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In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (/ d aɪ. ə ˈ n aɪ s ə s /; Ancient Greek: Διόνυσος Diónysos) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre.
Dionysus pursues her through the forests in love, meeting with Pan, and wooing the nymph with demonstrations of his abilities. Dionysus and Poseidon decide to fight over the girl. Book 43 – The army of Poseidon's sea gods and the army of Dionysus battle each other. Zeus gives Beroe's hand to Poseidon who consoles Dionysus.
Dionysus was once a demigod who, like Hercules, was made into a god. His seat on the Olympian Council originally belonged to Hestia who decided to abdicate it after Dionysus was first made into a god to avoid conflict. Dionysus hates his job and has a low opinion of demigods, likening them to Theseus and his abandonment of Ariadne.
This association was most notable during a deification ceremony where Mark Antony became Dionysus-Osiris, alongside Cleopatra as Isis-Aphrodite. [3] In the controversial book The Jesus Mysteries, Osiris-Dionysus is claimed to be the basis of Jesus as a syncretic dying-and-rising god, with early Christianity beginning as a Greco-Roman mystery. [4]
Dionysus has been coined the "masked god," "wine god," and "god of theater" due to his androgynous appearance [5] and ability to hide his true self under facades and enthusiasm. Many Greek stories believe Dionysus to be the son of Zeus, [1] separated and placed in the care of Nysa nymphs in an attempt to protect him from Hera's anger towards ...
The second-youngest Olympian, just older than Dionysus. His symbols include the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes), winged sandals and cap, stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre). Most lists of the "twelve Olympians" consist of the above eleven plus either Hestia or Dionysus: Hestia: Vesta
The cult of Dionysus was strongly associated with satyrs, centaurs, and sileni, and its characteristic symbols were the bull, the serpent, tigers/leopards, ivy, and wine. The Dionysia and Lenaia festivals in Athens were dedicated to Dionysus , as well as the phallic processions .
The Derveni krater, height: 90.5 cm (35 ½ in.), 4th century BC. The Dionysian Mysteries of mainland Greece and the Roman Empire are thought to have evolved from a more primitive initiatory cult of unknown origin (perhaps Thracian or Phrygian) which had spread throughout the Mediterranean region by the start of the Classical Greek period.