Dionysus or Dionysos (Ancient Greek: Διώνυσος or Διόνυσος; also known as Bacchus in both Greek and Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficent influences. He is viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and lover of peace — as well as the patron deity of both agriculture and the theater. Greeks borrowed Dionysus' figure and within the Olympian tradition he i ...

Including:

• Dionysus - Worship
• Dionysus - Bacchanalia
• Dionysus - Appellations
• Dionysus - Birth
• Dionysus - Childhood
• Dionysus - Midas
• Dionysus - Other stories
• Dionysus - Consorts/Children
• Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity
• Dionysus - Modern interpretations
• Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism
• Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus
• Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia - Dionysus

Dionysus is a god of mystery religious rites, such as those practiced in honor of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis near Athens. In the Thracian mysteries, he wears the "bassaris" or fox-skin, symbolizing new life. His own rites the Dionysian Mysteries were the most secretive of all (See also Maenads) Many scholars believe that Dionysus is a syncretism of a local Greek nature deity and a more powerful god from ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Worship

Modern Neopagans view Dionysus in different lights, depending largely on the individual sects and the other gods worshipped by a sect. Dionysus is often seen as the god of Earthly Delights and is thought to play a role in euphoria. In the United States, some Hellenistic Neopagan sects forbid the worship of Dionysus, because Dionysus worship is associated with hedonism. Sects which worship Hera and Themis in particular may forbid Dionysus worship. However, there are sects that make Dionysus a central figure of their faith ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism

Dionysus had an unusual birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his father Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus's wife, Hera, a jealous and vain goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone(in other stories a nurse), Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus th ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Birth

It is possible that Dionysian mythology would later find its way into Christianity. There are many parallels between Dionysus and Jesus; both were said to have been born from a mortal woman but fathered by a god, to have returned from the dead, and to have transformed water into wine. The modern scholar Barry Powell also argues that Christian notions of eating and drinking "the flesh" and "blood" of Jesus was influenced by the cult of Dionysus. Certainly the Dionysus myth contains a great deal of cannibalism, in its links to Ino (however, on ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity

In his book The Birth of Tragedy, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche contrasted Dionysus with the god Apollo as a symbol of the basic, unrestrained life force versus the world of reason, form and beauty represented by the latter. In contrast, the Russian poet and philosopher Vyacheslav Ivanov elaborated the theory of Dionysianism, which traces the roots of literary art in general and the art of tragedy in particular to ancient Dionysian mysteries. His views were expressed in the treatises The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God (1904), ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Modern interpretations

When Hephaestus bound Hera to a magical chair, Dionysus got him drunk and brought him back to Olympus after he had passed out. For this act, he was made one of the twelve Olympians. Acis, a Sicilian youth, was sometimes said to be Bacchus' son. A satyr named Ampelos was a good friend of Bacchus. Callirhoe was a Calydonian woman who scorned a priest of Dionysus who threatened to inflict all the women of Calydon with insanity (see Maenad). The priest was ordered to sacrifice Callirhoe but he killed himself instead. Callirhoe thre ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Other stories

Dionysus had an unusual birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his father Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus's wife, Hera, a jealous and vain goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in al ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Birth

The legend goes that Zeus took the infant Dionysus and gave him in charge to the rain-nymphs of Nysa, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care Zeus rewarded them by placing them as the Hyades among the stars (see Hyades star cluster). Alternatively, he was raised by Maro. When Dionysus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Hera struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the goddess Cybele, better kn ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Childhood

Once, Dionysus found his old school master and foster father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking, and had wandered away drunk, and was found by some peasants, who carried him to their king, Midas (alternatively, he passed out in Midas' rose garden). Midas recognized him, and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus entertained Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On the eleventh day he brought Silenus back to Dionysus. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever r ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Midas

It is possible that Dionysian mythology would later find its way into Christianity. There are many parallels between the legends of Dionysus and Jesus; both were said to have been born from a mortal woman but fathered by a god, to have returned from the dead, and to have transformed water into wine. The modern scholar Barry Powell also argues that Christian notions of eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Jesus in order for individual followers to feel Jesus within them was influenced by the cult of Dionysus. Certainly the Dionysus myth ...

See also:

Dionysus, Dionysus - Worship, Dionysus - Bacchanalia, Dionysus - Appellations, Dionysus - Birth, Dionysus - Childhood, Dionysus - Midas, Dionysus - Other stories, Dionysus - Consorts/Children, Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity, Dionysus - Modern interpretations, Dionysus - Dionysus in Neopaganism, Dionysus - names with the origin Dionysus, Dionysus - Bibliography

Read more here: » Dionysus: Encyclopedia II - Dionysus - Parallels with Christianity