III 41, Herodian I p.400 Lenz) Nilsson Vol I p. 584)

, Ψευδάνωρ (literally "false man", referring to his feminine qualities), in .

Psilax, an epithet of Dionysus in , derived from "psila" (ψίλα), the Doric word for wings, since wine lifts men's hearts as wings lift birds. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.19.6

Pericionius, Περικιόνιος ("climbing the column (ivy)", a name of Dionysus at Thebes.

SemeleiosOpsomer, Jan. "La démiurgie des jeunes dieux selon Proclus". In: Études Classiques Tome 71, Nº. 1: Le "Timée" au fil des âges: son influence et ses lectures. 2003. pp. 18–19 (footnote nr. 47), 25 and 37–38 (footnote nr. 124). ( Semeleius or Semeleus),Georges, Karl Ernst. Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. Hannover: August 1918 (Nachdruck Darmstadt 1998). Band 2. Sp. 2582. an obscure epithet meaning 'He of the Earth', 'son of Semele'.Harrison, Jane Ellen. Themis. Cambridge University Press. 1912. p. 421.Naylor, H. Darnley. Horace Odes and Epodes: A study in word-order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1922. p. 37.Papaioannou, Sophia (2013). "Embracing Vergil’s 'Arcadia': Constructions and representations of a literary topos in the poetry of the Augustans". In: Acta Antiqua 53: 160–161. DOI: 10.1556/AAnt.53.2013.2-3.2. Also appears in the expression Semeleios Iakchus plutodotas ("Son of Semele, Iakchus, wealth-giver").Humphreys, S. C. The Strangeness of Gods: Historical perspectives on the interpretation of Athenian religion. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 235 (footnote nr. 34).

Skyllitas, Σκυλλίτας ("related to the vine-branch") at Kos.Hesych. σκυλλίς, κληματίς. Nilsson Vol. I, p. 584.

Sykites, Συκίτης ("related to figs"), at Laconia.

Taurophagus, Ταυροφάγος ("bull eating").

Tauros Ταῦρος ("a bull"), occurs as a surname of Dionysus.

(2026). 9781420961843, Neeland Media LLC.

Theoinus, Θέοινος (wine-god of a festival in Attica).Heshyh. Θεοίνια, Θέοινος Διόνυσος

Τhyiοn, Θυίων ("from the festival of Dionysus 'Thyia' (Θυῐα) at Elis").Paus.6.26.1

Thyllophorus, Θυλλοφόρος ("bearing leaves"), at Kos.Hesych. θύλλα, φύλλα or κλάδοι.

In the Greek pantheon, Dionysus (along with ) absorbs the role of , a / deity. In the , Sabazius became an alternative name for Bacchus.Rosemarie Taylor-Perry, The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited. Algora Press 2003, p. 89, cf. .

Worship and festivals in Greece
The worship of Dionysus had become firmly established by the seventh century BC.
(2026). 9780802822215, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. .
He may have been worshiped as early as c. 1500–1100 BC by Mycenaean Greeks;He appears as a likely theonym (divine name) in tablets as di-wo-nu-so ( Gq 5 inscription), and traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient .

Dionysia
The , , and festivals were dedicated to Dionysus.McConachie, B., Nellhaus, T., Sorgenfrei, F. C., & Underiner, T. (2016). Theatre Histories: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. The (or Lesser Dionysia) was one of the oldest festivals dedicated to Dionysus, begun in , and probably celebrated the cultivation of wines. It was held during the winter month of Poseideon (the time surrounding the winter solstice, modern December or January). The Rural Dionysia centered on a procession, during which participants carried phalluses, long loaves of bread, jars of water and wine as well as other offerings, and young girls carried baskets. The procession was followed by a series of dramatic performances and drama competitions.Sir Arthur Pickard-Cambridge. The Dramatic Festivals of Athens. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953 (2nd ed. 1968).

The City Dionysia (or Greater Dionysia) took place in urban centers such as and , and was a later development, probably beginning during the sixth century BC. Held three months after the Rural Dionysia, the Greater festival fell near the spring equinox in the month of Elaphebolion (modern March or April). The procession of the City Dionysia was similar to that of the rural celebrations, but more elaborate, and led by participants carrying a wooden statue of Dionysus, and including sacrificial bulls and ornately dressed choruses. The dramatic competitions of the Greater Dionysia also featured more noteworthy poets and playwrights, and prizes for both dramatists and actors in multiple categories.Brockett, Oscar Gross (1968). History of the Theatre. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. pp. 18–26.

Anthesteria
The (Ἀνθεστήρια) was an Athenian festival that celebrated the beginning of spring. It spanned three days: Pithoigia (Πιθοίγια, "Jar-Opening"), Choes (Χοαί, "The Pouring") and Chythroi (Χύτροι "The Pots"). It was said the dead arose from the underworld during the span of the festival. Along with the souls of the dead, the also wandered through the city and had to be banished when the festival ended.(Photius, Lexicon, s.v. "Thyraze Kares.")

To the doors, Kares, it is no longer Anthestria": some authorities contented that this is what is said to the crowd of Karian slaves, since at the Anthestria they join in the feast and do not do any work. Therefore, when the festival is over, they send them back out to work with the words, "To the doors, Keres, it is no longer Anthestria." since the souls keres wander about through the city at the Anthestria. On the first day, wine vats were opened.(Plutarch, Table-talk, 655e.)

At Athens they inaugurate the new wine on the eleventh of the month, and they call the day pithoigia. The wine was opened and mixed in honour of the god.(Phanodemus, in Athenaeus, Deipnosophists XI. 456a; frag 12in FGrH 325.)

At the temple of Dionysus in Limnai "The the Athenians bring the new wine from the jars age mix it in honour of the god and then they drink it themselves. Because of this custom Dionysus is called Limnaios, because the wine was mixed with water and then for the first time drunk diluted. The rooms and the drinking vessels were adorned with flowers along with children over three years of age.

On the second day, a solemn ritual for Dionysus occurred along with drinking. People dressed up, sometimes as members of Dionysus's entourage, and visited others. Choes was also the occasion of a solemn and secret ceremony in one of the sanctuaries of Dionysus in the Lenaeum, which was closed for the rest of the year. The basilissa (or basilinna), wife of the basileus, underwent a symbolic ceremonial marriage to the god, possibly representing a . The basilissa was assisted by fourteen Athenian matrons (called ) who were chosen by the basileus and sworn to secrecy.

(2026). 9781628370676, Society of Biblical Literature.

The last day was dedicated to the dead. Offerings were also offered to , due to his connection to the underworld. It was considered a day of merrymaking. Some poured on the tombs of deceased relatives. Chythroi ended with a ritual cry intended to order the souls of the dead to return to the underworld. were also banished from the festival on the last day.

To protect themselves from evil, people chewed leaves of whitethorn and smeared their doors with tar to protect themselves. The festival also allowed servants and slaves to participate in the festivities.

Bacchic Mysteries
The central religious cult of Dionysus is known as the Bacchic or Dionysian Mysteries. The exact origin of this religion is unknown, though was said to have invented the mysteries of Dionysus.Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca Library and Epitome, 1.3.2. "Orpheus also invented the mysteries of Dionysus, and having been torn in pieces by the Maenads he is buried in Pieria." Evidence suggests that many sources and rituals typically considered to be part of the similar Orphic Mysteries actually belong to Dionysian mysteries. Some scholars have suggested that, additionally, there is no difference between the Dionysian mysteries and the mysteries of , but that these were all facets of the same mystery religion, and that Dionysus and Persephone both had important roles in it.Dickie, M.W. 1995. The Dionysiac Mysteries. In Pella, ZPE 109, 81–86. Previously considered to have been a primarily rural and fringe part of Greek religion, the major urban center of played an important role in the development and spread of the Bacchic mysteries.

The Bacchic mysteries served an important role in creating ritual traditions for transitions in people's lives; originally primarily for men and male sexuality, but later also created space for ritualising women's changing roles and celebrating changes of status in a woman's life. This was often symbolised by a meeting with the gods who rule over death and change, such as and Persephone, but also with Dionysus's mother Semele, who probably served a role related to initiation into the mysteries.

The religion of Dionysus often included rituals involving the sacrifice of goats or bulls, and at least some participants and dancers wore wooden masks associated with the god. In some instances, records show the god participating in the ritual via a masked and clothed pillar, pole, or tree, while his worshipers eat bread and drink wine. The significance of masks and goats to the worship of Dionysus seems to date back to the earliest days of his worship, and these symbols have been found together at a tomb near in Crete.

Eleusinian Mysteries
As early as the fifth century BC, Dionysus became identified with , a minor deity from the tradition of the Eleusinian Mysteries.Jiménez San Cristóbal 2012, p. 125; Bowie, A. M., p. 232; Harrison, pp. 540–542. This association may have arisen because of the homophony of the names Iacchus and Bacchus. Two (c. 500 BC), possibly represent the earliest evidence for such an association. The nearly-identical vases, one in Berlin,Antikensammlung Berlin F1961 ( Beazley Archive 302354). the other in Rome,National Etruscan Museum 42884, ( Beazley Archive 9017720). depict Dionysus, along with the inscription IAKXNE, a possible miswriting of IAKXE.Versnel, pp. 32 ff.; Bowie, A. M., p. 232. More early evidence can be found in the works of the fifth-century BC Athenian tragedians and .Jiménez San Cristóbal 2012, p. 127; Graf 2005, "Iacchus". In 's Antigone (c. 441 BC), an ode to Dionysus begins by addressing Dionysus as the "God of many names" ( πολυώνυμε), who rules over the glens of Demeter's Eleusis, and ends by identifying him with "Iacchus the Giver", who leads "the chorus of the stars whose breath is fire" and whose "attendant Thyiads" dance in "night-long frenzy".Jiménez San Cristóbal 2013, p. 279, Bowie, A. M., pp. 232–233; Sophocles, Antigone 1115–1125, 1146–1154; Versnel, pp. 23–24. Jebb, in his note to line 1146 χοράγ᾽ ἄστρων, understands the Sophoclean use of the name "Iacchus" as specifically denoting the Eleusinian Dionysus. And in a fragment from a lost play, Sophocles describes Nysa, Dionysus's traditional place of nurture: "From here I caught sight of Nysa, haunt of Bacchus, famed among mortals, which Iacchus of the bull's horns counts as his beloved nurse".Jiménez San Cristóbal 2013, pp. 279–280; Bowie, A. M., p. 233; , fragment 959 Radt (Lloyd-Jones, pp. 414, 415). In 's (c. 405 BC), a messenger, describing the Bacchic revelries on mount , associates Iacchus with , another of the names of Dionysus, saying, they "began to wave the thyrsos ... calling on Iacchus, the son of Zeus, Bromius, with united voice."Encinas Reguero, p. 350; Jiménez San Cristóbal 2013, p. 282, with n. 41; Bowie, A. M., p. 233; , 725. Jiménez San Cristóbal also sees possible associations between Iacchus and Dionysus in Euripides: Ion 1074–1086, The Trojan Women 1230, Cyclops 68–71, and fr. 586 Kannicht ( apud , 10.3.13) = fr. 586 Nauck (Collard and Cropp, pp. 56, 57).

