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Dionysus
Who is Dionysus?
In Greco-Roman religion, Dionysus is a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god of wine and ecstasy.
Who were the parents of Dionysus?
Why is Dionysus described as being born twice?
Dionysus is called twice-born because he was born from Semele and then, while she was dying, Zeus saved him by sewing him up in his thigh and keeping him there until he reached maturity. He then "gave birth" to Dionysus, thus making him twice-born.
What festivals were associated with Dionysus?
The ancientBacchanalia, also called the Dionysia, were any of the several festivals of Dionysus. The most famous of the Greek Dionysia were in Attica and included the Little, or Rustic, Dionysia; the Lenaea; the Anthesteria; the Oschophoria; and the most famous of all, the City, or Great, Dionysia, which was accompanied by dramatic performances in the theatre of Dionysus.
Dionysus, in Greco-Roman religion, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially known as a god ofwine and ecstasy. The occurrence of his name on aLinear B tablet (13th centurybce) shows that he was already worshipped in theMycenaean period, although it is not known where his cult originated. In all thelegends of his cult, he is depicted as having foreign origins.
Dionysus was the son ofZeus andSemele, a daughter ofCadmus (king ofThebes). Out of jealousy,Hera, the wife of Zeus, persuaded the pregnant Semele to prove her lover’s divinity by requesting that he appear in his real person. Zeus complied, but his power was too great for the mortal Semele, who was blasted with thunderbolts. However, Zeus saved his son by sewing him up in his thigh and keeping him there until he reached maturity, so that he was twice born. Dionysus was thenconveyed by the godHermes to be brought up by the bacchantes (maenads, orthyiads) of Nysa, a purely imaginary spot.
As Dionysus apparently represented the sap, juice, or lifeblood element in nature, lavish festalorgia (rites) in his honour were widely instituted. These Dionysia (Bacchanalia) quickly won converts amongwomen. Men, however, met them with hostility. InThrace Dionysus was opposed by Lycurgus, who ended up blind and mad.
In Thebes Dionysus was opposed byPentheus, his cousin, who was torn to pieces by the bacchantes when he attempted to spy on their activities. Athenians were punished withimpotence for dishonouring the god’s cult. Their husbands’ resistance notwithstanding, women took to the hills, wearing fawn skins and crowns of ivy and shouting the ritual cry, “Euoi!” Formingthyai (holy bands) and wavingthyrsoi (singular:thyrsus;fennel wands bound with grapevine and tipped with ivy), they danced by torchlight to the rhythm of theaulos (double pipe) and thetympanon (handheld drum). While they were under the god’s inspiration, the bacchantes were believed to possess occult powers and the ability to charmsnakes and suckle animals, as well aspreternatural strength that enabled them to tear living victims to pieces before indulging in a ritual feast (ōmophagia). The bacchantes hailed the god by his titles of Bromios (“Thunderer”), Taurokeros (“Bull-Horned”), or Tauroprosopos (“Bull-Faced”), in the belief that he incarnated the sacrificial beast.
In Orphiclegend (i.e., based on the stories ofOrpheus), Dionysus—under the nameZagreus—was the son of Zeus by his daughterPersephone. At the direction of Hera, the infant Zagreus/Dionysus was torn to pieces, cooked, and eaten by the evilTitans. But his heart was saved byAthena, and he (now Dionysus) was resurrected by Zeus through Semele. Zeus struck the Titans with lightning, and they were consumed by fire. From their ashes came the first humans, who thus possessed both the evil nature of the Titans and the divine nature of the gods.
Dionysus had the power to inspire and to create ecstasy, and his cult had special importance for art and literature. Performances oftragedy andcomedy inAthens were part of two festivals of Dionysus, the Lenaea and theGreat (or City) Dionysia. Dionysus was also honoured in lyric poems calleddithyrambs. In Roman literature his nature is often misunderstood, and he is simplistically portrayed as the jolly Bacchus who isinvoked at drinking parties. In 186bce the celebration of Bacchanalia was prohibited in Italy.
- Also spelled:
- Dionysos
- Also called:
- Bacchus or
- (in Rome):
- Liber Pater
The followers of Dionysus included spirits offertility, such as thesatyrs and sileni, and in his rituals the phallus was prominent. Dionysus often took on a bestial shape and was associated with various animals. His personal attributes were anivy wreath, thethyrsus, and thekantharos, a large two-handled goblet. In early Greek art he was represented as a bearded man, but later he was portrayed as youthful and effeminate. Bacchic revels were a favourite subject of vase painters.
