Dionysus is often described as the god of wine making and revelry in Greek mythology, but he was a much more complex and mysterious deity. With a bloody origin story, he is the patron and savior of mankind, bringing joy to their dark existence and sharing in their suffering, and was also the god of immortality and reincarnation.
An Ancient God
Dionysus appears in Mycenaean texts as early as the 13th century BCE, and artifacts confirm his worship from this early date. His name suggests that he may have been considered a son of Zeus at the time, or even a “young Zeus.”
Despite the ancient Greek roots, scholars have proposed that Dionysus was a foreign god adopted into the Greek pantheon relatively late in the development of Greek mythology, and only reluctantly. But this seems to be more of a reference to his mythology than his history.
Dionysus is described as being sent mad by Hera and forced to wander the world for many years before eventually returning to Greece, where his worship has not been forgotten, but has become feared. As a result, he must work to reinstate his religion and cult, often using torturous methods to remove those who oppose his cult.
The oldest known image of Dionysus accompanied by his name is an Attic pot from 570 BCE, now held in the British Museum. This aligns with iconography already seen on pots in the 7th century BCE, again suggesting earlier recognition. He was associated with weddings, death, sacrifice, sexuality, and his retinue of satyrs.
Symbols of Dionysus
The earliest cult images of Dionysus show him as a mature man with beard and robe, often holding a fennel staff tipped with a pine-cone known as a thyrsus. He later becomes a beardless youth, sometimes described as womanly or androgynous.
He is often shown arriving in a procession of his wild female followers, called maenads, and bearded satyrs with erect penises dancing and playing music. He himself rides in a chariot, drawn by exotic animals, representing his travels, and sometimes attended by his drunken satyr companion Silenus, who was one of his teachers.
Dionysus was also strongly connected to the bull, and is sometimes represented as a bull, just like the Egyptian god Osiris was sometimes envisioned as the Apis Bull.
The Births of Dionysus
Dionysus has a complex role in Classical Greek mythology, mainly because of his various birth and rebirth stories, which have resulted in several manifestations of the god. Below is a streamlined version of his birth that draws on common themes in several surviving myths.
One myth suggests that Dionysus was the son of Zeus with his own daughter Persephone, or possibly her mother Demeter, and the child was also known as Zagreus. Despite his infancy, he was able to crawl onto Zeus’ throne and brandish his lightning bolts, marking him out as Zeus’ rightful heir. This angered Zeus’ wife, Hera, who alerted the Titans to this threat, and they attacked him, tearing him limb from limb.
The dismembered part of Dionysus transformed to attack the Titans. He transformed into Zeus, Cronus, a baby, and a mad youth, and then into animals, including a lion, a wild horse, a horned serpent, a tiger, and finally a bull. Hera then killed the bull with a shout, and the Titans continued their slaughter. This is when Zeus attacked the Titans and had them imprisoned in Tartarus. This so upset Gaia, the mother of the Titans, that she caused fires and burning seas around the world. Zeus flooded the world to cool it down.
Zeus then took the fragments of Dionysus and put them in a drink, which he gave to Semele, the daughter of Harmonia and Cadmus, the king of Thebes. This resulted in Semele falling pregnant. When Hera learned this, she convinced Semele to invite Zeus into her bed, which resulted in her being killed by a thunderbolt. This or Hera convinced Semele to make Zeus promise to show himself in his full godhead, a vision that killed the mortal woman. Despite Semele’s death, Zeus took the baby from her womb and sewed it into his thigh until it was ready to be born. He then gave the infant into the care of the nymphs of Mount Nysa or Hermes. Hermes had to save Dionysus several times from the wrath of Hera.
While the world was no longer afire, it was lacking revelry and joy. Therefore, Zeus sent Dionysus to the world to teach men the art of winemaking and joy. This made Dionysus a protector of humanity, with whom he suffered together on the earth until he would one day be received again alongside Zeus among the stars.
Another important myth about Dionysus involves his descent into the underworld to retrieve his mother Semele. To reach the underworld, he must contend with the hell dog Cerberus, who was restrained for him by Hercules. He emerged into the world of the living with his mother at a lagoon on the coast of the Argolid, and Zeus placed Semele among the stars.
Traveling God of Wine
As Dionysus grew up, he discovered how to cultivate and make wine. But Hera struck him mad and drove him to wander the earth. He was cured by Rhea when he arrived in Phrygia, and she taught him her religious rites. He then progressed through Asia, teaching people how to cultivate the vine and make wine. This included an expedition to India, where Alexander the Great found cities dedicated to the god.
Another myth says that Dionysus fell madly in love with the satyr Ampelus, and when he died riding a bull, he was transformed into a grape vine, from which Dionysus made the first wine.
He eventually returned to Greece from India in a triumphal procession and tried to reintroduce his cult there. However, there was much opposition from local rulers who thought that his cult would promote disorder and madness.
In Euripides’ play The Bacchae, Dionysus returns to his home of Thebes, which is now ruled by his cousin Pentheus, and his worship is denied. Dionysus sends Pentheus insane. This ends with him being ripped limb from limb in a lion’s cave.
In the Iliad, King Lycurgus of Thrace hears that Dionysus is in his kingdom and so imprisons all of his followers. Dionysus took refuge and sent a drought to turn the people to revolt. Dionysus then drove Lycurgus insane and had him slice his own son into pieces with an axe, believing he was a patch of ivy, a holy plant of Dionysus. An oracle then claimed that the land would stay barren as long as Lycurgus lived, and the people had him drowned and quartered, leading Dionysus to lift the curse. In another version of the myth, Lycurgus tried to kill Ambrosia, a follower of Dionysus, and she was turned into a grape vine and slowly strangled him.
Dionysus in Orphism
Dionysus is the patron god of the Orphic tradition, where he is associated with death and immortality, and considered the guide through reincarnation. While he is often described as the son of Zeus and Persephone in Orphic tradition, he is also sometimes characterized as the partner of Gaia, the earth mother, making him the highest god. He is also sometimes conflated with the underworld god Hades.
Within Orphism, Dionysus was the central figure of the Dionysian Mysteries. Focused on Athens, these mysteries served an important role in marking transitions in people’s lives. It embodied the act of meeting the gods who rule over death and change, including Dionysus. Limited descriptions suggest that goats and bulls were sacrificed to the god, and participants danced wearing wooden masks associated with him. He may also have been represented by a masked or clothed pillar.
Bacchus
In Rome, Dionysus was known as Bacchus, a name that seems to come from an old Greek name for the god. He seems to have been imported into Rome via the Etruscans, and his cult was established in the city by 200 BCE. There he was associated with Liber Pater, the “free father,” a native Roman god of wine, fertility, prophecy, and the patron of the Roman plebian class. From at least 493 BCE, Liber Pater was worshipped in a triad with his mother Ceres and sister-consort Libera.
In Rome, Bacchus was closely associated with both fertility and wine production, and with male fertility and virility. He is also credited with inventing the diadem and the emblems of royalty and the triumphal procession, and mosaics often show Bacchus in this context.
The Bacchanalia in Rome was said to involve pulling live animals apart and eating their raw flesh, presumably reenacting the death of Bacchus at the hands of the Titans. The act was also believed to allow Bacchus to enter the body of the devotee so that they could become one. While these were originally private cults, the Bacchanalia reportedly grew into regular sexual revelries, leading to a Senatorial ban on the festival in 186 BCE.
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