An inscription found on a stone (c. 340 BC), found at , contains a paean to Dionysus, which describes his travels.Bowie, E. L., pp. 101–110; Fantuzzi, pp. 189, 190, 191; PHI Greek Inscriptions, BCH 19 (1895) 393. From Thebes, where he was born, he first went to where he displayed his "starry body", and with "Delphian girls" took his "place on the folds of Parnassus",21–24, Bowie, E. L., pp. 101–102. then next to , where he is called "Iacchus":

And in your hand brandishing your night-
lighting flame, with god-possessed frenzy
you went to the vales of Eleusis
...
where the whole people of Hellas'
land, alongside your own native witnesses
of the holy mysteries, calls upon you
as Iacchus: for mortals from their pains
you have opened a haven without toils.27–35, Bowie, E. L., p. 102.
, says that Greeks "give the name 'Iacchus' not only to Dionysus but also to the leader-in-chief of the mysteries"., 10.3.10. In particular, Iacchus was identified with the Orphic Dionysus, who was a son of Persephone.Parker 2005, p. 358; Grimal, s.v. Iacchus, p. 224; Tripp, s.v. Iacchus, p. 313; Smith 1870, s.v. Iacchus. Sophocles mentions "Iacchus of the bull's horns", and according to the first-century BC historian , it was this older Dionysus who was represented in paintings and sculptures with horns, because he "excelled in sagacity and was the first to attempt the yoking of oxen and by their aid to effect the sowing of the seed".Jiménez San Cristóbal 2013, pp. 279–280; , 4.4.2, see also 3.64.1–2. , the second-century Greek historian, wrote that it was to this Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, "not the Theban Dionysus, that the mystic chant 'Iacchus' is sung"., Anabasis of Alexander 2.16.3 The second-century poet also referred to the "dismemberment of Iacchus"., De Saltatione ("The Dance") 39 ( Harmon, pp. 250, 251).

The fourth- or fifth-century poet associated the name Iacchus with the "third" Dionysus. He described the Athenian celebrations given to the first Dionysus , son of , the second Dionysus , son of , and the third Dionysus Iacchus:

They the honoured him as a god next after the son of Persephone, and after Semele's son; they established sacrifices for Dionysos late born and Dionysos first born, and third they chanted a new hymn for Iacchos. In these three celebrations Athens held high revel; in the dance lately made, the Athenians beat the step in honour of Zagreus and Bromios and Iacchos all together., 48.962–968.

By some accounts, Iacchus was the husband of Demeter.Hard, p. 134; Grimal, s.v. Iacchus, p. 224; Tripp, s.v. Iacchus, p. 313; Rose, Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. Iacchus; scholiast on , 324 (Rutherford 1896, p. 316). Several other sources identify Iacchus as Demeter's son.Marcovich, p. 23; Parker 2005, p. 358; Graf 1974, p. 198. The earliest such source, a fourth-century BC vase fragment at Oxford, shows Demeter holding the child Dionysus on her lap.Marcovich, p. 23; Bianchi, p. 18; Graf 1974, p. 198; at Oxford, Inv. 1956-355. By the first-century BC, Demeter suckling Iacchus had become such a common motif, that the Latin poet could use it as an apparently recognisable example of a lover's euphemism.Parker 2005, p. 358 n. 139; , 4.1168–1169. , Adversus Gentes 3.10 (p. 157) referring to the Lucretius verse, lists "the full-breasted Cerses nursing Iaccus" as a sight "the mind longs" to see. Compare with , s.v. Ἴακχος and , s.v. Ἴακχος (iota,16), which identify Iacchus with Διόνυσος ἐπὶ τῷ μαστῷ ('Dionysus at the breast'). A scholiast on the second-century AD , explicitly names Demeter as Iacchus's mother.Parker 2005, p. 358 n. 139; scholiast on , Vol. 3, p. 648 213, 18 Dindorf.

Orphism
In the Orphic tradition, the "first Dionysus" was the son of and , and was dismembered by the before being reborn.Gantz, p. 118; Hard, p. 35; Grimal, s.v. Zagreus, p. 456. Dionysus was the patron god of the Orphics, who they connected to death and immortality, and he symbolised the one who guides the process of .
(2026). 9780786456758, McFarland. .

This Orphic Dionysus is sometimes referred to with the alternate name (). The earliest mentions of this name in literature describe him as a partner of Gaia and call him the highest god. linked Zagreus with Hades, as either Hades's son or Hades himself.Sommerstein, p. 237 n. 1; Gantz, p. 118; Smyth, p. 459. Noting "Hades' identity as Zeus' katachthonios alter ego", thought it likely that Zagreus, originally, perhaps, the son of Hades and Persephone, later merged with the Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone.Gantz, p. 118. However, no known Orphic sources use the name "Zagreus" to refer to the Orphic Dionysus. It is possible that the association between the two was known by the third century BC, when the poet may have written about it in a now-lost source.Gantz, pp. 118–119; West 1983, pp. 152–154; Linforth, pp. 309–311. Callimachus, as well as his contemporary Euphorion, told the story of the dismemberment of the infant Dionysus,, fr. 643 Pfeiffer (= Euphorion, fr. 14 Lightfoot); Gantz, p. 118–119; West 1983, p. 151; Linforth, pp. 309–310. and sources quote Callimachus as referring to the birth of a "Dionysos Zagreus", explaining that Zagreus was the poets' name for the aspect of Dionysus., fr. 43.117 Pfeiffer (= fr. 43b.34 Harder); Harder, p. 368; Gantz, p. 118; West 1983, pp. 152–153; Linforth, p. 310. The earliest definitive reference to the belief that Zagreus is another name for the Orphic Dionysus is found in the late first century writings of .Linforth, pp. 311, 317–318; , The E at Delphi 389 A. The fifth century Greek poet 's tells the story of this Orphic Dionysus, in which Nonnus calls him the "older Dionysos  ... illfated Zagreus",, 5.564–565. "Zagreus the horned baby",, 6.165. "Zagreus, the first Dionysos",, 10.294. "Zagreus the ancient Dionysos",, 39.72. and "Dionysos Zagreus"., 44.255.

Worship and festivals in Rome
Bacchus was most often known by that name in Rome and other locales in the Republic and Empire, although many "often called him Dionysus."
(2014). 9781465422897, DK and the .

Liber and importation to Rome
The of Bacchus was brought to from the or by way of Greek-influenced . It was established around 200 BC in the grove of Stimula by a from , near the where ("the Free Father") had a State-sanctioned, popular cult. was a native Roman god of wine, fertility, and prophecy, patron of Rome's (citizen-commoners), and one of the members of the , along with his mother Ceres and sister or consort Libera. A temple to the Triad was erected on the in 493 BC, along with the institution of celebrating the festival of . The worship of the Triad gradually took on more and more Greek influence, and by 205 BC, Liber and Libera had been formally identified with Bacchus and .T. P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's Ars Poetica", The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 78 (1988), p. 7, note 52. Liber was often interchangeably identified with Dionysus and his mythology, though this identification was not universally accepted.Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, .[97] Cicero insisted on the "non-identity of Liber and Dionysus" and described Liber and Libera as children of Ceres.

Liber, like his Aventine companions, carried various aspects of his older cults into official Roman religion. He protected various aspects of agriculture and fertility, including the vine and the "soft seed" of its grapes, wine and wine vessels, and male fertility and virility.Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 2.6O. See also St Augustine, De Civitatis Dei, 4.11. Pliny called Liber "the first to establish the practice of buying and selling; he also invented the diadem, the emblem of royalty, and the triumphal procession."See Pliny, Historia Naturalis, 7.57 (ed. Bostock) at Perseus: Tufts.edu Roman mosaics and sarcophagi attest to various representations of a Dionysus-like exotic triumphal procession. In Roman and Greek literary sources from the late Republic and Imperial era, several notable triumphs feature similar, distinctively "Bacchic" processional elements, recalling the supposedly historic "Triumph of Liber".Beard, Mary: The Roman Triumph, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England, 2007, pp. 315–317.

Liber and Dionysus may have had a connection that predated Classical Greece and Rome, in the form of the Mycenaean god Eleutheros, who shared the lineage and iconography of Dionysus but whose name has the same meaning as Liber. Before the importation of the Greek cults, Liber was already strongly associated with Bacchic symbols and values, including wine and uninhibited freedom, as well as the subversion of the powerful. Several depictions from the late Republic era feature processions, depicting the "Triumph of Liber".

Bacchanalia
In Rome, the most well-known festivals of Bacchus were the , based on the earlier Greek Dionysia festivals. These Bacchic rituals were said to have included practices, such as pulling live animals apart and eating the whole of them raw. This practice served not only as a reenactment of the infant death and rebirth of Bacchus, but also as a means by which Bacchic practitioners produced "enthusiasm": etymologically, to let a god enter the practitioner's body or to have her become one with Bacchus.Russell, Bertrand. History of Western Philosophy.Routledge, 1996, p. 25Kraemer, Ross S. "Ecstasy and Possession: The Attraction of Women to the Cult of Dionysus." The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 72 60 Jan.–Apr. 1979.

In 's account (late 1st century BC), the Bacchic mysteries were a novelty at Rome; originally restricted to women and held only three times a year, they were corrupted by an Etruscan-Greek version, and thereafter drunken, disinhibited men and women of all ages and social classes cavorted in a sexual free-for-all five times a month. Livy relates their various outrages against Rome's civil and religious laws and traditional morality ( ); a secretive, subversive and potentially revolutionary counter-culture. Livy's sources, and his own account of the cult, probably drew heavily on the Roman dramatic genre known as "Satyr plays", based on Greek originals.... "the Bacchic passages in the Roman drama, taken over from their Greek models, presented a pejorative image of the Bacchic cult which predisposed the Romans towards persecution before the consul denounced the cult in 186." Robert Rouselle, Liber-Dionysus in Early Roman Drama, The Classical Journal, 82, 3 (1987), p. 193. The cult was suppressed by the State with great ferocity; of the 7,000 arrested, most were executed. Modern scholarship treats much of Livy's account with skepticism; more certainly, a Senatorial edict, the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus (186 BC) was distributed throughout Roman and allied Italy. It banned the former Bacchic cult organisations. Each meeting must seek prior senatorial approval through a . No more than three women and two men were allowed at any one meeting, and those who defied the edict risked the death penalty.

