#bakkhos

[apollophanes]

O Dionysos, O Bacchus!

My Lord, may I be free from all stress and worry

O Eleutheros, O Liber!

May I rise up like the mighty grapevine

And may I create a path for myself wherever I see a dead end

Hail, O Bull-Horned God!

Hail, O Thrice-Born Lord!

[ponzonyera]

"Triumph of Bacchus"

A roman mosaic found in the ancient city of Caesaraugusta, the actual Zaragoza (my hometown). It dates to the second or the third century CE. Another mosaic of Bacchus (or Dionysos Bibens) was found in Octavus (actual Utebo, a tiny city very near to Zaragoza) during 70s.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Prayer to the Faceless God

You first came to me, o Dionysos, just out of view of the flowers, Where green lit the inner rooms, while outside the world was bleak and gray. You knew the time was right and drew me in, I looked where there should be kindly eyes and saw none, And I fell in love with a headless God, Knowing You for the first time, Knowing peace for the first time. Gentle Dionysos carved of stone, I pray that I am always able to see You and know You. If ever I did feast my eyes on sweetly carved grapes adorning Your shoulders, And feed my body with the sweet wines and ciders of the late fall, I pray that You remember this, And sit with me once again, As You did the first time we met, Perfectly faceless, yet perfectly known to me.

[thegoodfellowpuck]

If you are LGBTQ+, Dionysos is your God!

If you are a POC, Dionysos is your God!

If you are an immigrant or foreigner, Dionysos is your God!

If you are a woman, Dionysos is your God!

If you are oppressed or downtrodden, Dionysos is your God!

With a touch of His finger, chains fall away!

With the tremor of His cry, the houses of the tyrants crumble!

We have no king but Bakkhos!

[dovetheater]

Dionysus 🐆

"Come, blessed Dionysos, various-named, bull-faced, begot from thunder, Bakkhos (Bacchus) famed. Bassaros God, of universal might, whom swords and blood and sacred rage delight: in heaven rejoicing, mad, loud-sounding God, furious inspirer, bearer of the rod: by Gods revered, who dwellest with humankind, propitious come, with much rejoicing mind."

[differentsoulsweets]

Dionysus: Introductory Post

Διονυσος [Liber, Bacchus] Greek god of wine and insanity

Epithets: ✧ bakkhos [Of bacchic frenzy] ✧ Bromios [boisterous] ✧ Staphylites [of the grape] ✧ Oinops [wine-dark] ✧ Eleuthereus [of liberation] ✧ Androgynos [androgynous] ✧ Kistophoros [ivy bearer] ✧ Taurophagon [bull eating] ✧ Euaster [He who cries Euoi]

Domains: ✧ Wine making ✧ Orchards ✧ Fruit ✧ Vegetation ✧ Festivity ✧ Insanity / Ritual Madness ✧ Theatre Devotional acts: ✧ Host/attend parties (be responsible!) ✧ grow a plant ✧ make or drink fruity drinks ✧ Taking care of yourself mentally and physically

Associations

Symbol: ✧ Thyrsos ; Ivy Crown ; Grape-vine

Element: ✧ Earth (upg)

Color: ✧ purple ✧ green ✧ gold ✧ red ✧ black ✧ white ✧ burgundy

Metal: ✧ None known

Crystals and stones: ✧ Garnet ✧ Ruby ✧ Amethyst ✧ Grape agate

Animal: ✧ Leopard ✧ Goat ✧ Donkey ✧ Lion ✧ Serpent ✧ Wild bull ✧ Panther Plants: ✧ Grape-vine ✧ Ivy ✧ Cinnamon ✧ Silver fir ✧ Bindweed ✧ Figs

Food & Drinks: ✧ Red Wine ✧ Olive oil ✧ Water ✧ Fruit ✧ Honey ✧ Honeyed milk ✧ Meats ✧ Wheat ✧ Barley

Day, Season, Time of Day: ✧ None known

Tarot: ✧ Hanged Man ✧ The Hierophant ✧ The Devil

[echoesofolympus]

