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Greek mythology: Who is Dionysus?


Dionysus is the ancient god of wine. He gave inspiration to the madness of celebrations which also formed a kind of passion that made a person fall in love with the celebration of life. He was one of the twelve Olympians, and was often treated as a lesser deity because of his late entrance into the cult. He was always depicted as having foreign origins, and was always considered as 'the God that comes' rather then the 'God that is worshipped', or the 'God that is welcomed'.

He was also known as Bacchus this was a name that was adopted by the Romans. He was essentially the patron deity of agriculture and theatre. He was also known as a Liberator as he promoted the freeing of one's self in order to party with wine and the spirit of good, and sexuality.

In Roman myth his main reason for being alive was to mingle with the people, as he brought festivity and music. He gave the image of a free-spirit who had no care in the world. He also had some spiritual relationship with souls, and this made him able to communicate with the living and the dead.

In Greek mythology, Dionysus a son of Zeus who he had made with sexual liaisons with Semele.

He is often described as being womanly or man-woman. This means that he possibly had very feminine features, or was a person who could pass as a boy or a girl. Some might even go so far to suggest that he could allure like a woman. Either way, he obviously had appeal that was a great attractor. His beauty may have just been born, or it may have bloomed because he had been nursed by nymphs. Either way, his beauty was considered good quality.

Legend says that Zeus gave his infant form to Hermes in order to look after. His wife Hera was jealous and so he could not grow up in his care.

When Dionysus grew, he discovered the culture of the vine, and the mode of making wine. However Hera struck his mind with a spell, and madness made him grow wild.

He became a wanderer and travelled across various parts of the world. In Phrygia a goddess named Cybele cured him of his madness, and taught him her religious rites. From there Dionysus trekked out to Asia and taught the people the wealth of cultivating wine. He also went to India, and lived there for many years. After that period of time, he then went back to Greece. There he face retaliation, and his madness returned.

When he was a beautiful young man, he was sitting on the shore-side, when sailors tried to kidnap him. He was going to be tied with rope, but he turned into a lion and attacked the sailors. He also released a fierce bear, that killed all who it came into contact with. Those who jumped sip were turned into dolphins.

Dionysus turned into a pirate from then on. He then hired a ship whose crew sailed him to Asia in order to sell him as a slave. When Dionysus grew aware of this, he turned the mast and oars into snakes, and filled the ship with ivy, and played flutes until the whole ship of sailors turned mad, and leapt into the sea, and turned into dolphins.

So the God had the ability to perform supernatural feats that could scare off offenders. He could grow into a Hercules aggressive, and he could charm other's greed with his looks.

Learn more about this author, M Pereira.
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Greek mythology: Who is Dionysus?

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    Dionysus is the ancient god of wine. He gave inspiration to the madness of celebrations which also formed a kind of passion

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Greek mythology: Who is Dionysus?

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