#i tagged the “dionysus specialists” here 😛. nysus made very interesting essays about him that I invite you to read

[superkooku]

Heya, so I'm writing part 3 right now. But before publishing it, I just realized that I have more things to say about part 2 (so you have the opportunity to discover/rediscover it before the next segment).

So... part 2 DLC.

Dionysus and animals :

While talking about him as a god of nature, I explained his link to vegetation but completely forgot about animals ! That's a shame because there's a lot to say about that too.

As a god of wilderness, it's only natural for Dionysus to share a bond with animals (heck, a lot of gods had symbolic animals). His are :

The maenads: just kidding. They're more dangerous than animals 😂. Here's the real list.

The panther/leopard : the main animal we associate to him, the wild and exotic predator. He ambushes his preys, hides and follows them until they feel confident enough then STRIKES. Yes, this is Dionysus' method too. In general, Dionysus is big on felines (lions and tigers too, though less commonly used)

Yes. This right here is a human head. I bet it's Pentheus' 😂

Bulls : this animal seems to have an important role in mythology. This association is present in the Bacchae for exp, where Pentheus sees his bull horns, for exp. What I love about that symbolism is how it links him to Zeus, since they both share it, but also to Ariadne (through the Minotaur). Maybe even to Hera.

Of course, not every myth about bulls relate to any of these examples (Helios for exp, unless we see the link with his daughter Pasiphae and the cretan bull or Apollo maybe...

I think those are mere coincidences. And associating this instance to Dionysus would be stretching too far. Let's not overanalyze it either).

Btw, art showing Dionysus with horns is so cool !! (shoutout to @margaretkart for drawing it and @nysus-temple for making a whole mini-petition about it. Btw, if you see any false statements in my essay, feel free to call me out. I'll remove them).

Dolphins : the tyrrhenian pirates that dared to kidnap the god, who transformed them into dolphins... at least, those that had the time to jump in the sea. The master/captain, and maybe others, was EATEN by Dionysus while he took the form of a lion. What's funny is that this is probably Dionysus' "nicest" punishments because no one was turned insane, at least not for very long (stay tuned for part 3)

Snakes : let's talk a bit about orphism. According to the tradition, Zeus slept with Persephone as a serpent and from this union, Zagreus was born. For the few that wouldn't know, Zagreus is basically Dionysus' previous life.

Snakes also show up in other stories. According to the Bacchae, Zeus gave Dionysus a crown of snakes in his birth. Coupled with orphism, this basically solidifies Zagreus' "second birth" (third if we count Semele and Zeus as separate "bearers"). The new beginning of the snake god.

Snakes appear in other myths, including against the tyrhennian pirates (yes, he unleashed havoc on that ship XD)

Goats : this one is shorter. Goats show up a LOT sporadically.

Little addition to the theater part : "Tragedy" means "goat song", in reference to it's role in ritual sacrifices (btw, dithyramb, a form of ancient poem, is also associated to Dionysus' myths, about "two doors" in his life, Semele and then Zeus' thigh).

Anyways, goats are a part of his epithets (goat-kid, goat-shooter or goat-skinned), of his companions the satyrs and of this little trivia...

I feel like the goat is Dionysus' "fleeing" form. He used it as Zagreus to flee the Titans (and failed). Later, as he was hiding him from Hera, Zeus made him take the form of a baby goat. Once again conntecting orphism and more widespread myths.

I love when things connect together !

See ya in part 3, when things will get spooky for Halloween !

Dionysus' iceberg (part 2)

Here's part 1 :

Yes, I know, I took my time with this one 😅. But part 2 is finally here on Tumblr !

And, since there's a lot to say about Dionysus, I'll probably need to do a third one... yes he's that interesting.

In this part, I'll talk about Dionysus' connections to theater, nature and vegetation.

1. Theater 🎭

Despite Apollo being the god of the arts, theater is one of Dionysus' domains.

In fact, his theatre (in Athens) is considered the first in the world! Dionysus is like an entertainer, not only through parties, but also through a performance on the stage.

Okay, more seriously: one of his festivals, the Dionysia, even had five days dedicated to drama. In fact, theater plays are said to be set in competitions honoring Dionysus himself.

This festival in and of itself is quite complex, as it's divided in two categories (rural and city festivals) and has quite a history. So, I'd highly recommend reading more about it.

