The Myth Of Dionysos, God Of Wine And Pleasure

The myth of Dionysos, also known as Bacchus in Roman mythology, tells of a vital, joyful demigod who was always up for a party. He was considered the god of wine, pleasure and fertility, as well as the inspirer of ritual ecstasy.

There are two basic versions of the origin of this myth. The first version of the origin of Dionysos is that he is the child of Zeus, the supreme god of Olympus, and of Persephone, queen of the underworld.

Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, wanted to kill the child. To achieve this she enlisted the help of the Titans, who lured the boy with toys. He followed and the Titans killed him, cut him to pieces, boiled him and ate him.

Zeus, loving his son with all his might, took revenge and struck the Titans with a thunderbolt. He saw that the heart of Dionysos had not been eaten and used it to bring him back to life.

Legend has it that from the ashes of the Titans humanity was born. Because the Titans ate him, all humans now carry within them both the hedonistic nature of Dionysos and the aggression of the Titans.

Other versions of the myth of Dionysos

The second version of the myth of Dionysos, and perhaps the most popular, begins with a beautiful princess named Semele.

Zeus immediately fell in love with her and assumed human form to visit her. He soon captured her heart and then seduced her. She became pregnant, whereupon Zeus decided to confess who he really was.

Hera’s jealousy also appears in this version. When she learned of her husband’s infidelity, she too decided to take on a human form and introduce herself to Semele as a midwife.

She seduced Semele to confess who the boy’s real father was. Hera then suggested that Zeus might not be who he claimed to be, leaving Semele with doubts and concerns.

To be sure, Semele asked Zeus to introduce herself to her as a god rather than a mortal. The god of Mount Olympus had promised her that he would always follow her orders, so he couldn’t refuse her.

So he turned himself into lightning and thunder. Unfortunately, the princess turned to ashes and died, because mortals cannot see the powers of a god. Dionysos, who was in her womb at the time, was saved when Zeus sewed him in the leg.

a lucky god

The myth of Dionysos tells us that Zeus entrusted his son to the care of Ino, who was the sister of the dead princess, and to her husband. However, Hera, still jealous, did everything he could to drive the adoptive parents crazy. Thereupon Zeus decided to turn Dionysos into a little goat and entrusted him to Hermes, who gave him to the nymphs to be reared.

So the nymphs and Silenus, a kind old man who was often drunk but possessed the gift of prophecy, raised Dionysos. At the side of Silenus, the nymphs, the satyrs, and the maenads, Dionysos became a man.

Dionysos was a beautiful, joyful and dynamic young man. He was the one who discovered the cultivation of vines and the fermentation of grapes to make wine. Later, he traveled far and wide to learn the secrets of the wine brewery.

During his travels, Dionysos had great adventures. The most famous adventure took place when he was on the coast. Pirates kidnapped him, assuming he was a prince. They wanted to demand a ransom. They could not imagine what would happen to them.

Dionysus and the cult of pleasure

When the pirates tried to tie up Dionysos, none of their ropes got tangled. The god then turned into a lion and imitated the sound of many flutes, which drove his captors insane. In a panic they threw themselves into the sea and Dionysos later turned them into dolphins. According to this legend, these animals are actually repentant pirates, and therefore help the survivors of shipwrecks.

Dionysus married Ariadne when he took pity on her after she was left on an island by a minotaur. Later, when he had finished his task of teaching the people how to make wine, he asked if he could go up Mount Olympus. Dionysos appears in an infinite number of stories and was a valued god among the Greeks.

He was allowed to visit Mount Olympus, but before reuniting with the other gods, Dionysos descended to the underworld to retrieve his mother, Semele, who went on to become a constellation. Dionysos is associated with feasting, ecstasy, theater and fun.