dionysus

Essay by filip409Junior High, 9th gradeA, November 2014

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Dionysus

Origin of Dionysus (unabridged version):

Zeus fell in love with the mortal Semele and impregnated her. Hera wanting revenge made Semele want to see Zeus's true form. Zeus promised to fulfill Semelles wish and in the process of showing her, a lightning bolt hit her and she died. Zeus wanting to save his unborn child removed the unborn Dionysus from his mother womb and placed him inside his thigh. When he was ready to be born zeus removed him and had hermes take Dionysus to the Bacchantes to be raised there.

What he represents:

Fertility

Theatre

ecstasy

madness

Wine

Interesting facts about him:

In some stories he is shown to be bisexual

only god to be born to a mortal

sometimes known as the twice-born

Stories or myths surrounding him:

Pentheus: Pentheus was the king of Thebes and decided that worship of the god Dionysus should be banned as he considered it impure and repulsive (Dionysus was after all the god of madness and ecstasy).

Dionysus then caused all the women of the city to go mad and engage in "inappropriate" activities. Among the women affected by this was Pentheus' mother. Enraged by this he tried to take the man he thought responsible for this captive (Dionysus), but Dionysus being a God made his chains fall off and walked away. Wanting even more revenge for the banning of his worship Dionysus disguised himself as a woman and lured Pentheus to the camp set up by the women outside of the city. Pentheus followed Dionysus hoping to see some of the sexual activities that were part of the rituals surrounding Dionysus. The women were in a fit of madness and ecstasy when the noticed Pentheus observing him and mistook him for an animal, as part of their ritual...