Dionysus
Dionysus is the Roman name for Bacchus. Dionysus was the god of wine and vegetation. He showed mortals how to cultivate grapevines and how to make wine. Dionysus is the son of Zeus and the mortal heroine, Semele. He became popular as the Greek god of wine and cheer. It seems that wine miracles were performed at his festivals. He is also characterized as a god whose mysteries inspired delightful orgy type worship. A group of female devotees of Dionysus, left their homes and roamed the wilderness in ecstatic devotion to him. They wore fawn skins and were thought to have cult powers. Dionysus was good to those who worshiped him but not to those who spurned him and his rituals.
It is written that Dionysus dies every winter and is reborn each spring. To his followers, along with the renewal of spring each year, and the new fruits of the earth, incorporated the promise of resurrection of the dead. The yearly rites in honor of Dionysus eventually evolved into the form of Greek drama and festivals were held in his honor. It was from these celebrations that great competitions were held. The most important festival of them all was the Greater Dionysia. It was held in Athens for five days every spring. Greek dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, wrote their famous tragic dramas from this festival.
Dionysus was said to have rescued Ariadne after she was abandoned by Theseus. He also saved his mother from the underworld, after Zeus showed her his true nature as the storm god and consumed her in lightening. Dionysus granted Midas the power to whatever he wanted, into gold. He then took the power away from him when it proved to be inconvenient.
Dionysus also became known by the Greeks as Bacchus, in the 5th century BC. The name referred to the loud cries that Dionysus made at his orgies, or Dionysiac celebrations, which were called, Bacchnalia. These were celebrations which were intoxicated orgy celebrations. These celebrations became popular in the 2nd century BC. When the Bacchnalia became extreme, the Roman Senate prohibited them in 186 BC. In the 1st century AD, the celebrations were still popular in some areas. There are still orgies and wild parties today that are not so unlike those of the era of Dionysus. Whether this is because of the past or not can only be imagined. There is enough history to prove that there have been parties and festivals for centuries in which the participants became intoxicated (whether it be wine, whiskey, or beer), and participated in the orgies which took place.
Dionysus was the son of Zeus and the brother of many famous siblings. Some of them were Perseus, Hercales, Helen, Minos, Muses, Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Aphorodite.
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