DIONYSUS; A GUIDE TO WORSHIP

TEXT BELOW;

Dionysus;

Greek Name: Διονυσος

Transliteration: Dionysos

Latin Spelling: Dionysus

Translation: Liber, Bacchus

Parents: Zeus and Semele

Consort: Ariadne (Cretan princess and goddess)

God Of: Wine, festivity, madness, vegetation, fertility

Symbol: Thyrsus (pine-cone staff)

Sacred Animal: Bull, Panther, Serpent

Sacred Plants: Grapevine, ivy, bindweed

Also called: Bacchus, Lyaeus

Epithets and titles;

Βάκχος (Bakkhos) - Of Bacchic Frenzy

Βρόμιος (Bromios) - Noisy, Boisterous

Νυκτέλιος (Nyktelios) - Of the Night

Λαμπτήρος (Lamptêros) - Of the Torches

Αὐξίτης (Auxitês) - Giver of Increase

Ληναῖος (Lênaios) - Of the Wine-Press

Θεοῖνος (Theoinos) - God of Wine

Διμήτωρ (Dimêtôr) - Twice-Born

Λύσιος (Lysios) - Of Release, Releasing

Ἐλευθερεύς (Eleuthereus) - Of Liberation, Freedom

Μύστης (Mystês) - Of the Mysteries

Χθόνιος (Khthonios) - Of the Earth

Κίσσιος (Kissios) - Of the Ivy, Ivy-Bearer

Σταφυλίτης (Staphylitês) - Of the Grape

Προτρύγαιος (Protrygaios) - First of the Vintage

Offerings and associations;

Stones & gems: garnet, ruby, amethyst, grape agate

Incense: Frankincense, Grape, Ivy, Fig, Fennel, Cinnamon, Musk

Colours: red, purple, green, burgundy, gold

Food & drinks: red wine, olive oil, water, fruit, honey, honeyed milk, meats, wheat, barley

Tarot: Hanged Man, The Hierophant

Other: images of the things he's associated with, leaves or curls from grapevines, ivy leaves, pinecones, wildflowers, apple seeds, goblets, leopard or tiger print objects, theatre masks, phalluses/phallic statues

Historical worship;

Patron of regions;

Boeotia; Naxos;

Edonia in Western Thrace

Holiest shrine;

Mt Kithairon (Nysa) in Boeotia, Greece (site of Bacchic orgies)

Other shrines;

Temples throughout Greece

& Asia Minor

Honoured in fertility & harvest rituals

Known festivals:

Great Dionysia - a large festival celebrated in Athens

Anthesteria - festival celebrated in Attica and lonia around the time of the January or February full moon.

Lenaia - a dramatic
competition held in Athens and in some places in lonia

Colour associations;

Red — Represents wine and the blood of life. Also linked to the wild, passionate, and frenzied nature of Dionysian rituals.

Purple — Represents royalty and divinity. Also may represent the dye made from Tyrian murex shells, used in clothing for rituals and celebrations honouring Dionysus.

Green — Represents fertility and lushness of the natural world. Also linked to Ivy and grapevine.

Burgundy — Represents wine in its fermented, mature form.

Gold — Represents luxury, abundance, and divine light. Also linked to the suns role in ripening grapes for wine.

[undeadwhilealive]

Dionysus Epithets

Bakkhos(Βακχος) - Of Bacchic Frenzy

Iobakkhos(Ιοβακχος) - Of Ritual Bacchic-Cry

Euastêr(Ευαστηρ) - Of Ritual Euoi-Cry

Bromios(Βρομιος) - Noisy, Boisterous

Mainolês(Μαινολης) - Mad, Raging

Nyktelios(Νυκτελιος) - Of The Night

Lamptêros(Λαμπτηρος) - Of The Torches

Hestiôs(Ἑστιως) - Of The Feast

Kôlôtês(Κωλωτης) - Spotted Gecko

Auxitês(Αυξιτης) - Giver of Increase

Phallên(Φαλλην) - Phallic, Of the Phallus

Androgynos(Ανδρογυνος) - Androgynous (Sexually)

