Dionysus was the god of wine and vegetation. His journey to claim his throne on Olympus was a very grueling and complicated one.
Zeus had fallen in love with a mortal, Semele. But since he couldn’t show himself to her, he would always go to her invisible. Semele felt very special knowing that a god was in love with her. The wicked Hera heard about this affair and plotted revenge to see if it was truly Zeus or not. She disguised herself as Semele’s trusted nurse and told Semele she should make sure that it was truly a god and not an evil monster.
The next time Semele was with Zeus, she asked him for one wish. Zeus was deeply in love and said he would grant any wish she wanted. He swore upon the River Styx that he would do whatever she bade him. Cleverly, she asked him to show his true self. Zeus was furious because he loved her so much, but he had swore. So he revealed himself. Semele was instantaneously burnt to death by Hera when Hera saw it was truly Zeus.
Quickly, Zeus and Hermes rescued the premature baby out of Semele and sewed it up into Zeus’s thigh until it was ready to be born. Being born from Zeus alone, gave Dionysus immortality.
Hera found out about the infant and had the Titans shred him into little pieces. Where his torn up remains lay, Rhea, mother of Zeus, was quick to bring him back to life. Zeus turned the baby over to King Athamas of Orchomenus and his wife Ino, who raised Dionysus hidden by his disguise as a girl. But Hera could not easily be deceived— she drove Athamas and his wife insane. At their peak of inasity, Athamas took his son as mistake for a vine and killed him.
Hermes then took the boy and changed him into a baby goat and handed him over to mountain goats to be raised. During this time in the mountains, Dionysus invented wine. But still, Hera was smarter than they thought and found out about Dionysus. She harassed him until he was driven mad. He traveled the world with a band of Maenads (wild drunken woman).
When Dionysus arrived in Egypt, King Proteus of Pharos welcomed him and hospitably gave him housing. In return, Dionysus presented the generous king with the grape vine. Dionysus ganged up with the Amazon queens and fought the titans, in the end he triumphed in his first battle. His next stop was India, where he spread the joy of wine and found numerous famous cities.
Many men and kings opposed Dionysus but eventually they all ended up going insane. Dionysus once fell into a pirate trap with all his men. The pirates were unaware that Dionysus was a god, and therefore tried to go to Asia and sell them as slaves. Dionysus transformed himself into a lion, and had vines and serpents grow all over the enormous ship. The pirates panicked and submerged into the ocean, turning into dolphins.
Dionysus then met the beautiful Ariadne; they were quick to wed and he took her off to Argos. There he forced the people of the city to build a temple in his honor. Finally, people accepted him as a true Olympian god, and he rose to Mount Olympus. The kind Hestia gave up her throne atop the mountain to Dionysus. Hera, still very upset, kept her peace though.
Dionysus was one of the few gods that could raise people from the dead. He rescued his mother from the underworld, changed her name, and introduced her to the Olympian gods. Zeus granted her immortality and she lived in a cozy apartment on end of Mount Olympus.
Dionysus is also known as the god of reincarnation, after his ordeal with the titans. Festivals are held in his honor in the spring, when the vines are just about to bloom.
God of wine
God of vegetation
God of reincarnation
Son of Zeus and Semele
Creator of the Dolphin
God of Theater
**Zeus**
**Ares**
**Poseidon**
**Hades**
**Hera**
**Apollo**
**Artemis**
**Athena**
**Aphrodite**
**Hephaestus**
**Hermes**
**Demeter**
**Hestia**
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