Bacchus was conscripted into the official Roman pantheon as an aspect of Liber, and his festival was inserted into the . In Roman culture, Liber, Bacchus and Dionysus became virtually interchangeable equivalents. Thanks to his mythology involving travels and struggles on earth, Bacchus became as a historical hero, conqueror, and founder of cities. He was a patron deity and founding hero at , birthplace of the emperor Septimius Severus, who promoted his cult. In some Roman sources, the ritual procession of Bacchus in a tiger-drawn chariot, surrounded by maenads, satyrs and drunkards, commemorates the god's triumphant return from the conquest of India. Pliny believed this to be the historical prototype for the .Pliny attributes the invention of the triumph to "Father " (who by Pliny's time was identified with Bacchus and Dionysus): see Pliny, Historia Naturalis, 7.57 (ed. Bostock) at Perseus: Tufts.edu

Post-classical worship
Late Antiquity
In the philosophy and religion of , the Olympian gods were sometimes considered to number 12 based on their spheres of influence. For example, according to Sallustius, "Jupiter, Neptune, and Vulcan fabricate the world; Ceres, Juno, and Diana animate it; Mercury, Venus, and Apollo harmonise it; and, lastly, Vesta, Minerva, and Mars preside over it with a guarding power."Sallustius, On Gods and the World, ch. VI. The multitude of other gods, in this belief system, subsist within the primary gods, and Sallustius taught that Bacchus subsisted in Jupiter.

In the tradition, a saying was supposedly given by an oracle of that stated ", , and -Dionysus" were "three gods in one godhead". This statement apparently conflated Dionysus not only with Hades, but also his father Zeus, and implied a particularly close identification with the sun-god Helios. When quoting this in his Hymn to King Helios, Emperor Julian substituted Dionysus's name with that of , whose Egyptian counterpart was also identified with Dionysus.

Worship from the Middle Ages to the Modern period
Three centuries after the reign of which saw the outlawing of pagan worship across the Roman Empire, the 692 Quinisext Council in Constantinople felt it necessary to warn Christians against participating in persisting rural worship of Dionysus, specifically mentioning and prohibiting the feast day , "the public dances of women", ritual cross-dressing, the wearing of Dionysiac masks, and the invoking of Bacchus's name when "squeezing out the wine in the presses" or "when pouring out wine into jars". Concilium Constantinopolitanum a. 691/2 in Trullo habitum. Canon 62. H. Ohme (ed.) Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum, Series Secunda II: Concilium Universale Constantinopolitanum Tertium, Pars 4. . Berlin/Boston Oktober 2013.

According to the Lanercost chronicle, during in 1282 in , the parish priest of led young women in a dance in honor of and , commonly identified with Dionysus. The priest danced and sang at the front, carrying a representation of the phallus on a pole. He was killed by a Christian mob later that year. Historian C. S. Watkins believes that Richard of Durham, the author of the chronicle, identified an occurrence of (by making use of his knowledge of ancient Greek religion), rather than recording an actual case of the survival of a pagan ritual.C. S. Watkins: History and the Supernatural in Medieval England, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2007, pp. 88–92.

In the eighteenth century, appeared in Britain and . Though activities varied between the clubs, some of them were very pagan, and included shrines and sacrifices. Dionysus was one of the most popular deities, alongside deities like Venus and Flora. Today one can still see the statue of Dionysus left behind in the .

(2026). 9780750924023, Sutton Publishing. .

In 1820, Ephraim Lyon founded the Church of Bacchus in , . He declared himself High Priest, and added local drunks to the list of membership. He maintained that those who died as members would go to a Bacchanalia for their afterlife.

and groups often include worship of Dionysus in their traditions and practices, most prominently groups which have sought to revive Hellenic polytheism, such as the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE). In addition to libations of wine, modern worshipers of Dionysus offer the god grape vines, ivy, and various forms of incense, particularly .Christos Pandion Panopoulos, Panagiotis Meton Panagiotopoulos, Erymanthos Armyras, Mano Rathamanthys Madytinos (Editor, Translator), Lesley Madytinou (Editor, Translator), Vasilios Cheiron Tsantilas. 2014. Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship. . They may also celebrate Roman festivals such as the Liberalia (17 March, close to the Spring Equinox) or (Various dates), and various Greek festivals such as the , , and the Greater and Lesser , the dates of which are calculated by the .

Identification with other gods
Osiris
In the Greek interpretation of the Egyptian pantheon, Dionysus was often identified with .Rutherford 2016, p. 67. Stories of the dismembering of and his re-assembly and resurrection by closely parallel those of the Orphic Dionysus and Demeter.Rutherford 2016, p. 69. According to Diodorus Siculus,Diod. 4.6.3. as early as the fifth century BC, the two gods had been syncretised as a single deity known as . The most notable record of this belief is found in 's 'Histories'. was of the same opinion, recording his belief that Osiris and Dionysus were identical and stating that anyone familiar with the secret rituals associated with the two gods would recognise obvious parallels between them, noting that the myths of their dismembering and their associated public symbols constituted sufficient additional evidence to prove that they were, in fact the same god worshiped by the two cultures under different names.Plutarch, Isis and Osiris. Trans. Frank Cole Babbitt, 1936.

Other syncretic Greco-Egyptian deities arose out of this conflation, including with the gods and . Serapis was believed to be both Hades and Osiris, and the Roman Emperor Julian considered him the same as Dionysus as well. Dionysus-Osiris was particularly popular in Ptolemaic Egypt, as the Ptolemies claimed descent from Dionysus, and as Pharaohs they had claim to the lineage of Osiris. This association was most notable during a deification ceremony where became Dionysus-Osiris, alongside as Isis-Aphrodite.

Egyptian myths about said that the Titans conspired against Osiris, killed him, divided his body into equal parts, and "slipped them secretly out of the house". All but Osiris's penis, which since none of them "was willing to take it with him", they threw into the river. Isis, Osiris's wife, hunted down and killed the Titans, reassembled Osiris's body parts "into the shape of a human figure", and gave them "to the priests with orders that they pay Osiris the honours of a god". But since she was unable to recover the penis she ordered the priests "to pay to it the honours of a god and to set it up in their temples in an erect position."Diod. 1.21.1–3

Hades
The fifth–fourth century BC philosopher , unifying opposites, declared that and Dionysus, the very essence of indestructible life (), are the same god.Heraclitus, encountering the festival of the Phallophoria, in which were paraded about, remarked in a surviving fragment: "If they did not order the procession in honor of the god and address the phallus song to him, this would be the most shameless behavior. But Hades is the same as Dionysos, for whom they rave and act like ", Kerényi 1976, pp. 239–240. Among other evidence, Karl Kerényi notes in his bookKerényi 1967. that the Homeric Hymn "To Demeter", Summary of Karl Kerényi: "The Hymn tells us that Persephone was abducted in Nysion pedion, or the Nysian Plain, a plain that was named after the Dionysian mountain of Nysa. Nysa was regarded as the birthplace and first home of Dionysus. The divine marriage of Plouton and Persephone was celebrated on 'the meadow'. The dangerous region that Kore let herself be lured to in search of flowers was likely not originally connected to Plouton but to Dionysus, as Dionysus himself had the strange surname of 'the gaping one', though despite this the notion that the wine god in his quality as the Lord of the Underworld does not appear on the surface of the hymn. People would not be able to detect the hidden meaning it if it wasn’t for archaic vase portrayals." Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter pp..

"The Hymn to Demeter later mentions that Queen Metaneira of Eleusis later offers the disguised Demeter a beaker of sweet wine, something that Demeter refuses on the grounds that it would be against themis, the very nature of order and justice, for her to drink red wine and she instead invents a new beverage called kykeon to drink instead. The fact that Demeter refuses to drink wine on the grounds that it would be against themis indicates that she is well aware of who Persephone's abductor is, that it is the Subterranean cover name of Dionysus. The critic of the mysteries, the severe philosopher Herakleitos once declared "Hades is the same as Dionysos." The subterranean wine god was the ravisher, so how could Demeter accept something that was his gift to mankind" p. votive marble images Summary of Karl Kerényi:

"The book later refers to Herakles initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries so that he may enter the Underworld. In the iconography after his initiation Herakles in shown wearing a fringed white garment with a Dionysian deerskin thrown over it. Kore is shown with her mother Demeter and a snake twined around the Mystery basket, foreshadowing the secret, as making friends with snakes was Dionysian p.. The god of the Anthesteria was Dionysus, who celebrated his marriage in Athens amid flowers, the opening of wine jars, and the rising up of the souls of the dead p.. There are two reliefs in a marble votive relief of the fourth century BC. One depicts Kore crowning her mother Demeter, the deities at the second altar are Persephone and her husband Dionysus as the recumbent god has the features of the bearded Dionysus rather than of Plouton. In his right hand, he raises not a cornucopia, the symbol of wealth, but a wine vessel and in his left, he bears the goblet for the wine. Over their heads an inscription reads "To the God and Goddess" pp.. The fragments of a gilded jar cover of the Kerch type show Dionysus, Demeter, little Ploutos, Kore, and a curly-haired boy clad in a long garment, one of the first son's of the Eleusinian king who was the first to be initiated. On another vase, Dionysus sits on his omphalos with his thryrsos in his left hand, sitting opposite Demeter, looking at each other severely. Kore is shown moving from Demeter towards Dionysus, as if trying to reconcile them p.. Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter and epithets Summary of Karl Kerényi:

Kore and Thea are two different duplications of Persephone; Plouton and Theos are duplications of the subterranean Dionysus. The duplication of the mystery god as subterranean father and subterranean son, as Father Zagreus and the child Zagreus, husband and son of Persephone, has more to do with the mysteries of Dionysus than with the Eleusinian Mysteries. But a duplication of the chthonian, mystical Dionysus is provided even by his youthful aspect, which became distinguished and classical as the son of Semele from the son of Persephone. Semele, though not of Eleusinian origin, is also a double of Persephone p.. Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter all link Hades to being Dionysus. He also notes that the grieving goddess Demeter refused to drink wine, as she states that it would be against (the very nature of order and justice) for her to drink wine, which is the gift of Dionysus, after Persephone's abduction because of this association; indicating that Hades may in fact have been a "cover name" for the underworld Dionysus.Kerényi 1967, p. 40. He suggests that this dual identity may have been familiar to those who came into contact with the Mysteries.Kerényi 1976, p. 240. One of the epithets of Dionysus was "Chthonios", meaning "the subterranean".Kerényi 1976, pp. 83, 199.