Phleôn(Φλεων) - Luxuriant (Foliage)

Staphylitês(Σταφυλιτης) - Of The Grape

Omphakitês(Ομφακιτης) - Of The Unripe Grape

Lênaios(Ληναιος) - Of The Wine-Press

Theoinos(Θεοινος) - God of Wine

Agathos Daimon(Αγαθοσ Δαιμον) - The Good Spirit

Protrygaios(Προτρυγαιος) - First of the Vintage

Oinops(Οινοψ) - Wine-Dark

Akratophoros(Ακρατοφορος) - Bringer of Mixed Wine

Kissios(Κισσιος) - Of The Ivy

Anthion(Ανθιον) - Of The Flowers

Kistophoros(Κιστοφορος) - Basket-Bearer

Erebinthinos(Ερεβινθινος) - Of The Chickpea

Dimêtôr(Διμητωρ) - Twice-Born

Eiraphiôtês(Ειραφιωτης) - Goat-Kid, Insewn

Aigobolos(Αιγοβολος) - Goat-Slayer

Melanaigis(Μελαναιγις) - Of the Black Goat-Skin, Dark Aegis

Lysios(Λυσιος) - Of Release, Releasing

Eleuthereus(Ελευθερευς) - Of Liberation, Freedom

Psilax(Ψιλαξ) - (Uplifted on) Wings

Saôtês(Σαωτης) - Saviour

Sôtêrios(Σωτηριος) - Saviour, Recovery (from Madness)

Patrôios(Πατρωιος) - Paternal, Ancestral (God)

Aisymnêtês(Αισυμνητης) - Dictator

Politês(Πολιτης) - Citizen

Agyieus(Αγυιευς) - (Protector) of the Street, the Ways

Melpomenos(Μελπομενος) - Singer, Minstrel, Of the Tragedy Play

I think I've missed some, but big thanks to Theoi.com.

[kore-siciliana]

Dyonisos Soterios - Savior from Maddness

Blessed one, I am afraid to name you, least I fall back into you, for the flower of my mind has closed in upon itself, and I search for some identity in the rest you grant me.  But you still whisper in dark recesses.  You found the frayed edges of me and wove yourself into them.  The boundaries of the psyche were found to be penetrable. You dismembered the self and my mind dissolved into countless perfect fractles whose source was you.  In my prayers did I gift myself to you? For you took each piece of me and dispersed them into sublime hands.  Like clusters on a vine I was devoured.  Those deathless and holy ones came, you who knows birth from divine flame, and like raging fire they consumed me.  Savior and two horned, it was you who revealed that I was suffering from your maddness.  For you are both the cause and the cure.  With one mouth we spoke, and with one body we lived.  I knew you, O Bakkhos!  You retreat now, living silently in me, ever watching, waiting for mania.  You birth yourself in the dark, in my fear.  Have you made me a maenad? Raucous and raving, I tore apart my life.  I could find you in the tearing and called it beautiful.  You plunged me deep into furtile earth, Iakkhos, and spoke mysteries so I might live and behold divine sights.  Embraced in holy light I wept with relief.  You assured me that in death I would know you, that I would forever be embraced by you, that I would live again in you, in what you are, transformed and transmuted in the vast omnitude that you arise from.  That my end was the transformation of my holy love in each divine face I sought in life into an eternal embrace.  That I would be boundless like a raindrop returning to cosmic ocean.  But for now I must live.  In life, I know this as true communion.  That part of me where you and I meet, we together consume, and through me you call it divine host.  And when I imbibe in that in which you are potent, like rich wine, I feel a lineage of many who knew you as destructor and savior, Dionysos Soterios.  One of many lessons you give me, that I must find the divinity in humanity.  I was in your grip but now I find your touch is lite.  You are quiet now and I am unsure if I have the courage to find you.  Sometimes I hear your whispers.  They are enticing temptation, but they also tell me to stay away.  That I cannot live in a god.  How I am made will turn me to face you from time to time but life can only sustain itself in ecstasy for brief moments.  But now that I know you, I find you everywhere, and when I look at myself I see you smiling back at me, reassuring me that I am forever yours.  And when they say I am touched, I now know what it means, O thyrsos bearing master of initiates, for you have.

