The only mortal to enter the pantheon of the gods was Dionysus. He was the son of Zeus, and the mortal princess Semele. Zeus would appear to Semele in the form of a beautiful young man; a form that she could comprehend. They would spend several nights together, and of course, Hera became suspicious of Zeus’ activity, and eventually found out about Semele. Hera took the form of a feeble old woman, and went to Semele. She began to talk with Semele, and it came up that Zeus himself had been courting Semele…or so he had told her. Hera told Semele that the only way to know for sure would be to get Zeus to appear to her in his true form, if it was him at all. The jealous Queen planted the seed of doubt in Semele’s heart. Having her job done, Hera returned to Olympus to watch things as they progressed.
Zeus came to Semele one night, and found her weeping on the side of her bed. He tried to comfort her, and swore to her by the River Styx, the sacred oath of the gods, that he would do anything to make her happy. She looked up to him, and asked that he reveal his true form to her. He begged her to change her mind, saying that the sight of him would kill her, but she remained adamant; the spell Hera had cast on her was working just as it was intended. Bound by his oath, Zeus gathered the smallest thunderclouds around himself, and chose his smallest lightning bolts. He cast off his disguise and appeared to Semele in his true form, one that only another immortal was able to comprehend. Semele immediately burst into flames and began to die, crying out to Zeus to safe her. He tried to save her, but all he could do was rescue their unborn child; Semele was lost to the flames just as Hera had intended. He took the baby, and sewed it to the inside of his thigh, so that it may continue to grow, and be born just as it would have been had Semele lived to give birth. When the baby was ready to be born, it sprang forth from Zeus’ thigh as the god Dionysus, the one of the very few immortals to have a mortal parent.
Dionysus became the god of wine, ecstasy and good humour. Grapevines would be tended to in his honour, and mankind created wine for the first time under his watchful eye. He was in constant companion of a group of nymphs called the Maenads. Wild women always drunk on wine, dancing wildly and singing incoherently. The leopard was Dionysus’ sacred animal, and was always at his side.
Dionysus would wander the world in mortal form; he was one of the few gods that actually enjoyed the company of mortals. He would dress lavishly, usually in thick purple robes, often being mistaken for some sort of royalty. On one occasion when he was mistaken for a wealthy man, he was kidnapped by a group of pirates. They had thought that he was a prince, and that the king would pay a large ransom for his safe return. Dionysus didn’t resist capture, and he told the pirates repeatedly that he was a god, but they only laughed at him. Once on board the ship, a pair of the pirates had tried to tie him up, but no matter how tightly the knots were tied; they would limply fall off of Dionysus’ wrists. They tried again and again, but there was no way that they were going to tie him up. They set him in a corner of the ship, and set guards there to keep an eye on him. The ship sailed along, when it suddenly halted in its journey. Thick green vines laden with bunches of juicy red grapes burst up from the water, and began to twine around the ship, holding it fast. Two leopards appeared out of nowhere and began to prowl the length of the ship, herding the pirates into one group in the ship’s centre. The men realised that this was a god, the ship was being filled by the glory of Dionysus. They thought that they were probably going to die for what they had done. The all dashed wildly for the side of the ship, and dove into the icy waters. Dionysus took pity on them, and turned them all into dolphins as their bodies hit the water. They remained in that form for the rest of eternity, as the only animal in the world with seemingly human intelligence.
People that were struck by madness were said to have been touched by this god, as wine had the same effect on people. His sceptre was a large golden pinecone on the end of a golden rod. For any mortal to be touched by the tip of this wand would be inflicted with insanity, but in the form of ignorant bliss. In this madness, the world wasn’t something to be feared or taken seriously, only something to enjoy and experience to the fullest. These people would almost always end up dying by some careless act, or be killed by others out of annoyance. Some called this state of euphoria a gift from Dionysus, but when the consequences were faced, this term was always reconsidered.