Evidence for a cult connection is quite extensive, particularly in southern Italy, especially when considering the heavy involvement of death symbolism included in Dionysian worship.

(2026). 9781905125357, The Classical Press of Wales.
Statues of Dionysus found in the Ploutonion at Eleusis give further evidence as the statues found bear a striking resemblance to the statue of Eubouleus, also called Aides Kyanochaites (Hades of the flowing dark hair), Summary of Karl Kerényi: These attempts at a reconstruction would remain very fragmentary were we not, in conclusion, to look attentively into the face of the god Eubouleus. The Lord of the Underworld bore this name in the youthful form represented in the statue, ascribed to Praxiteles, which is now in the National Museum at Athens and probably stood originally in the place where it was found, the Ploutonion. This youth is Plouton himself – radiant but disclosing a strange inner darkness – and at the same time his double and servant, comparable to Hermes or Pais besides Kabeiros or Theos p.. ... The plentiful hair or long curls suggest rather Hades kyanochaites, Hades of the dark hair p.. p. 172. known as the youthful depiction of the Lord of the Underworld. The statue of Eubouleus is described as being radiant but disclosing a strange inner darkness.
(1991). 9780691019154, Princeton University Press.
Ancient portrayals show Dionysus holding in his hand the kantharos, a wine-jar with large handles, and occupying the place where one would expect to see Hades. Archaic artist Xenocles portrayed on one side of a vase, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, each with his emblems of power; with Hades's head turned back to front and, on the other side, Dionysus striding forward to meet his bride Persephone, with the kantharos in his hand, against a background of grapes. Dionysus also shared several epithets with Hades such as Chthonios, Eubouleus and Euclius.. Second century AD.]]Both Hades and Dionysus were associated with a divine tripartite deity with .
(2026). 9780230113121, Palgrave Macmillan.
Zeus, like Dionysus, was occasionally believed to have an underworld form, closely identified with Hades, to the point that they were occasionally thought of as the same god.

According to Marguerite Rigoglioso, Hades is Dionysus, and this dual god was believed by the Eleusinian tradition to have impregnated Persephone. This would bring the Eleusinian in harmony with the myth in which Zeus, not Hades, impregnated Persephone to bear the first Dionysus. Rigoglioso argues that taken together, these myths suggest a belief that is that, with Persephone, Zeus/Hades/Dionysus created (in terms quoted from Kerényi) "a second, a little Dionysus", who is also a "subterranean Zeus". The unification of Hades, Zeus, and Dionysus as a single tripartite god was used to represent the birth, death and resurrection of a deity and to unify the 'shining' realm of Zeus and the dark underworld realm of Hades.

(2026). 9780875862309, Barnes & Noble.
According to Rosemarie Taylor-Perry,
it is often mentioned that Zeus, Hades and Dionysus were all attributed to being the exact same god ... Being a tripartite deity Hades is also Zeus, doubling as being the Sky God or Zeus, Hades abducts his 'daughter' and paramour Persephone. The taking of Kore by Hades is the act which allows the conception and birth of a second integrating force: Iacchos (Zagreus-Dionysus), also known as Liknites, the helpless infant form of that Deity who is the unifier of the dark underworld (chthonic) realm of Hades and the Olympian ("Shining") one of Zeus.

Sabazios and Yahweh
The god was alternately identified with Zeus or with Dionysus. The Byzantine Greek encyclopedia, (c. tenth century), stated:Sudas, under "Sabazios", "saboi"; Sider, David. "Notes on Two Epigrams of Philodemus". The American Journal of Philology, 103.2 (Summer 1982:208–213) pp. 209ff.
Sabazios ... is the same as Dionysos. He acquired this form of address from the rite pertaining to him; for the barbarians call the bacchic cry "sabazein". Hence some of the Greeks too follow suit and call the cry "sabasmos"; thereby Dionysos becomes Sabazios. They also used to call "saboi" those places that had been dedicated to him and his  ... Demosthenes in "On Behalf of Ktesiphon" mentions. Some say that Saboi is the term for those who are dedicated to Sabazios, that is to Dionysos, just as those dedicated to Bakkhos are Bakkhoi. They say that Sabazios and Dionysos are the same. Thus some also say that the Greeks call the Bakkhoi Saboi.

, in the first century, linked Sabazios with Zagreus among Phrygian ministers and attendants of the sacred rites of Rhea and Dionysos.Strabo, Geography, 10.3.15. Strabo's Sicilian contemporary, , conflated Sabazios with the secret Dionysus, born of Zeus and Persephone,, 4.4.1. However, this connection is not supported by any surviving inscriptions, which are entirely to Zeus Sabazios.E.N. Lane has taken pains to dismiss this widespread conflation: Lane, "Towards a definition of the iconography of Sabazios", Numen 27 (1980:9–33), and Corpus Cultis Jovis Sabazii:, in Études Préliminaires aux Religions Orientales dans l'Empire Romain: Conclusions 100.3 (Leiden, etc: Brill) 1989.

Several ancient sources record an apparently widespread belief in the classical world that the god worshiped by the people, , was identifiable as Dionysus or via his identification with Sabazios. Tacitus, Lydus, Cornelius Labeo, and Plutarch all either made this association, or discussed it as an extant belief (though some, like Tacitus, specifically brought it up in order to reject it). According to Plutarch, one of the reasons for the identification is that Jews were reported to hail their god with the words "Euoe" and "Sabi", a cry typically associated with the worship of Sabazius. According to scholar Sean M. McDonough, it is possible that Plutarch's sources had confused the cry of "Iao Sabaoth" (typically used by Greek speakers in reference to Yahweh) with the Sabazian cry of "Euoe Saboe", originating the confusion and conflation of the two deities. The cry of "Sabi" could also have been conflated with the Jewish term "sabbath", adding to the evidence the ancients saw that Yahweh and Dionysus/Sabazius were the same deity. Further bolstering this connection would have been coins used by the that included imagery linked to the worship of Dionysus such as grapes, vine leaves, and cups. However the belief that the Jewish god was identical with Dionysus/Sabazius was widespread enough that a coin dated to 55 BC depicting a kneeling king was labelled "Bacchus Judaeus" ( BACCHIVS IVDAEVS), and in 139 BC praetor Cornelius Scipio Hispalus deported Jewish people for attempting to "infect the Roman customs with the cult of Jupiter Sabazius".McDonough 1999, pp. 88–90

Mythology
Various different accounts and traditions existed in the ancient world regarding the parentage, birth, and life of Dionysus on earth, complicated by his several rebirths. By the first century BC, some mythographers had attempted to harmonise the various accounts of Dionysus's birth into a single narrative involving not only multiple births, but two or three distinct manifestations of the god on earth throughout history in different lifetimes. The historian said that according to "some writers of myths" there were two gods named Dionysus, an older one, who was the son of Zeus and Persephone,, 4.4.1. but that the "younger one also inherited the deeds of the older, and so the men of later times, being unaware of the truth and being deceived because of the identity of their names thought there had been but one Dionysus.", 4.4.5. He also said that Dionysus "was thought to have two forms ... the ancient one having a long beard, because all men in early times wore long beards, and the younger one being long-haired, youthful and effeminate and young.", 4.5.2.

Though the varying genealogy of Dionysus was mentioned in many works of classical literature, only a few contain the actual narrative myths surrounding the events of his multiple births. These include the first century BC Bibliotheca historica by Greek historian , which describes the birth and deeds of the three incarnations of Dionysus;, 5.75.4, noted by Kerényi 1976, "The Cretan core of the Dionysos myth" p. 111 n. 213 and pp. 110–114. the brief birth narrative given by the first century AD Roman author Hyginus, which describes a double birth for Dionysus; and a longer account in the form of Greek poet 's epic Dionysiaca, which discusses three incarnations of Dionysus similar to Diodorus's account, but which focuses on the life of the third Dionysus, born to Zeus and Semele.

First birth
Though Diodorus mentions some traditions which state an older, Indian or Egyptian Dionysus existed who invented wine, no narratives are given of his birth or life among mortals, and most traditions ascribe the invention of wine and travels through India to the last Dionysus. According to Diodorus, Dionysus was originally the son of Zeus and (or alternately, Zeus and ). This is the same horned Dionysus described by Hyginus and Nonnus in later accounts, and the Dionysus worshiped by the Orphics, who was dismembered by the Titans and then reborn. Nonnus calls this Dionysus , while Diodorus says he is also considered identical with . However, unlike Hyginus and Nonnus, Diodorus does not provide a birth narrative for this incarnation of the god. It was this Dionysus who was said to have taught mortals how to use oxen to plow the fields, rather than doing so by hand. His worshipers were said to have honored him for this by depicting him with horns.

The Greek poet gives a birth narrative for Dionysus in his late fourth or early fifth century AD epic . In it, he described how Zeus "intended to make a new Dionysos grow up, a bullshaped copy of the older Dionysos" who was the Egyptian god Osiris. (Dionysiaca 4)Nonnus, Dionysiaca 4. 268 ff (trans. Rouse) Zeus took the shape of a serpent (" drakon"), and "ravished the maidenhood of unwedded Persephoneia." According to Nonnus, though Persephone was "the consort of the blackrobed king of the underworld", she remained a virgin, and had been hidden in a cave by her mother to avoid the many gods who were her suitors, because "all that dwelt in Olympos were bewitched by this one girl, rivals in love for the marriageable maid." (Dionysiaca 5)Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 562 ff (trans. Rouse) After her union with Zeus, Persephone's womb "swelled with living fruit", and she gave birth to a horned baby, named Zagreus. Zagreus, despite his infancy, was able to climb onto the throne of Zeus and brandish his lightning bolts, marking him as Zeus's heir. Hera saw this and alerted the Titans, who smeared their faces with chalk and ambushed the infant Zagreus "while he contemplated his changeling countenance reflected in a mirror." They attacked him. However, according to Nonnus, "where his limbs had been cut piecemeal by the Titan steel, the end of his life was the beginning of a new life as Dionysos." He began to change into many different forms in which he returned the attack, including Zeus, , a baby, and "a mad youth with the flower of the first down marking his rounded chin with black." He then transformed into several animals to attack the assembled Titans, including a lion, a wild horse, a horned serpent, a tiger, and, finally, a bull. Hera intervened, killing the bull with a shout, and the Titans finally slaughtered him and cut him into pieces. Zeus attacked the Titans and had them imprisoned in . This caused the mother of the Titans, , to suffer, and her symptoms were seen across the whole world, resulting in fires and floods, and boiling seas. Zeus took pity on her, and in order to cool down the burning land, he caused great rains to . (Dionysiaca 6)Nonnus, Dionysiaca 6. 155 ff (trans. Rouse)

