The ancient Greek god of wine Dionysus was always distinguished by extraordinary eccentricity. When modern scholars studied his cult in detail, they were genuinely surprised that the Greeks, with their sober attitude, could tolerate such a celestial person with his frantic dances, exciting music and immoderate drunkenness. Even the barbarians who lived nearby were suspected of whether he had come from their lands. However, the Greeks had to admit their brother in him and agree that Dionysus is the god of anything, but not boredom and despondency.
The illegitimate son of a Thunderer
Even by the history of his birth, he stands out from the total mass of swarthy and throaty babies born on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is known that his dad, Zeus, secretly from his legal wife Hera had a secret passion for a young goddess named Semela. Having learned about this, the legitimate half, filled with anger, decided to destroy her rival and, using magic, inspired her with a crazy idea to ask Zeus to hug her like he does with her, his legitimate wife.
Semela chose the moment when Zeus was ready for any promises, and whispered his desire to him. The poor thing didn’t know what she was asking. No wonder he earned a reputation as a thunderer. When he pressed his lover to his chest, he was immediately enveloped in fire and lightnings lit up. Hera - the wife, it was possible and liked it, but poor little Semela could not bear such a passion and instantly burned down. An excessively ardent lover managed to tear out a premature fetus from her womb and, placing it in his own thigh, denounced the remaining term. This is how an unusual way the baby Dionysus was born.
New machinations of Hera
According to various sources, such a happy event, either on the island of Naxos or in Crete, is now definitely no one remembers, but it is known that the first teachers of the young deity were nymphs, of whom a great many lived in those places. So young Dionysos would have frolic between them, but suddenly the matter was complicated by the fact that Zeus found out about Hera's desire to destroy his illegitimate son. To prevent her, he gives the youth to his mother's sister Ino and her husband Afamant.
But Zeus underestimated his jealous wife. Hera found out the whereabouts of Dionysus and sent madness to Afaman, wanting him to kill the child he hated in a fit of violence. But it turned out differently: his own son became the victim of the unfortunate madman, and the future god of wine escaped safely by jumping into the sea with Ino, where the Nereids, the Greek sisters of the well-known mermaids, took them into their arms.
Satire Apprentice
In order to save his son from his evil wife in the future, Zeus turned him into a kid and in this guise, transferred to the education of good and caring nymphs from Nisa - a city in the territory of present-day Israel. Legend says that they hid their ward in a cave, hiding the entrance to it with branches. But it so happened that the same place was chosen by his home as one old, but very frivolous satyr - a demon, a disciple of the drunkard Bacchus. It was he who taught Dionysus the first lessons of winemaking and introduced him to immoderate libations.
So from a harmless-looking kid I got the god of wine. Further in the legends, disagreements begin - either Hera instilled madness into him, or alcohol acted in such a way, but scattered Dionysus the branches that hid the entrance to his shelter, and went wherever he looked. They saw him idly staggering in Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and even in India. And everywhere he taught people to make wine. But the strange thing is, wherever he organizes festivities, everywhere they end in madness and violence. It was as if something demonic lay in juicy grapes.
The subsequent adventures of the god of wine
Further life of Dionysus was full of adventure. He spent three years in a military campaign against India, and in memory of this the ancient Greeks established a noisy Bacchic holiday. It was he - the god of wine and fun - who built the first bridge over the great Euphrates River, using a rope from vine and ivy to make it. After this, Dionysus descended into the kingdom of the dead and safely removed from his mother - Semela, who entered the later mythology under the name Fiona.
A story has also been preserved about how the god of wine was once captured by pirates. Sea robbers captured him during one of the sea voyages. But, apparently, they had a poor idea of who they were dealing with. The shackles themselves fell from his hands, and the mast of the ship Dionysus turned into a serpent. To crown it all, he appeared on the deck in the form of a bear, which is why frightened pirates jumped into the sea, turning there into dolphins.
The Marriage of Dionysus and Ariadne
Before finally settling on Olympus, the god of wine married. His chosen one was Ariadne, the very daughter of the Cretan king Minos, who managed to help the legendary Theseus get out of the maze with her thread. But the fact is that, being safe, the villain treacherously abandoned the girl, why she was ready to commit suicide. Dionysus saved her, and the grateful Ariadne agreed to become his wife. To celebrate, her new father-in-law - Zeus - granted her immortality and a rightful place on Olympus. Many other adventures of this hero are described in Greek legends, because Dionysus is the god of what? Guilt, and it’s only worth tasting, and that just won’t happen ...