Even the idea of theater masks come from there ! They were parts of disguises actors (always men) wore to play the roles of women or gods.

I'm gonna stop a bit with the informations to talk about two interesting things :

It's actually really cool that the god of theater is a good actor.

I say that because he managed to fool Pentheus and a WHOLE pirate crew into thinking he's some inoffensive boy. And then, dramatic plot twist : he's not.

Another cool thing : he appeared both in a comedy and tragedy. Probably in other lost plays too. It's part of his duality, which I'll talk about more in part 3.

Anyways, ancient Greek theater, the ancestor of our modern plays, is very closely tied to Dionysus.

2. His link to satyrs

This bearded man is Silenus, son of Hermes and one of the satyrs. The baby he's holding is an infant Dionysus, who was forced to go in hiding because of Hera's wrath.

Edit : forgot to complete this part. So, Silenus is considered Dionysus' tutor, kinda like Chiron and Asclepius, but wilder.

Like Dionysus, he appears to be a funny drunkard, but in reality, he can be very wise too. Heck, he even has some prophecy powers when intoxicated. How cool is that ? I like this little duality.

He notably appears in Midas' myth. Silenus was found by peasants and given to the king. Since Midas took good care of him and showed a lot of hospitality, Dionysus decided to reward him. And we all know how the story goes at that point.

Another important satyr (in the Dionysiaca, for example) is Ampelos/Ampelus. He was a young satyr who could very well be Dionysus' first love. What's so interesting about him is that, after his death (R.I.P), Dionysus transformed him into the first grape vine 🍇 !

(this time, not a flower, unlike Hyacinthus and Crocus).

Yes, if you drink wine, you're technically drinking Ampelos' blood.

In general, the satyrs, along with the maenads, are Dionysus' companions. We all know what satyrs are, but it's not surprising to see two symbols of sexuality, drunkenness and wilderness so closely tied.

Also, coming back to theater, there was something called "satyr plays", a mix between tragedy and comedy that were played during the Dionysian festival.

3. A god of nature and vegetation

There are many other nature gods. They each show their connection to nature in their own unique way.

Of course, there's wine and grapes (and Ampelos), but also a lot more stuff.

Dionysus was said to live his youth on Mount Nysa, in the nature, among nymphs and other satyrs. So those ties would come from very early on in his life.

He's not only the god of grapes, but fruits and plant life in general. It's interesting to see the same domains shared by multiple gods (here with Demeter).

The multiple water and wind gods are another proof of that.

And yes, he can grow vines as much as he pleases, like when he punished the thyranean pirates.

4. A fertility god

Yeah, don't listen to LO, male fertility gods exist too 😂.

He's not even the only one, since there's Priapus as well. And he's often (not always) considered his son, with Aphrodite as the mother.

It's honestly not surprising to see a god of nature and fruits, but also one known for his orgies, being associated with fertility.

There aren't many myths about it, so I'll just include that one because it's interesting.

So...

I went through these informations pretty quickly, in order to keep this post at a normal length. I'd love to see you complete on these particular aspects.

In part 3, I'll talk about Dionysus' duality, but also his link to madness, mortals (like Semele and Ariadne), and other gods.

Part 3 will be the longest, since I'll include a lot more references (to myths like the war against India, the Bacchae and more infos about his cult and stories)

[nysus-temple]

This was perfectly well written and documented, and I'm incredibly happy to see people giving this sort of attention to Dionysus !! There's nothing to correct, which I'm very happy about as well !!

Just a few additions that I would like to give:

In the myth narrated in the Homeric Hymn VII, Dionysus actually spared the helmsman, since the guy was the only one who warned the rest of the crew about the man they captured being a god. He didn't specify he was Dionysus, he said "Zeus or Apollo", but Dionysus spared him and explained to him who he was. I think it's a detail worth mentioning, given how it shows that even in the wildest moments, Dionysus shows mercy to those who don't commit acts of ὕβρις. [I know this is focused on Dionysus & animals, but I don't like omitting this detail]

Then, the thing with the goats. It's not that they're barely mentioned, in fact, one of his epithets is Αἰγοβόλος (Pausanias, Description of Greece. Means "goat-killer", kind of.) And also, ✨satyrs✨ you know. Those things were half-goats, so many goats were sacrificied during the rituals too. Sometimes Dionysus himself is shown with goat horns due to that, or ram horns because of Zeus, but bull horns are waaay more common for him.