Interpretation
In the Orphic tradition, Dionysus was, in part, a god associated with the underworld. As a result, the Orphics considered him the son of Persephone, and believed that he had been dismembered by the Titans and then reborn. The earliest attestation of this myth of the dismemberment and rebirth of Dionysus comes from the 1st century BC, in the works of and .Henrichs, p. 61. Later, Neoplatonists such as and Olympiodorus added a number of further elements to the myth, including the punishment of the Titans by Zeus for their act, their destruction by a thunderbolt from his hand, and the subsequent birth of humankind from their ashes; however, whether any of these elements were part of the original myth is the subject of debate among scholars.Meisner, pp. 249–50; Graf and Johnston, pp. 195–6 n. 7 to p. 65. The dismemberment of Dionysus (the ) has often been considered the most important myth of Orphism.According to Meisner, p. 238, "over the last two centuries, many scholars have considered this narrative of Dionysus and the Titans to have been the central, defining myth of Orphism". See, for example, Nilsson, p. 202, who calls it "the cardinal myth of Orphism", and Guthrie, p. 107, who describes the myth as "the central point of Orphic story". According to Linforth, p. 307, it is "commonly regarded as essentially and peculiarly Orphic and the very core of the Orphic religion", while Parker 2002, p. 495, writes that "it has been seen as the Orphic 'arch-myth'.

Many modern sources identify this "Orphic Dionysus" with the god , though this name does not seem to have been used by any of the ancient Orphics, who simply called him Dionysus.According to Gantz, p. 118, 'Orphic sources preserved seem not to use the name "Zagreus", and according to West 1983, p. 153, the 'name was probably not used in the Orphic narrative'. Edmonds 1999, p. 37 n. 6 says: 'Lobeck 1892 seems to be responsible for the use of the name Zagreus for the Orphic Dionysos. As Linforth noticed, "It is a curious thing that the name Zagreus does not appear in any Orphic poem or fragment, nor is it used by any author who refers to Orpheus" (Linforth 1941: 311). In his reconstruction of the story, however, Lobeck made extensive use of the fifth-century epic of Nonnos, who does use the name Zagreus, and later scholars followed his cue. The association of Dionysos with Zagreus appears first explicitly in a fragment of Callimachus preserved in the Etymologicum Magnum (fr. 43.117 P), with a possible earlier precedent in the fragment from Euripides Cretans (fr. 472 Nauck). Earlier evidence, however, (e.g., Alkmaionis fr. 3 PEG; Aeschylus frr. 5, 228) suggests that Zagreus was often identified with other deities.' As pieced together from various ancient sources, the reconstructed story, usually given by modern scholars, goes as follows.West 1983, pp. 73–74, provides a detailed reconstruction with numerous cites to ancient sources, with a summary on p. 140. For other summaries see Morford, p. 311; Hard, p. 35; March, s.v. Zagreus, p. 788; Grimal, s.v. Zagreus, p. 456; Burkert, pp. 297–298; Guthrie, p. 82; also see Ogden, p. 80. For a detailed examination of many of the ancient sources pertaining to this myth see Linforth, pp. 307–364. The most extensive account in ancient sources is found in , 5.562–70, 6.155 ff., other principal sources include , 3.62.6–8 (= Orphic fr. 301 Kern), 3.64.1–2, 4.4.1–2, 5.75.4 (= Orphic fr. 303 Kern); , 6.110–114; Athenagoras of Athens, Legatio 20 Pratten (= Orphic fr. 58 Kern); Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus 2.15 pp. 36–39 Butterworth (= Orphic frs. 34, 35 Kern); Hyginus, 155, 167; s.v. Ζαγρεύς. See also Pausanias, 7.18.4, 8.37.5. Zeus had intercourse with Persephone in the form of a serpent, producing Dionysus. The infant was taken to , where, like the infant Zeus, he was guarded by the dancing . Zeus intended Dionysus to be his successor as ruler of the cosmos, but a jealous Hera incited the Titans to kill the child. Damascius claims that he was mocked by the Titans, who gave him a fennel stalk ( thyrsus) in place of his rightful scepter.Damascius, Commentary on the Phaedo, I, 170, see in translation Westerink, The Greek Commentaries on 's Phaedo, vol. II (The Prometheus Trust, Westbury) 2009

Diodorus relates that Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and that his birth narrative is an allegory for the generative power of the gods at work in nature. 3.64.1; also noted by Kerény (110 note 214). When the "Sons of Gaia" (i.e. the Titans) boiled Dionysus following his birth, Demeter gathered together his remains, allowing his rebirth. Diodorus noted the symbolism this myth held for its adherents: Dionysus, god of the vine, was born from the gods of the rain and the earth. He was torn apart and boiled by the sons of Gaia, or "earth born", symbolising the harvesting and wine-making process. Just as the remains of the bare vines are returned to the earth to restore its fruitfulness, the remains of the young Dionysus were returned to Demeter allowing him to be born again. 3.62–74.

Second birth
The birth narrative given by Gaius Julius Hyginus ( – 17 AD) in Fabulae 167, agrees with the Orphic tradition that Liber (Dionysus) was originally the son of Jove (Zeus) and Proserpine (Persephone). Hyginus writes that Liber was torn apart by the Titans, so Jove took the fragments of his heart and put them into a drink which he gave to , the daughter of Harmonia and , king and founder of Thebes. This resulted in Semele becoming pregnant. Juno appeared to Semele in the form of her nurse, Beroe, and told her: "Daughter, ask Jove to come to you as he comes to Juno, so you may know what pleasure it is to sleep with a god." When Semele requested that Jove do so, she was killed by a thunderbolt. Jove then took the infant Liber from her womb, and put him in the care of Nysus. Hyginus states that "for this reason he is called Dionysus, and also the one with two mothers" ( dimētōr).Hyginus, Fabulae CLXVII

Nonnus describes how, when life was rejuvenated after the flood, it was lacking in revelry in the absence of Dionysus. "The , those daughters of the lichtgang, still joyless, plaited garlands for the gods only of meadow-grass. For Wine was lacking. Without Bacchos to inspire the dance, its grace was only half complete and quite without profit; it charmed only the eyes of the company, when the circling dancer moved in twists and turns with a tumult of footsteps, having only nods for words, hand for mouth, fingers for voice." Zeus declared that he would send his son Dionysus to teach mortals how to grow grapes and make wine, to alleviate their toil, war, and suffering. After he became protector of humanity, Zeus promises, Dionysus would struggle on earth, but be received "by the bright upper air to shine beside Zeus and to share the courses of the stars." (Dionysiaca 7).Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 14 ff (trans. Rouse)

The mortal princess Semele then had a dream, in which Zeus destroyed a fruit tree with a bolt of lightning, but did not harm the fruit. He sent a bird to bring him one of the fruits, and sewed it into his thigh, so that he would be both mother and father to the new Dionysus. She saw the bull-shaped figure of a man emerge from his thigh, and then came to the realisation that she herself had been the tree. Her father Cadmus, fearful of the prophetic dream, instructed Semele to make sacrifices to Zeus. Semele became a priestess of the god and, on one occasion, she was observed by Zeus as she slaughtered a bull at his altar and afterwards swam in the river to cleanse herself of the blood. Flying over the scene in the guise of an eagle, Zeus fell in love with Semele and repeatedly visited her secretly., 7.110-8.177 The first time he came to Semele in her bed, he was adorned with various symbols of Dionysus. He transformed into a snake, and "Zeus made long wooing, and shouted "Euoi!" as if the winepress were near, as he begat his son who would love the cry." Immediately, Semele's bed and chambers were overgrown with vines and flowers, and the earth laughed. Zeus then spoke to Semele, revealing his true identity, and telling her to be happy: "you bring forth a son who shall not die, and you I will call immortal. Happy woman! you have conceived a son who will make mortals forget their troubles, you shall bring forth joy for gods and men." (Dionysiaca 7).Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 139 ff (trans. Rouse)

During her pregnancy, Semele rejoiced in the knowledge that her son would be divine. She dressed herself in garlands of flowers and wreathes of ivy, and would run barefoot to the meadows and forests to frolic whenever she heard music. Hera became envious and feared that Zeus would replace her with Semele as queen of Olympus. She went to Semele in the guise of an old woman who had been Cadmus's wet nurse. She made Semele jealous of the attention Zeus gave to Hera, compared with their own brief liaison and provoked her to request Zeus to appear before her in his full godhood. Semele prayed to Zeus that he show himself. Zeus answered her prayers but warned her that no other mortals had ever seen him as he held his lightning bolts. Semele reached out to touch them and was burnt to ash. (Dionysiaca 8).Nonnus, Dionysiaca 8. (trans. Rouse) But the infant Dionysus survived, and Zeus rescued him from the flames, sewing him into his thigh. "So the rounded thigh in labour became female, and the boy too soon born was brought forth, but not in a mother's way, having passed from a mother's womb to a father's." (Dionysiaca 9). At his birth, he had a pair of horns shaped like a crescent moon. The crowned him with ivy and flowers, and wrapped horned snakes around his own horns.

An alternate birth narrative is given by Diodorus from the Egyptian tradition. In it, Dionysus is the son of , who Diodorus regards both as the creator god and a quasi-historical king of . Ammon had married the goddess Rhea, but he had an affair with , who bore Dionysus. Ammon feared Rhea's wrath if she were to discover the child, so he took the infant Dionysus to Nysa (Dionysus's traditional childhood home). Ammon brought Dionysus into a cave where he was to be cared for by Nysa, a daughter of the hero . Dionysus grew famous due to his skill in the arts, his beauty, and his strength. It was said that he discovered the art of winemaking during his boyhood. His fame brought him to the attention of Rhea, who was furious with Ammon for his deception. She attempted to bring Dionysus under her own power but, unable to do so, she left Ammon and married .