[hadesfan50]

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 4. 152 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "I will pass even to Akheron the River of Pain of my own free will, and with rapture even amid the many lamentations of all-forgetting Lethe, I will tell the dead of my fate, to awaken pity and envy alike in merciless Persephoneia."

Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12. 213 ff : "[Dionysos transforms his dead friend Ampelos into a grape-vine :] ‘For you Haides himself has become merciful, for you Persephone herself has changed her hard temper, and saved you alive in death for brother Bakkhos (Bacchus). You did not die . . . You are still alive, my boy, even if you died.’"

I love the fact that in Greek mythology it is Persephone with a bad temper and not Hades unlike how modern media sees it.

[apollons-arrow]

"O Bakkhos! Take me somewhere ruled by the law of desire where we can dance you and dance you and never tire"

The Bakkhai (translated by Anne Carson)

[apollophanes]

O Dionysos, O Bacchus

I ask virtue of Thee

Thou art He who liberates and frees

Thou art He who loosens our chains

Thrice-Born, Lord of the Grapevine

We ascend with Thee

We rise with Thee

Thou art holy and pure

Mighty Lord, free us of that which binds the soul to the body

Lend virtue to us, O Son of the King

So that we may achieve likeness to Thee

O Prince of Olympos, we praise Thee eternally

Χαῖρε Διόνυσε

Avé Bacche

[theonlybrightnessisthebrightest]

To Dionysos, my first love, the god who wears many masks. The god of the vine, the grape, the wine. Lord of madness, lord Bakkhos, who knows coming apart and being put back together. You young god of passion, Dionysis Lysios, who warms and loosens, ties and unties. You lover of women, who stop them in their weaving. Io, Io Dionysus Eleutherius, who knows death and persecution, and yet are a granter of gifts. Deliverer from pain great and small.

Let my joy in you spill out. Let me share your fire and reflect it for the world.

This year, the world needs the fire of revolution more than ever. We need uprising, liberation, justice. May Dionysus bless all art done in service to a better world, all direct action in service of liberation, and may he help free us from tyranny.

Lord of madness, lord of revelry, turn us on our heads, shift our perspective, and please protect all those left vulnerable. Dionysus Methymnaeus, Sweet god of wine, ivy covered god, please be with us this year. Help us stay strong.

[aimee-maroux]

To celebrate the birthday of Dionysos, which supposedly is in December or early January, I'm offering 50% off the first month for patrons via Patreon and 50% off the first three months if you sign up for the Demigod tier ($10 / month) via my own website:

www.eroticmythology.com

Patreon:

The special offer ends on New Year's Eve (Patreon) and January 6 (my own website).

Happy holidays and io Bakkhos!

[aliciavance4228]

I was searching various sources on the Internet about Perseus and Dionysus' war in order to provide @superkooku with an answer and found this part from the Dionysiaca:

"[The Argive river] Inakhos was witness to both [Perseus and Dionysos], when the heavy bronze pikes of Mykenai resisted the ivy and deadly fennel, when Perseus sickle in hand gave way to Bakkhos with his wand, and fled before the fury of Satyroi cyring Euoi; Perseus cast a raging spear, and hit frail Ariadne unarmed instead of Lyaios the warrior. I do not admire Perseus for killing one woman, in her bridal dress still breathing of love."

Later he says that she was armed and that he petrified her. Besides, aren’t you supposed to remain impartial and not express your personal opinions, Nonnus? Even your wanna-be objective narrator is an unreliable one.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Prayer 1 - Bakkhos

Holy Dionysos, You whirl about me, An energy I cannot place. May my clumsy feet find grace, May I join my steps with Yours, Bakkhos, may Your chaos become my peace.