A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Dionysus(Bacchus) | |
|---|---|
God of wine, vegetation, fertility, festivity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre | |
| Member of the Twelve Olympians | |
 Second-century Roman statue of Dionysus, after a Hellenistic model (ex-coll. Cardinal Richelieu, Louvre).[1] | |
| Abode | Mount Olympus |
| Animals | Bull, panther, tiger or lion, goat, snake |
| Symbol | Thyrsus, grapevine, ivy, theatrical masks, phallus |
| Festivals | Bacchanalia (Roman), Dionysia |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Several paternal half-siblings |
| Consort | Ariadne |
| Children | Priapus, Hymen, Thoas, Staphylus, Oenopion, Comus, Phthonus, the Graces, Deianira |
| Equivalents | |
| Roman equivalent | Bacchus, Liber |
| Egyptian equivalent | Osiris |
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (/daɪ.əˈnaɪsəs/; Ancient Greek: Διόνυσος Dionysos) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre.[3][4] He was also known as Bacchus (/ˈbækəs/ or /ˈbɑːkəs/; Ancient Greek: Βάκχος Bacchos) by the Greeks (a name later adopted by the Romans) for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia.[5] As Dionysus Eleutherius ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful.[6] His thyrsus, a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents.[7] Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.[8]
His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek.[9][10][11] In Orphism, he was variously a son of Zeus and Persephone; a chthonic or underworld aspect of Zeus; or the twice-born son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. The Eleusinian Mysteries identify him with Iacchus, the son or husband of Demeter. Most accounts say he was born in Thrace, traveled abroad, and arrived in Greece as a foreigner. His attribute of "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults, as he is a god of epiphany, sometimes called "the god that comes".[12]
Wine was a religious focus in the cult of Dionysus and was his earthly incarnation.[13] Wine could ease suffering, bring joy, and inspire divine madness.[14] Festivals of Dionysus included the performance of sacred dramas enacting his myths, the initial driving force behind the development of theatre in Western culture.[15] The cult of Dionysus is also a "cult of the souls"; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.[16] He is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god.[17]
Romans identified Bacchus with their own Liber Pater, the "Free Father" of the Liberalia festival, patron of viniculture, wine and male fertility, and guardian of the traditions, rituals and freedoms attached to coming of age and citizenship, but the Roman state treated independent, popular festivals of Bacchus (Bacchanalia) as subversive, partly because their free mixing of classes and genders transgressed traditional social and moral constraints. Celebration of the Bacchanalia was made a capital offence, except in the toned-down forms and greatly diminished congregations approved and supervised by the State. Festivals of Bacchus were merged with those of Liber and Dionysus.
Name
Etymology
The dio- prefix in Ancient Greek Διόνυσος (Diónūsos; [di.ó.nyː.sos]) has been associated since antiquity with Zeus (genitive Dios), and the variants of the name seem to point to an original *Dios-nysos.[18] The earliest attestation is the Mycenaean Greek dative form 𐀇𐀺𐀝𐀰 (di-wo-nu-so),[19][18] featured on two tablets that had been found at Mycenaean Pylos and dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. At that time, there could be no certainty on whether this was indeed a theonym,[20][21] but the 1989–90 Greek-Swedish Excavations at Kastelli Hill, Chania, unearthed, inter alia, four artefacts bearing Linear B inscriptions; among them, the inscription on item KH Gq 5 is thought to confirm Dionysus's early worship.[22] In Mycenaean Greek the form of Zeus is di-wo.[23] The second element -nūsos is of unknown origin.[18] It is perhaps associated with Mount Nysa, the birthplace of the god in Greek mythology, where he was nursed by nymphs (the Nysiads),[24] although Pherecydes of Syros had postulated nũsa as an archaic word for "tree" by the sixth century BC.[25][26] On a vase of Sophilos the Nysiads are named νύσαι (nusae).[27] Kretschmer asserted that νύση (nusē) is a Thracian word that has the same meaning as νύμφη (nýmphē), a word similar with νυός (nuos) (daughter in law, or bride, I-E *snusós, Sanskr. snusā).[28] He suggested that the male form is νῦσος (nūsos) and this would make Dionysus the "son of Zeus".[27] Jane Ellen Harrison believed that the name Dionysus means "young Zeus".[29] Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the name, since all attempts to find an Indo-European etymology are doubtful.[19][18]
Meaning and variants
Later variants include Dionūsos and Diōnūsos in Boeotia; Dien(n)ūsos in Thessaly; Deonūsos and Deunūsos in Ionia; and Dinnūsos in Aeolia, besides other variants. A Dio- prefix is found in other names, such as that of the Dioscures, and may derive from Dios, the genitive of the name of Zeus.[30]
Nonnus, in his Dionysiaca, writes that the name Dionysus means "Zeus-limp" and that Hermes named the new born Dionysus this, "because Zeus while he carried his burden lifted one foot with a limp from the weight of his thigh, and nysos in Syracusan language means limping".[31] In his note to these lines, W. H. D. Rouse writes "It need hardly be said that these etymologies are wrong".[31] The Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedia based on classical sources, states that Dionysus was so named "from accomplishing for each of those who live the wild life. Or from providing everything for those who live the wild life."[32]