Interpretation
Even in antiquity, the account of Dionysus's birth to a mortal woman led some to argue that he had been a historical figure who became deified over time, a suggestion of (an explanation of mythic events having roots in mortal history) often applied to demi-gods. The 4th-century Roman emperor and philosopher Julian encountered examples of this belief, and wrote arguments against it. In his letter To the Cynic Heracleios, Julian wrote "I have heard many people say that Dionysus was a mortal man because he was born of Semele and that he became a god through his knowledge of and the Mysteries, and like our lord Heracles for his royal virtue was translated to Olympus by his father Zeus." However, to Julian, the myth of Dionysus's birth (and that of Heracles) stood as an allegory for a deeper spiritual truth. The birth of Dionysus, Julian argues, was "no birth but a divine manifestation" to Semele, who foresaw that a physical manifestation of the god Dionysus would soon appear. However, Semele was impatient for the god to come, and began revealing his mysteries too early; for her transgression, she was struck down by Zeus. When Zeus decided it was time to impose a new order on humanity, for it to "pass from the nomadic to a more civilized mode of life", he sent his son Dionysus from India as a god made visible, spreading his worship and giving the vine as a symbol of his manifestation among mortals. In Julian's interpretation, the Greeks "called Semele the mother of Dionysus because of the prediction that she had made, but also because the god honored her as having been the first prophetess of his advent while it was yet to be." The allegorical myth of the birth of Dionysus, per Julian, was developed to express both the history of these events and encapsulate the truth of his birth outside the generative processes of the mortal world, but entering into it, though his true birth was directly from Zeus along into the .Julian, trans. by Emily Wilmer Cave Wright. To the Cynic Heracleios. The Works of the Emperor Julian, volume II (1913) Loeb Classical Library.

Infancy
According to Nonnus, Zeus gave the infant Dionysus to the care of . Hermes gave Dionysus to the Lamides, or daughters of Lamos, who were river nymphs. But Hera drove the Lamides mad and caused them to attack Dionysus, who was rescued by Hermes. Hermes next brought the infant to Ino for fostering by her attendant Mystis, who taught him the rites of the mysteries (Dionysiaca 9). In Apollodorus's account, Hermes instructed Ino to raise Dionysus as a girl, to hide him from Hera's wrath.Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Includes Frazer's notes. However, Hera found him, and vowed to destroy the house with a flood; however, Hermes again rescued Dionysus, this time bringing him to the mountains of . Hermes adopted the form of , most ancient of the gods, and so Hera bowed before him and let him pass. Hermes gave the infant to the goddess Rhea, who cared for him through his adolescence.Nonnus, Dionysiaca 9. (trans. Rouse)

Another version is that Dionysus was taken to the rain- of Nysa, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care Zeus rewarded them by placing them as the Hyades among the stars (see Hyades star cluster). In yet another version of the myth, he is raised by his cousin on the island of .Conner, Nancy. "The Everything Book of Classical Mythology" 2ed

Dionysus in Greek mythology is a god of foreign origin, and while Mount Nysa is a mythological location, it is invariably set far away to the east or to the south. The places it "far from , near to the ". Homeric Hymn 1 to Dionysus : ‘There is a certain Nysa, mountain high, with forests thick, in Phoinike afar, close to Aigyptos' (Egypt's) streams.’ Others placed it in Anatolia, or in ("away in the west beside a great ocean"), in Ethiopia (Herodotus), or (Diodorus Siculus). Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 2. 3 (trans. Oldfather) : "Zeus taking up the child i.e., handed it over to Hermes, and ordered him to take it to the cave in Nysa, which lay between Phoinikia (Phoenicia) and the Neilos (the River Nile), where he should deliver it to the Nymphai (Nymphs) that they should rear it and with great solicitude bestow upon it the best of care. According to :

The Bibliotheca seems to be following Pherecydes, who relates how the infant Dionysus, god of the grapevine, was nursed by the rain-nymphs, the Hyades at Nysa. Young Dionysus was also said to have been one of the many famous pupils of the . According to Ptolemy Chennus in the Library of Photius, "Dionysus was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations."Photius, Library; "Ptolemy Chennus, New History" Book 4

Travels and invention of wine
When Dionysus grew up, he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice, being the first to do so;Bull, 255 but Hera struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In the goddess , 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 , which is said to have lasted several years. According to a legend, when Alexander the Great reached a city called Nysa near the , the locals said that their city was founded by Dionysus in the distant past and their city was dedicated to the god Dionysus., Anabasis of Alexander 5.1.1–2.2 These travels took something of the form of military conquests; according to he conquered the whole world except for Britain and .Bull, 253

Another myth according to involves , a , who was loved by Dionysus. As related by , Ampelus became the constellation Vindemitor, or the "grape-gatherer":Ovid, Fasti, iii. 407 ff. (James G. Frazer, translator).

... not so will the Grape-gatherer escape thee. The origin of that constellation also can be briefly told. 'Tis said that the unshorn Ampelus, son of a nymph and a satyr, was loved by Bacchus on the Ismarian hills. Upon him the god bestowed a vine that trailed from an elm's leafy boughs, and still the vine takes from the boy its name. While he rashly culled the gaudy grapes upon a branch, he tumbled down; Liber bore the lost youth to the stars."
Another story of Ampelus was related by : in an accident foreseen by Dionysus, the youth was killed while riding a bull maddened by the sting of a gadfly sent by , the goddess of the . The granted Ampelus a second life as a vine, from which Dionysus squeezed the first wine., 10.175–430, 11, 12.1–117 .

Return to Greece
Returning in triumph to Greece after his travels in Asia, Dionysus came to be considered the founder of the triumphal procession. He undertook efforts to introduce his religion into Greece, but was opposed by rulers who feared it, on account of the disorders and madness it brought with it.

In one myth, adapted in 's play , Dionysus returns to his birthplace, Thebes, which is ruled by his cousin . Pentheus, as well as his mother Agave and his aunts Ino and Autonoë, disbelieve Dionysus's divine birth. Despite the warnings of the blind prophet , they deny his worship and denounce him for inspiring the women of Thebes to madness.

Dionysus uses his divine powers to drive Pentheus insane, then invites him to spy on the ecstatic rituals of the , in the woods of . Pentheus, hoping to witness a sexual , hides himself in a tree. The Maenads spot him; maddened by Dionysus, they take him to be a mountain-dwelling and attack him with their bare hands. Pentheus's aunts and his mother Agave are among them, and they rip him limb from limb. Agave mounts his head on a pike and takes the trophy to her father Cadmus.

Euripides's description of this sparagmos was as follows:

The madness passes. Dionysus arrives in his true, divine form, banishes Agave and her sisters, and transforms Cadmus and his wife Harmonia into serpents. Only Tiresias is spared., .

In the Iliad, when King Lycurgus of Thrace heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned Dionysus's followers, the . Dionysus fled and took refuge with , and sent a which stirred the people to revolt. The god then drove King Lycurgus insane and had him slice his own son into pieces with an axe in the belief that he was a patch of ivy, a plant holy to Dionysus. An then claimed that the land would stay dry and barren as long as Lycurgus lived, and his people had him drawn and quartered. Appeased by the king's death, Dionysus lifted the curse.Homer, Iliad 6. 129 ff (trans. Lattimore):

"I will not fight against any god of the heaven, since even the son of Dryas, Lykourgos the powerful, did not live long; he who tried to fight with the gods of the bright sky, who once drove the fosterers of Mainomenos (rapturous) Dionysos headlong down the sacred Nyseian hill, and all of them shed and scattered their wands on the ground, stricken with an ox-goad by murderous Lykourgos, while Dionysos in terror dived into the salt surf, and Thetis took him to her bosom, frightened, with the strong shivers upon him at the man's blustering. But the gods who live at their ease were angered with Lykourgos and the son of Cronus Zeus struck him to blindness, nor did he live long afterwards, since he was hated by all the immortals."

N.B. In an alternative version, sometimes depicted in art, Lycurgus tries to kill Ambrosia, a follower of Dionysus, who was transformed into a vine that twined around the enraged king and slowly strangled him.

Captivity and escape
The recounts how, while he sat on the seashore, some sailors spotted him, believing him a prince. They attempted to kidnap him and sail away to sell him for ransom or into slavery. No rope would bind him. The god turned into a fierce lion and unleashed a bear on board, killing all in his path. Those who jumped ship were mercifully turned into dolphins. The only survivor was the helmsman, Acoetes, who recognised the god and tried to stop his sailors from the start.

In a similar story, Dionysus hired a pirate ship to sail from to Naxos. When he was aboard, they sailed not to Naxos but to Asia, intending to sell him as a slave. This time the god 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. In 's , Bacchus begins this story as a young child found by the pirates but transforms to a divine adult when on board.

Many of the myths involve Dionysus defending his godhead against skeptics. Malcolm Bull notes that "It is a measure of Bacchus's ambiguous position in classical mythology that he, unlike the other Olympians, had to use a boat to travel to and from the islands with which he is associated".Bull, 245–247, 247 quoted Paola Corrente notes that in many sources, the incident with the pirates happens towards the end of Dionysus's time among mortals. In that sense, it serves as final proof of his divinity and is often followed by his descent into Hades to retrieve his mother, both of whom can then ascend into heaven to live alongside the other Olympian gods.

Descent to the underworld
Pausanias, in book II of his Description of Greece, describes two variant traditions regarding Dionysus's , or descent into the underworld. Both describe how Dionysus entered into the afterlife to rescue his mother Semele, and bring her to her rightful place on Olympus. To do so, he had to contend with the hell dog , which was restrained for him by . After retrieving Semele, Dionysus emerged with her from the unfathomable waters of a lagoon on the coast of the near the prehistoric site of , according to the local tradition.Pausanias, Description of Greece book 2 This mythic event was commemorated with a yearly nighttime festival, the details of which were held secret by the local religion. According to Paola Corrente, the emergence of Dionysus from the waters of the lagoon may signify a form of rebirth for both him and Semele as they reemerged from the underworld.Corrente, Paola and Sidney Castillo. 2019. "Philology and the Comparative Study of Myths" Https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/philology-and-the-comparative-study-of-myths/< /ref> A variant of this myth forms the basis of 's comedy The Frogs.

According to the Christian writer Clement of Alexandria, Dionysus was guided in his journey by or Polymnus, who requested, as his reward, to be Dionysus's lover. Prosymnus died before Dionysus could honor his pledge, so to satisfy Prosymnus's shade, Dionysus fashioned a from a fig branch and penetrated himself with it at Prosymnus's tomb.Clement of Alexandria, Protreptikos, II-30 3–5

(2012). 9781441153371, Bloombsbury Publishing. .
This story survives in full only in Christian sources, whose aim was to discredit pagan mythology, but it appears to have also served to explain the origin of secret objects used by the Dionysian Mysteries., Adversus Gentes 5.28 (pp. 252–253)

This same myth of Dionysus's descent to the underworld is related by both in his first century BC work Bibliotheca historica, and Pseudo-Apollodorus in the third book of his first century AD work Bibliotheca. In the latter, Apollodorus tells how after having been hidden away from Hera's wrath, Dionysus traveled the world opposing those who denied his godhood, finally proving it when he transformed his pirate captors into dolphins. After this, the culmination of his life on earth was his descent to retrieve his mother from the underworld. He renamed his mother , and ascended with her to heaven, where she became a goddess.Apollodorus, Bibliotheca book 3 In this variant of the myth, it is implied that Dionysus must prove his godhood to mortals and then also legitimised his place on Olympus by proving his lineage and elevating his mother to divine status, before taking his place among the Olympic gods.

