Dionysius and Hamilton

1. Dionysius

2. Dionysius (Bacchus): The god of the vine and wine.

3. • In the city of Thebes, Zeus fell in love with a
woman named Semele. She manipulated him
into letting her see his full splendor. The sight
killed her.

4. Before she died, Zeus saved their child, Dionysius, and hid him from Hera (his wife). He
was cared for by nymphs and nursed by the rain to learn how to culture a vine.

5. Pirates seized him but could not bind him. Only the helmsman guessed that he was a
god. The ship filled with wine and dolphins carried Dionysius to safety.

6. • He passed through
Thrace and went to
Crete where he
rescued Ariadne
from her
abandonment on
Naxos. He never
forgot his mother.
He went to the
underworld and
carried her to
Olympus.

7. Dionysius is known as a kind, but at times, cruel god. He drives Maenads wild with wine.
They would rush through towns and forests destroying anything in their way. They have
no temples and they worship him in the forest.

8. He went to Thebes to establish his worship officially. Pentheus feared this and told his
guards to seize the women. Teiresias warned him, but Pentheus proceeded and
Dionysius came before him. All the Maenads escaped.

9. Dionysius escaped from his chains and asked Pentheus to yield to the divine. Maenads
pursued Pentheus into the forest. The Theban women joined them and tore him limb from
limb.

10. • Dionysius is simultaneously joyful and brutal. Just as
wine can produce joy or sorrow, Dionysius produces ruin
and fruit. In his dual nature, he is closer to men than
other gods. While Demeter's mysteries were closed, the
festival of Dionysius was an open five days of poetry and
plays, out of which the most famous of the Greek
tragedies and comedies emerged.

11. Just as a grapevine must be cut back and left dead for the winter,
Dionysius was believed to be dead in the snow. Every year he submits to
the gruesome death of being torn to pieces. His soul, however, lives on
and in his resurrection, life overcomes death.