Dionysius

Essay by SquishyHigh School, 10th gradeA+, April 1996

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Good Essay on Greek God of Wine and Merriment, Dionysius This actually takes up 3-4 pages depending on the font size you use, and assuming you double space it and put it into normal paragraph form. Excellent, other misc. B. S.

Dionysus

Dionysus was the most widely worshipped and popular god in ancient Greece. It's not difficult to see why; he was their god of wine, merriment, ritual dance, warm moisture, and later, civilization. He was often depicted as a handsome young man, dressed in fawnskin, and carrying a goblet and an ivy-covered staff.

Some myths hold that Dionysus was the son of Zeus--the king of the god--and Persephone--queen of the underworld--but most myths state that he is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Semel. This woman Semele was not any mortal, though. She was a princess, and a beautiful one at that. Zeus was notorious for being rather prolific, and when his wife, the goddess Hera heard that he had gone off and mated with a mortal, she became quite upset.

Hera, in an attempt to exact her revenge, appeared to Semele and told her to ask Zeus to appear to her in his divine form. When Zeus obliged, Semele was immediately consumed in flames, for no mortal can look upon a god in his natural state. However, Zeus saved the unborn Dionysus by sewing him up in his thigh, thus incubating him.

What happened next is different in every story. Some myths say he lived with a king and queen loyal to Zeus until Hera discovered him, and, in a jealous rage, warped their brains. In this version of the story, Dionysus was turned into a goat by his father in an attempt to hide him from Hera; from then on he had small horns...