A Who's Who of World Mythology : Bacchus


Bacchus (Bakchos, Bakkhos) is the son of Semele and Jupiter and was worshipped in Greece, Rome, Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Phoenicia. He is equated with Iacchus, Lakchos, Orontal, and Salmoxis (or Zalmoxis). Originally a nature god, he became a god of wine and revelry. Though in some aspects he is considered the same entity with Dionysus and with Liber, he is also seen as a distinct being by the Greeks and Romans. During times of peace, he is seen dressed in robes of purple like his grapes, while in wartime he is depicted wearing panther skins. He is also shown seated in a chariot drawn by panthers, leopards, and tigers. A crown of grape leaves grace his head, and he is surrounded by a group of satyrs and nymphs. In the earliest representations, he might be shown simply as a pillar of stone or substituted with a goat (a symbol of fertility as well as agility and sociability).

Semele encouraged Jupiter to appear to her in his divine splendor, but when he appeared to her as thunder, she was killed by lightning. Luckily he was able to save their unborn child, fostering the child with the Nysaean nymphs. Juno, ever the enemy of her husband’s lovers and children, struck Bacchus with madness. He found no relief until he met and was cured by the goddess Rhea in Phrygia. Still, he continued his travels, teaching all he encountered the cultivation of the grape. When he was taken by pirates who wished to sell him into slavery, he became a lion and filled the ship with snakes and jungle foliage. As the pirates leapt overboard, he transformed them into dolphins.

The youthful aspect of Bacchus is not only interpreted as representative of the intoxicating influence of wine, but also the social and beneficial aspects. Red wine is a symbol of blood and sacrifice as well as life and youth. Though he was cured of madness by Rhea, the wine he produced was still capable of causing temporary insanity. In Greece, when the ruler Pentheus refused Bacchus, his mother Agave tore him apart while inebriated during Bacchanalia rites.