Lord of the Vine

Dionysus is the Greek God of Wine-Making, Vegetation and Fertility.  The origins of this god are many and varied.  His name means “twice born”, and one traditional account of his birth is as follows:

Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, was the lover of Zeus, and pregnant with His child.  Hera, Queen of the Gods and Zeus’ wife was jealous of the affair, and went down to visit this mortal woman.  In the guise of an old woman, Hera sat down with Semele and pretended to be very friendly to her.

When asked why her husband was not around, Semele told the woman that her husband was none other than Zeus himself.

“But are you sure of this?” Hera asked Semele, “There are many husbands who claim to be Zeus.  Do you have proof?  Ask him to show himself in all his glory to you.”  And then she left Semele alone, the seeds of doubt planted in her mind.

When Zeus returned to Semele, she begged him to grant her a wish, and he rashly swore by the river Styx to give her anything she desired.  This was his folly, for when he heard her wish, he knew that he could not back out.  He had sworn the most solemn oath of the gods.

Though unwilling, Zeus complied and poor Semele was burned to ashes.  Zeus then swiftly caught her unborn child and sewed him to the inside of his thigh, and when the proper time came, Dionysus was born again.

Another account is much the same, except for a few things. 

Zeus slept with Persephone and got her pregnant, and she delivered him a son, named Zagreus.  Hera, in a jealous rage freed the Titans and set them upon the child, and after destroying him, devoured his corpse.  All except for the heart, which was saved by Athena and brought to her father, Zeus.  Zeus swallowed the heart, and subsequently mated with Semele, thus impregnating her with the spirit of the devoured child, who was reborn the god, Dionysus.

The myths of Dionysus are few and far between.  He has many festivals throughout the year, though the most popular seems to be called the “Bacchanalia” which was usually celebrated in September, around the Autumnal equinox.

His followers were generally women, called “Maenads” or “Bacchae”.  Their worship involved drinking wine and frenzied dancing.  The followers would dance around wildly in ecstatic worship often with tambourines in hand.

It is said that Dionysus was a kind god to his followers, but could be ruthless when his Godhood was questioned.  He would bring madness and destruction on those who would refuse his worship, and one famous account of such a thing involved Pentheus, son of Agave who was the sister of Semele.

Pentheus refused to let the city of Thebes worship Dionysus, and as punishment, the god drove Agave and her sisters mad, and set them upon Pentheus, who was killed for his ignorance.

Some symbols of Dionysus are:

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