Greek God Dionysus

The Greek god Dionysus also referred to by name as Dionysos was the ancient Greek Deity of wine and fertility who played a major role in the lives of ancient Greeks. His role as the god of wine was as complex and multifaceted as was the way that wine was viewed and used in Greek society. Dionysus was also seen as having some level of influence in the music that also many times accompanied the drinking of wine as well as being viewed as a god of fertility.

It would appear that even in ancient Greece as it is today there was a connection between "wine women and song" that was characterized in this Greek god of "the party". Being that Dionysus arrived on the scene in the later stages of the development of Greek mythology there are several versions that account for his creation. In some Greek legends Dionysus was said to be the son of Zeus and Semele while in other legends he was placed as the offspring Zeus and Persephone who coincidentally happened to be a daughter of Zeus.

In works of Greek art that portrayed him he was pictured as being in his early twenties, handsome with effeminate leanings and was for the most part portrayed as being the "party boy" of Greek mythology. Another role that Dionysus occupied in Greek mythology was as the patron deity of the stage and theater in Greek society and he would be the god that Greek actors paid homage to.

To many Greeks Dionysus represented escape from the harsh realities of day to day living and when wine was drank and one became intoxicated it Dionysus was seen as the responsible party for the effects of the alcohol and the festivities that followed. Because Dionysus was a late arrival in Greek mythology there are not as many myths involving him as there are with other Greek gods and goddesses of the time.

However; in one of the myths that tell of Dionysus he is described as being the son of Zeus and Semele. The myth tells of Semele being killed by Zeus while she is still pregnant with him. Zeus then retrieves the unborn infant from the dead Semele and places him in his thigh were he finishes his prenatal development. After his birth from the thigh of Zeus the young child Dionysus is then give by Zeus to some nymphs who are assigned the task of raising him.