Secondary myths
Midas's golden touch
of Salamis, 2nd century AD, , , |293x293px]]Dionysus discovered that his old school master and foster father, , had gone missing. The old man had wandered away drunk, and was found by some peasants who carried him to their king (alternatively, he passed out in Midas's rose garden). The king recognised him hospitably, feasting him for ten days and nights while Silenus entertained with stories and songs. On the eleventh day, Midas brought Silenus back to Dionysus. Dionysus offered the king his choice of reward.

Midas asked that whatever he might touch would turn to gold. Dionysus consented, though was sorry that he had not made a better choice. Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched and turned to gold an oak twig and a stone, but his joy vanished when he found that his bread, meat, and wine also turned to gold. Later, when his daughter embraced him, she too turned to gold.

The horrified king strove to divest the , and he prayed to Dionysus to save him from starvation. The god consented, telling Midas to wash in the river . As he did so, the power passed into them, and the river sands turned gold: this explained the gold sands of the Pactolus.

Love affairs
When abandoned sleeping on Naxos, Dionysus found and married her. They had a son named Oenopion, but she committed suicide or was killed by . In some variants, Dionysus had her crown put into the heavens as the constellation Corona; in others, he descended into to restore her to the gods on Olympus. Another account claims Athena appeared in a dream to Theseus and instructed him to abandon Ariadne on the island of Naxos or Hermes told him so, for Dionysus wanted to marry her. , a nymph, promised to help Dionysus court Ariadne in exchange for his sexual favours; but Dionysus refused, so Psalacantha advised Ariadne against going with him. For this Dionysus turned her into the plant with the same name.Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History 5, epitomised in Patriarch Photius's Myriobiblon 190.35

Dionysus fell in love with a nymph named Nicaea, in some versions by 's binding. Nicaea however was a sworn virgin and scorned his attempts to court her. So one day, while she was away, he replaced the water in the spring from which she used to drink with wine. Intoxicated, Nicaea passed out, and Dionysus raped her in her sleep. When she woke up and realised what had happened, she sought him out to harm him, but she never found him. She gave birth to his sons , , and others. Dionysus named the ancient city of after her., 16.244–280; Memnon of Heraclea, History of Heraclea book 15, as epitomised by Photius of Constantinople in his Myriobiblon 223.28

In 's , Eros made Dionysus fall in love with Aura, a virgin companion of , as part of a ploy to punish Aura for having insulted Artemis. Dionysus used the same trick as with Nicaea to get her fall asleep, tied her up, and then raped her. Aura tried to kill herself, with little success. When she gave birth to twin sons by Dionysus, and another boy, she ate one twin before drowning herself in the river., 48.470–634 (III pp. 458– 48.928–936 (III pp. 490, 491).

Also in the Dionysiaca, Nonnus relates how Dionysus fell in love with a handsome satyr named , who was killed by Selene due to him challenging her. On his death, Dionysus changed him into the first grapevine., 11. 185 ff (trans. Rouse) Elsewhere in the same epic, Dionysus arrives in Thrace to punish the impious king Sithon who slays all of his daughter Pallene's suitors; after a brief wrestling match with the princess herself, he defeats her, kills Sithon and beds the maiden.

(2019). 9780141990750, Penguin. .

Other myths
Another account about Dionysus's parentage indicates that he is the son of Zeus and Gê (Gaia), also named Themelê (foundation), corrupted into Semele.Humphreys, S. C. The Strangeness of Gods: Historical perspectives on the interpretation of Athenian religion. Oxford University Press. 2004. pp. 264–265. Beecroft, Alexander J. "Nine Fragments in Search of an Author: Poetic Lines Attributed to Terpander." The Classical Journal 103, no. 3 (2008): 225–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30037959.

When got tricked by —in order to avenge his mother's having ejected him from Olympos—to sit on a golden throne he gifted her, she got tied by invisible chords and none but Hephaestus could get her off from the throne, it became necessary to fetch Hephaestus back to Olympos, which he refused. However, Dionysus was able to get Hephaestus drunk, and once intoxicated hauled him back to Olympus (to release Hera).

During the , Dionysus killed the giant with his .

A third descent by Dionysus to Hades is invented by in his comedy . Dionysus, as patron of the Athenian dramatic festival, the Dionysia, wants to bring back to life one of the great tragedians. After a , is chosen in preference to .

Callirhoë was a lovely woman who scorned , a priest of Dionysus, so he begged the god to avenge him, and Dionysus sent a plague that drove people insane before killing them. The oracle of decreed that Dionysus would only be appeased if Callirhoë, or anyone willing to substitute her, was sacrificed to him. As Callirhoë could not persuade anyone to take her place, she was led to the altar like a victim. Coresus was the one with the duty to sacrifice Callirhoë, but he could not bring himself to do it and so he killed himself instead, becoming the substitute victim. In pity, Callirhoë killed herself by a spring which was later named after her.Pausanias 7.21.1–5

Dionysus also sent a fox that was fated never to be caught in Thebes. Creon, king of Thebes, sent to catch and kill the fox. obtained from the dog that his wife had received from , which was fated to catch whatever it pursued.

Hyginus relates that Dionysus once gave human speech to a donkey. The donkey then proceeded to challenge Priapus in a contest about which between them had the better penis; the donkey lost. Priapus killed the donkey, but Dionysus placed him among the stars, above the Crab.Hyginus, Astronomica 2.23.3

(1996). 9789004104181, Brill.

Children
The following is a list of Dionysus's offspring, by various mothers. Beside each offspring, the earliest source to record the parentage is given, along with the century to which the source (in some cases approximately) dates.

The Servius4th/5th cent. AD , s.v. Charites; Servius, Commentary on 's , 1.720.
Coronis5th cent. AD, 48.548 ff.
CeramusPaus.2nd cent. ADGrimal, s.v. Ceramus, p. 96; Pausanias, 1.3.1.
, s.v. Enyeus (1).
, Staphylus, ThoasApollod.1st/2nd cent. ADHard, p. 625 n. 188 to p. 179; Apollodorus, E.1.9; Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 3.997.
, Tauropolis, LatramysSchol. Ap. Rh. Hard, p. 625 n. 188 to p. 179; Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 3.997.
PeparethusApollod.1st/2nd cent. ADApollodorus, E.1.9.
Maron5th cent. BC, Cyclops 141–145 (pp. 76, 77).
Hyg. 1st cent. ADSmith, s.v. Phlias; Hyginus, 14.
Carmanor 2nd cent. AD, 7.
Aura5th cent. AD, 1.26–28 (I pp. 4, 5), 48.245–247 (III pp. 440–443), 48.848–968 (III pp. 484–493).
Unnamed twin brother5th cent. AD, 48.786–855 (III pp. 481–485).
Medus 2nd cent. AD, 24.
Paus.2nd cent. ADPausanias, 2.12.6.
Smith, s.v Phlias; , s.v. Chthonophyle.
Paus.2nd cent. ADPausanias, 9.31.2
ChioneSchol. , s.v. Chione (7); on ' Idylls 1.21.
Percote Hesychius of Alexandria s.v. Priēpidos.
Nicaea5th cent. AD Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Telete.
, Other unnamed sonsMemnon of Heraclea1st cent. ADMemnon of Heraclea, apud. , Bibliotheca 223.28 =.
NarcaeusPaus.2nd cent. ADPausanias, 5.16.7.
No mother mentioned6th cent. AD, fr. 38 Campbell, pp. 210, 211.
Smith, s.v. Sabazius.
Thysa1st cent. AD, 10.3.13, quotes the non-extant play Palamedes which seems to refer to Thysa, a daughter of Dionysus, and her (?) mother as participants of the Bacchic rites on Mount Ida, but the quoted passage is corrupt.
5th cent. AD, 15.86 ff.
PhanusApollod.1st/2nd cent. ADApollodorus, 1.9.16.

Iconography and depictions
Symbols
The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds a staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a . Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or "man-womanish".
(1995). 9780253208910, Indiana University Press.
In its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilised. His procession () is made up of wild female followers (, or ) in fox robes, and bearded with ; some are armed with the thyrsus, some dance or play music. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers, and is sometimes attended by a bearded, drunken . This procession is presumed to be the cult model for the followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. Dionysus is represented by city religions as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and he thus symbolises the chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.
(1992). 9780892813742, Inner Traditions. .

Dionysus was a god of resurrection and he was strongly linked to the bull. In a cult hymn from Olympia, at a festival for Hera, Dionysus is invited to come as a bull; "with bull-foot raging". relates, "Quite frequently Dionysus is portrayed with bull horns, and in he has a tauromorphic image", and refers also to an archaic myth in which Dionysus is slaughtered as a bull calf and impiously eaten by the Titans.Burkert, p. 64.

The snake and were symbols of Dionysus in ancient Greece, and of Bacchus in Greece and Rome.

(2026). 9780300142730, Yale University Press. .
(1965). 9780253208910, Indiana University Press. .
(2026). 9780226226316, University of Chicago Press. .
There is a procession called the phallophoria, in which villagers would parade through the streets carrying phallic images or pulling phallic representations on carts. He typically wears a panther or leopard skin and carries a thyrsus. His iconography sometimes includes , who wear wreaths of ivy and serpents around their hair or neck.
(2026). 9781782976356, Oxbow. .

The cult of Dionysus was closely associated with trees, specifically the , and some of his exhibit this, such as Endendros "he in the tree" or Dendritēs, "he of the tree". Peters suggests the original meaning as "he who runs among the trees", or that of a "runner in the woods". Janda (2010) accepts the etymology but proposes the more cosmological interpretation of "he who impels the (world-)tree". This interpretation explains how Nysa could have been re-interpreted from a meaning of "tree" to the name of a mountain: the of Indo-European mythology is represented both as a and as a .see Janda (2010), 16–44 for a detailed account.