Origins
Academics in the nineteenth century, using study of philology and comparative mythology, often regarded Dionysus as a foreign deity who was only reluctantly accepted into the standard Greek pantheon at a relatively late date, based on his myths which often involve this theme – a god who spends much of his time on earth abroad, and struggles for acceptance when he returns to Greece. However, more recent evidence has shown that Dionysus was in fact one of the earliest gods attested in mainland Greek culture.[14] The earliest written records of Dionysus worship come from Mycenaean Greece, specifically in and around the Palace of Nestor in Pylos, dated to around 1300 BC.[33] The details of any religion surrounding Dionysus in this period are scant, and most evidence comes in the form only of his name, written as di-wo-nu-su-jo ("Dionysoio" = 'of Dionysus') in Linear B, preserved on fragments of clay tablets that indicate a connection to offerings or payments of wine, which was described as being "of Dionysus". References have also been uncovered to "women of Oinoa", the "place of wine", who may correspond to the Dionysian women of later periods.[33]
Other Mycenaean records from Pylos record the worship of a god named Eleuther, who was the son of Zeus, and to whom oxen were sacrificed. The link to both Zeus and oxen, as well as etymological links between the name Eleuther or Eleutheros with the Latin name Liber Pater, indicates that this may have been another name for Dionysus. According to Károly Kerényi, these clues suggest that even in the thirteenth century BC, the core religion of Dionysus was in place, as were his important myths. At Knossos in Minoan Crete, men were often given the name "Pentheus", who is a figure in later Dionysian myth and which also means "suffering". Kerényi argued that to give such a name to one's child implies a strong religious connection, potentially not the separate character of Pentheus who suffers at the hands of Dionysus' followers in later myths, but as an epithet of Dionysus himself, whose mythology describes a god who must endure suffering before triumphing over it. According to Kerényi, the title of "man who suffers" likely originally referred to the god himself, only being applied to distinct characters as the myth developed.[33]
The oldest known image of Dionysus, accompanied by his name, is found on a dinos by the Attic potter Sophilos around 570 BC and is located in the British Museum.[34] By the seventh century, iconography found on pottery shows that Dionysus was already worshiped as more than just a god associated with wine. He was associated with weddings, death, sacrifice, and sexuality, and his retinue of satyrs and dancers was already established. A common theme in these early depictions was the metamorphosis, at the hand of the god, of his followers into hybrid creatures, usually represented by both tame and wild satyrs, representing the transition from civilized life back to nature as a means of escape.[14]
While scholarly references are scarce, there exists a notable overlap between the Greco-Roman Dionysus and the Hindu god Shiva. Shared iconography and background include a crescent or horns on the head, panther or tiger skins, serpents, phallic symbolism (shiva lingham), association as a wanderer and outcaste and association with ritual ecstasy. Shiva is understood to be one of a triple godhead that includes Vishnu and Brahma. Dionysus is noted in several references with an association with the east and India.
A Mycenaean variant of Bacchus was thought to have been "a divine child" abandoned by his mother and eventually raised by "nymphs, goddesses, or even animals."[35]
Epithets
Dionysus was variably known with the following epithets:
Acratophorus, Ἀκρατοφόρος ("giver of unmixed wine"), at Phigaleia in Arcadia.[36]
Adoneus, a rare archaism in Roman literature, a Latinised form of Adonis, used as epithet for Bacchus.[38]
Aegobolus Αἰγοβόλος ("goat-shooter") at Potniae, in Boeotia.[39]
Aesymnetes Αἰσυμνήτης ("ruler" or "lord") at Aroë and Patrae in Achaea.
Agrios Ἄγριος ("wild"), in Macedonia.
Androgynos Ἀνδρόγυνος (androgynous, specifically in intercourse) referring to the god taking both an active male and a passive female role.[40][41]
Anthroporraistes, Ἀνθρωπορραίστης ("man-destroyer"), a title of Dionysus at Tenedos.[42]
Bassareus, Βασσαρεύς a Thracian name for Dionysus, which derives from bassaris or "fox-skin", which item was worn by his cultists in their mysteries.[43][44]
Bougenes, Βουγενής or Βοηγενής ("borne by a cow"), in the Mysteries of Lerna.[45][46]
Braetes, Βραίτης ("related to beer") at Thrace.[47]
Briseus Βρῑσεύς ("he who prevails") in Smyrna.[48][49]
Bromios Βρόμιος ("roaring", as of the wind, primarily relating to the central death/resurrection element of the myth,[50] but also the god's transformations into lion and bull,[51] and the boisterousness of those who drink alcohol. Also cognate with the "roar of thunder", which refers to Dionysus' father, Zeus "the thunderer".[52])
Choiropsalas χοιροψάλας ("pig-plucker": Greek χοῖρος = "pig", also used as a slang term for the female genitalia). A reference to Dionysus's role as a fertility deity.[53][54]
Chthonios Χθόνιος ("the subterranean")[55]
Cistophorus Κιστοφόρος ("basket-bearer, ivy-bearer"), Alludes To baskets being sacred to the god.[40][56]
Dimetor Διμήτωρ ("twice-born") Refers to Dionysus's two births.[40][57][58][59]
Dendrites Δενδρίτης ("of the trees"), as a fertility god.[60]
Dithyrambos, Διθύραμβος used at his festivals, referring to his premature birth.
