Dionysus
by Jorge Heredia
Dionysus was one of the most widely worshipped gods of Greek Mythology. At first he was only the god of wine. Later he also became the god of vegetation, warm moisture, of pleasure, and of civilization. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, who was the daughter of the king of Thebes.
In his early years he was cared for by an old satyr called Sileurus. Dionysus learned to make wine and journeyed across the world to give it to mortals. He finally went into the infernal region to find his mother and bring her back. He renamed her Thyone and brought her with him to Mount Olmpus, the home of the gods.
Dionysus was represented in works of art as a beautiful youth, crowned with grape leaves or ivy, and wearing a fawn skin over his shoulders. His festivals were celebrated with processions, dances, and chourses, out of which grew the Greek drama and the Greek theater. Romans called him Bacchus. They celebrated the Bacchanalia, or festival of Bacchus, every third year, but in 186 B.C. the Roman Senate forbade it.
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