Dionysus represents the liberating power of wine and religious ecstasy. He wanders the world spreading the culture of the vine, accompanied by satyrs and maenads (wild female followers).
Twice-Born
His mother Semele was consumed by Zeus's lightning. Zeus sewed the unborn Dionysus into his thigh until he was ready to be born, making him "twice-born." He is the patron of theater, as Greek drama originated in festivals honoring him.
Primary Sources
Historical texts and references
“I will tell of Dionysus, the son of glorious Semele, how he appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea, seeming like a stripling in the first flush of manhood.”
