DIONYSUS(Roman name Bacchus), god of wine and vegetation, who showed mortals how to cultivate grapevines and make wine. He was good and gentle to those who honored him, but he brought madness and destruction upon those who spurned him or the orgiastic rituals of his cult. According to tradition, Dionysus died each winter and was reborn in the spring. To his followers, this cyclical revival, accompanied by the seasonal renewal of the fruits of the earth, embodied the promise of the resurrection of the dead.
Dionysus was the son of Zeus and the mortal heroine Semele. Dionysus rescued Ariadne after she had been abandoned by Theseus. Dionysus also saved his mother from the Underworld, after Zeus showed her his true nature as storm god and consumed her in lightning. It was Dionysus who granted Midas the power to turn whatever he touched into gold, then was kind enough to take the power back when it proved inconvenient.
The yearly rites in honor of the resurrection of Dionysus gradually evolved into the structured form of the Greek drama, and important festivals were held in honor of the god, during which great dramatic competitions were conducted. The most important festival, the Greater Dionysia, was held in Athens for five days each spring. It was for this celebration that the Greek dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides wrote their great tragedies. After the 5th century BC, Dionysus was known to the Greeks as Bacchus.
"Hymn of Dionysus" by Santiago Vallejo
I am Dionysus or Bacchus as the roams call me.
I am the god of wine.
Son of the mighty Zeus and Semele, princes of Thebes.
I am known for the intoxication power of my wine, and the nature.
I can control nature and I am recognized and wanted among mortals.
I can be killed as a mortal, but each time I die,
winter comes with me killing nature and humans crops.
But I have the power to reborn again,
and that is when spring comes.
One day my father Zeus was mad at Semele,
and he killed her with a light storm.
After my mother was sent to the underworld,
I went after her and brought her back to life
and I’m also known as a god who brought someone back to life.
The king of Crete,
Midas founded one day one of my son Silenus
wondering in his land,
and after he recognized him,
he gave him great hospitality and then gave him back to me.
To show him my appreciation
I gave him the power of "the golden touch".
Anything he touched will become gold.
Due to he’s greed, I indirectly punished him
by making him kill her daughter when he touched her.
I’m also known for punishing mortals
when they act foolish or with dishonor.
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