Dionysus' iceberg (part 2)

Here's part 1 :

Yes, I know, I took my time with this one 😅. But part 2 is finally here on Tumblr !

And, since there's a lot to say about Dionysus, I'll probably need to do a third one... yes he's that interesting.

In this part, I'll talk about Dionysus' connections to theater, nature and vegetation.

1. Theater 🎭

Despite Apollo being the god of the arts, theater is one of Dionysus' domains.

In fact, his theatre (in Athens) is considered the first in the world! Dionysus is like an entertainer, not only through parties, but also through a performance on the stage.

Okay, more seriously: one of his festivals, the Dionysia, even had five days dedicated to drama. In fact, theater plays are said to be set in competitions honoring Dionysus himself.

This festival in and of itself is quite complex, as it's divided in two categories (rural and city festivals) and has quite a history. So, I'd highly recommend reading more about it.

Even the idea of theater masks come from there ! They were parts of disguises actors (always men) wore to play the roles of women or gods.

I'm gonna stop a bit with the informations to talk about two interesting things :

It's actually really cool that the god of theater is a good actor.

I say that because he managed to fool Pentheus and a WHOLE pirate crew into thinking he's some inoffensive boy. And then, dramatic plot twist : he's not.

Another cool thing : he appeared both in a comedy and tragedy. Probably in other lost plays too. It's part of his duality, which I'll talk about more in part 3.

Anyways, ancient Greek theater, the ancestor of our modern plays, is very closely tied to Dionysus.

2. His link to satyrs

This bearded man is Silenus, son of Hermes and one of the satyrs. The baby he's holding is an infant Dionysus, who was forced to go in hiding because of Hera's wrath.

Edit : forgot to complete this part. So, Silenus is considered Dionysus' tutor, kinda like Chiron and Asclepius, but wilder.

Like Dionysus, he appears to be a funny drunkard, but in reality, he can be very wise too. Heck, he even has some prophecy powers when intoxicated. How cool is that ? I like this little duality.

He notably appears in Midas' myth. Silenus was found by peasants and given to the king. Since Midas took good care of him and showed a lot of hospitality, Dionysus decided to reward him. And we all know how the story goes at that point.

Another important satyr (in the Dionysiaca, for example) is Ampelos/Ampelus. He was a young satyr who could very well be Dionysus' first love. What's so interesting about him is that, after his death (R.I.P), Dionysus transformed him into the first grape vine 🍇 !

(this time, not a flower, unlike Hyacinthus and Crocus).

Yes, if you drink wine, you're technically drinking Ampelos' blood.

In general, the satyrs, along with the maenads, are Dionysus' companions. We all know what satyrs are, but it's not surprising to see two symbols of sexuality, drunkenness and wilderness so closely tied.

Also, coming back to theater, there was something called "satyr plays", a mix between tragedy and comedy that were played during the Dionysian festival.

3. A god of nature and vegetation

There are many other nature gods. They each show their connection to nature in their own unique way.

Of course, there's wine and grapes (and Ampelos), but also a lot more stuff.

Dionysus was said to live his youth on Mount Nysa, in the nature, among nymphs and other satyrs. So those ties would come from very early on in his life.

He's not only the god of grapes, but fruits and plant life in general. It's interesting to see the same domains shared by multiple gods (here with Demeter).

The multiple water and wind gods are another proof of that.

And yes, he can grow vines as much as he pleases, like when he punished the thyranean pirates.

4. A fertility god

Yeah, don't listen to LO, male fertility gods exist too 😂.

He's not even the only one, since there's Priapus as well. And he's often (not always) considered his son, with Aphrodite as the mother.

It's honestly not surprising to see a god of nature and fruits, but also one known for his orgies, being associated with fertility.

There aren't many myths about it, so I'll just include that one because it's interesting.

So...

I went through these informations pretty quickly, in order to keep this post at a normal length. I'd love to see you complete on these particular aspects.

In part 3, I'll talk about Dionysus' duality, but also his link to madness, mortals (like Semele and Ariadne), and other gods.

Part 3 will be the longest, since I'll include a lot more references (to myths like the war against India, the Bacchae and more infos about his cult and stories)