Dionysus is also closely associated with the transition between summer and autumn. In the Mediterranean summer, marked by the rising of the dog star , the weather becomes extremely hot, but it is also a time when the promise of coming harvests grow. Late summer, when Orion is at the center of the sky, was the time of the grape harvest in ancient Greece. Plato describes the gifts of this season as the fruit that is harvested as well as Dionysian joy. Pindar describes the "pure light of high summer" as closely associated with Dionysus and possibly even an embodiment of the god himself. An image of Dionysus's birth from Zeus's thigh calls him "the light of Zeus" ( Dios phos) and associates him with the light of Sirius.

Classical art
The god, and still more often his followers, were commonly depicted in the painted pottery of Ancient Greece, much of which made to hold wine. But, apart from some of , Dionysian subjects rarely appeared in large sculpture before the Hellenistic period, when they became common.Smith 1991, 127–129 In these, the treatment of the god himself ranged from severe archaising or types such as the Dionysus Sardanapalus to types showing him as an indolent and androgynous young man, often .as in the , Naples Archeological Museum Hermes and the Infant Dionysus is probably a Greek original in marble, and the Ludovisi Dionysus group is probably a Roman original of the second century AD. Well-known Hellenistic sculptures of Dionysian subjects, surviving in Roman copies, include the , the , the . The Furietti Centaurs and Sleeping Hermaphroditus reflect related subjects, which had by this time become drawn into the Dionysian orbit.Smith 1991, 127–154 The marble Dancer of Pergamon is an original, as is the bronze Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, a recent recovery from the sea.

The Dionysian world by the Hellenistic period is a hedonistic but safe into which other semi-divine creatures of the countryside have been co-opted, such as , , and the gods Pan and .Smith 1991, 127, 131, 133 "Nymph" by this stage "means simply an ideal female of the Dionysian outdoors, a non-wild bacchant".Smith 1991, 130 Hellenistic sculpture also includes for the first time large genre subjects of children and peasants, many of whom carry Dionysian attributes such as ivy wreaths, and "most should be seen as part of his realm. They have in common with satyrs and nymphs that they are creatures of the outdoors and are without true personal identity."Smith 1991, 136 The fourth-century BC , the unique survival of a very large scale Classical or Hellenistic metal vessel of top quality, depicts Dionysus and his followers.

Dionysus appealed to the Hellenistic monarchies for a number of reasons, apart from merely being a god of pleasure: He was a human who became divine, he came from, and had conquered, the East, exemplified a lifestyle of display and magnificence with his mortal followers, and was often regarded as an ancestor.Smith 1991, 127 He continued to appeal to the rich of Imperial Rome, who populated their gardens with Dionysian sculpture, and by the second century AD were often buried in carved with crowded scenes of Bacchus and his entourage.Smith 1991, 128

The fourth-century AD in the is a spectacular which changes colour when light comes through the glass; it shows the bound King Lycurgus being taunted by the god and attacked by a satyr; this may have been used for celebration of Dionysian mysteries. Elizabeth Kessler has theorised that a mosaic appearing on the floor of the House of Aion in , Cyprus, details a monotheistic worship of Dionysus.Kessler, E., Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus, In the mosaic, other gods appear but may only be lesser representations of the centrally imposed Dionysus. The mid-Byzantine shows the tradition lingering in around 1000 AD, but probably not very well understood.

Early modern art
Bacchic subjects in art resumed in the Italian Renaissance, and soon became almost as popular as in antiquity, but his "strong association with feminine spirituality and power almost disappeared", as did "the idea that the destructive and creative powers of the god were indissolubly linked".Bull, 227–228, both quoted In Michelangelo's statue (1496–97) "madness has become merriment". The statue tries to suggest both drunken incapacity and an elevated consciousness, but this was perhaps lost on later viewers, and typically the two aspects were thereafter split, with a clearly drunk Silenus representing the former, and a youthful Bacchus often shown with wings, because he carries the mind to higher places.Bull, 228–232, 228 quoted

's Bacchus and Ariadne (1522–23) and The Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–26), both painted for the same room, offer an influential heroic pastoral,Bull, 235–238, 242, 247–250 while Diego Velázquez in The Triumph of Bacchus (or Los borrachos – "the drinkers", c. 1629) and Jusepe de Ribera in his Drunken Silenus choose a genre realism. Flemish Baroque painting frequently painted the Bacchic followers, as in Van Dyck's Drunken Silenus and many works by ; was another regular painter of Bacchic scenes.Bull, 233–235

A common theme in art beginning in the sixteenth century was the depiction of Bacchus and Ceres caring for a representation of love – often Venus, Cupid, or Amore. This tradition derived from a quotation by the Roman comedian (c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC) which became a popular proverb in the Early Modern period: Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus ("without Ceres and , Venus freezes"). Its simplest level of meaning is that love needs food and wine to thrive. Artwork based on this saying was popular during the period 1550–1630, especially in Northern Mannerism in and the , as well as by . Because of his association with the vine harvest, Bacchus became the god of autumn, and he and his followers were often shown in sets depicting the seasons.Bull (page needed)

Modern literature and philosophy
Dionysus has remained an inspiration to artists, philosophers and writers into the . In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proposed that a tension between Apollonian and Dionysian aesthetic principles underlay the development of ; Dionysus represented what was unrestrained chaotic and irrational, while Apollo represented the rational and ordered. This concept of a rivalry or opposition between Dionysus and Apollo has been characterised as a "modern myth", as it is the invention of modern thinkers like Nietzsche and Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and is not found in classical sources. However, the acceptance and popularity of this theme in Western culture has been so great, that its undercurrent has influenced the conclusions of classical scholarship.Isler-Kerényi, C., & Watson, W. (2007). "Modern Mythologies: 'Dionysos' Versus 'Apollo'". In Dionysos in Archaic Greece: An Understanding through Images (pp. 235–254). Leiden; Boston: Brill. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w76w9x.13

Nietzsche also claimed that the oldest forms of Greek Tragedy were entirely based upon the suffering Dionysus. In Nietzsche's 1886 work Beyond Good and Evil, and later The Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist and , Dionysus is conceived as the embodiment of the unrestrained will to power. Towards the end of his life, Nietzsche famously went mad. He was known to sign letters as both Dionysus and "The Crucified" in this period of his life. In The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God (1904), and Dionysus and Early Dionysianism (1921), the poet Vyacheslav Ivanov elaborates the theory of , tracing the origins of literature, and in particular, to ancient Dionysian mysteries. Ivanov said that Dionysus's suffering "was the distinctive feature of the cult" just as Christ's suffering is significant for Christianity.

(2026). 9780253218506, Indiana University Press.
Karl Kerényi characterises Dionysus as representative of the psychological life force (Greek Zoê).Kerenyi, K., Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life (Princeton/Bollingen, 1976). Other psychological interpretations place Dionysus's in the foreground, focusing on the , or associated with the god.Jeanmaire, H. Dionysus: histoire du culte de Bacchus, (pp. 106ff) Payot, (1951)Johnson, R. A. 'Ecstasy; Understanding the Psychology of Joy' HarperColling (1987)Hillman, J. 'Dionysus Reimagined' in The Myth of Analysis (pp. 271–281) HarperCollins (1972); Hillman, J. 'Dionysus in Jung's Writings' in Facing The Gods, Spring Publications (1980)Thompson, J. 'Emotional Intelligence/Imaginal Intelligence' in Mythopoetry Scholar Journal, Vol 1, 2010Lopez-Pedraza, R. 'Dionysus in Exile: On the Repression of the Body and Emotion', Chiron Publications (2000) specified that his ashes should be kept in an Ancient Greek vase painted with Dionysian scenes from his collection, which remains on display at Golders Green Crematorium in London.

Modern film and performance art
In 1969, an adaption of The Bacchae was performed, called Dionysus in '69. A film was made of the same performance. The production was notable for involving audience participation, nudity, and theatrical innovations.

In 1974, Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove adapted Aristophanes's comedy The Frogs into a modern musical, which hit broadway in 2004 and was revived in London in 2017. The musical keeps the descent of Dionysus into Hades to bring back a playwright; however, the playwrights are updated to modern times, and Dionysus is forced to choose between George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare.

In 2019, the South Korean boy band released a --hip hop track. named "Dionysus" as part of their album . The naming of this song comes from the association of the namesake with debauchery and excess, this is reflected in its lyrics talking about "getting drunk on art" – for "alcohol" (술 sul) and "art" (예술 yesul) as an example – alongside expressions about their stardom, legacy, and artistic integrity.

In 2024, French actor and singer Phillippe Katerine portrayed a blue and near naked Dionysus at the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in France.

Parallels with Christianity
Some scholars of comparative mythology identify both Dionysus and Jesus with the dying-and-rising god mythological . On the other hand, it has been noted that the details of Dionysus's death and rebirth are starkly different both in content and symbolism from Jesus. The two stories take place in very different historical and geographic contexts. Also, the manner of death is different; in the most common myth, Dionysus was torn to pieces and eaten by the Titans, but "eventually restored to a new life" from the heart that was left over.Detienne, Marcel. Dionysus Slain. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1979.Evans, Arthur. The God of Ecstasy. New York: St. Martins' Press, 1989

Another parallel can be seen in where Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity, which is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate.Powell, Barry B., Classical Myth. Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998. Studies in Early Christology, by , 2005, p. 331 (). However, a number of scholars dispute this parallel, since the confrontation between Dionysus and Pentheus ends with Pentheus dying, torn into pieces by the mad women, whereas the trial of Jesus ends with him being sentenced to death.Dalby, Andrew (2005). The Story of Bacchus. London: British Museum Press.

E. Kessler has argued that the Dionysian cult developed into strict by the fourth century AD; together with and other sects, the cult formed an instance of "pagan monotheism" in direct competition with Early Christianity during .E. Kessler, Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus. Symposium on Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire, Exeter, 17–20 July 2006 Abstract ) Scholars from the sixteenth century onwards, especially , also discussed the parallels between the biographies of Dionysus/Bacchus and .Bull, 240–241

has argued that the Dionysian cult influenced early Christianity, and especially how Christians understood themselves as a new religion centered around a savior deity.

Genealogy
See also

Notes
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  • Farnell, Lewis Richard, The Cults of the Greek States vol 5, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1909 Internet Archive; cf. Chapter IV, "Cults of Dionysos"; Chapter V, "Dionysiac Ritual"; Chapter VI, "Cult-Monuments of Dionysos"; Chapter VII, "Ideal Dionysiac Types".
  • Fowler, R. L. (2013), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. .
  • Lightfoot, J. L. Hellenistic Collection: Philitas. Alexander of Aetolia. Hermesianax. Euphorion. Parthenius. Edited and translated by J. L. Lightfoot. Loeb Classical Library No. 508. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
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