Eleutherios Ἐλευθέριος ("the liberator"), an epithet shared with Eros.
Endendros ("he in the tree").[61]
Enorches ("with balls"),[62] with reference to his fertility, or "in the testicles" in reference to Zeus' sewing the baby Dionysus "into his thigh", understood to mean his testicles).[63] used in Samos and Lesbos.
Eridromos ("good-running"), in Nonnus' Dionysiaca.[64]
Erikryptos Ἐρίκρυπτος ("completely hidden"), in Macedonia.
Euaster (Εὐαστήρ), from the cry "euae".[65]
Euius (Euios), from the cry "euae" in lyric passages, and in Euripides' play, The Bacchae.[66]
Iacchus, Ἴακχος a possible epithet of Dionysus, associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. In Eleusis, he is known as a son of Zeus and Demeter. The name "Iacchus" may come from the Ιακχος (Iakchos), a hymn sung in honor of Dionysus.
Indoletes, Ἰνδολέτης, meaning slayer/killer of Indians. Due to his campaign against the Indians.[67]
Isodaetes, Ισοδαίτης, meaning "he who distributes equal portions", cult epithet also shared with Helios.[68]
Kemilius, Κεμήλιος (kemas: "young deer, pricket").[69][70]
Liknites ("he of the winnowing fan"), as a fertility god connected with mystery religions. A winnowing fan was used to separate the chaff from the grain.
Lenaius, Ληναῖος ("god of the wine-press") [71]
Lyaeus, or Lyaios (Λυαῖος, "deliverer", literally "loosener"), one who releases from care and anxiety.[72]
Lysius, Λύσιος ("delivering, releasing"). At Thebes there was a temple of Dionysus Lysius.[73][74][75]
Melanaigis Μελάναιγις ("of the black goatskin") at the Apaturia festival.
Morychus Μόρυχος ("smeared"); in Sicily, because his icon was smeared with wine lees at the vintage.[76][77]
Mystes Μύστης ("of the mysteries") at Korythio in Arcadia.[78][79]
Nysian Nύσιος, according to Philostratus, he was called like this by the ancient Indians.[80] Most probably, because according to legend he founded the city of Nysa.[81][82][83]
Oeneus, Οἰνεύς ("wine-dark") as god of the wine press.[84][85]
Omadios ("flesh-eater"), Eusebius writes in Preparation for the Gospel that, Euelpis of Carystus states that, in Chios and Tenedos they did human sacrifice to Dionysus Omadios.[86]
Phallen , (Φαλλήν) (probably "related to the phallus"), at Lesbos.[87][88]
Phleus ("related to the bloοm of a plant").[89][90][91]
Pseudanor Ψευδάνωρ (literally "false man", referring to his feminine qualities), in Macedonia.
Pericionius, Περικιόνιος ("climbing the column (ivy)", a name of Dionysus at Thebes.[92]
Semeleios[93] (Semeleius or Semeleus),[94] an obscure epithet meaning 'He of the Earth', 'son of Semele'.[95][96][97][98] Also appears in the expression Semeleios Iakchus plutodotas ("Son of Semele, Iakchus, wealth-giver").[99]
Skyllitas, Σκυλλίτας ("related to the vine-branch") at Kos.[100][101]
Sykites, Συκίτης ("related to figs"), at Laconia.[102]
Taurophagus, Ταυροφάγος ("bull eating").[103]
Tauros Ταῦρος ("a bull"), occurs as a surname of Dionysus.[104][105]
Theoinus, Θέοινος (wine-god of a festival in Attica).[106][107][108]
Τhyiοn, Θυίων ("from the festival of Dionysus 'Thyia' (Θυῐα) at Elis").[109][110]
Thyllophorus, Θυλλοφόρος ("bearing leaves"), at Kos.[111][112]
In the Greek pantheon, Dionysus (along with Zeus) absorbs the role of Sabazios, a Thracian/Phrygian deity. In the Roman pantheon, Sabazius became an alternative name for Bacchus.[113]
Worship and festivals in Greece
| Part of a series on |
| Ancient Greek religion |
|---|
 |