The Last Days of the Bazaar. "Trial by Death" based on the novel "Fathers and Sons

Dionysus is the god of harvest, winemaking and wine, ritual madness and fertility, theater and religious ecstasy.

Wine has played an important role in Greek culture, so Dionysus was the favorite god of the inhabitants.

The origins of the cult of Dionysus have not yet been determined. Some historians are inclined to think that the cult of the god came from the east, others say that the origins of the cult come from the south, from Ethiopia.

Dionysus was one of the twelve Olympian gods; he was born from a mere mortal. Large-scale holidays (mysteries) dedicated to Dionysus, with songs, dances and wine, are considered the progenitors of the theater.

In the earliest Greek artifacts, Dionysus is depicted as a mature man with a beard and clothes. He usually had a staff with him. A little later, images began to appear with a naked, young Dionysus, combining the functions of the male and female principles (hermaphrodite).

Usually the god is accompanied by maenads and satyrs with erect penises, the whole procession has fun, dances and performs any musical works. The god himself often sits in a chariot drawn by tigers and lions.

Dionysus is associated with the protector of all those who have been expelled or not recognized by society, so the god is associated with some kind of chaotic and dangerous force, the use of which can lead to unexpected consequences (it is quite possible that this was due to the action of wine).

He is also known as Bacchus (Bacchus) in the Roman tradition, and the mysteries dedicated to the god were called bacchanalia.

According to legend, wine, music and dancing free a person from worldly worries, fear and sadness, and also give strength.

The cult of Dionysus is also connected with the underworld: his maenads feed the dead with special offerings, and the god himself acts as an intermediary between the living and the dead.

In Greek mythology, Dionysus was also conceived by a mortal woman, Semele. Hera, the wife of Zeus, was enraged to learn that the supreme god was again inflamed with passion for an ordinary woman.

Reincarnated as an ordinary mortal, Hera convinced the pregnant Semele that she was carrying the son of Zeus the Thunderer himself. A woman, succumbing to doubts, once asked Zeus to prove her greatness to her. The supreme god refused the woman, because he knew that mortals could not bear the manifestation of his supreme power.

However, Semele was persistent, and Zeus proved his divine nature, spewing thunders of lightning, shaking the earth around. Semele could not stand this action and died on the spot.

Upset Zeus saved not born son by sewing it into the thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born on Mount Pramnos on the island of Ikaria, where Zeus hid the child from the all-seeing Hera.

In the Cretan version of the story of the birth of Dionysus, which belongs to the pen of Diodorus Siculus, the god is the son of Zeus and Persephone.

The name of Hera is also found here: according to legend, she sends the titans to the infant Dionysus to tear him to pieces. However, the all-powerful Zeus saves the boy.

Childhood and youth of Dionysus

According to the myth, Hermes took care of Dionysus in infancy. According to another version, Hermes gave the boy to be raised by King Atamas and his wife Ino, the aunt of Dionysus. Hermes wanted the couple to hide Dionysus from the wrath of Hera. There is another story: as if Dionysus was brought up by nymphs.

When Dionysus grew up, he discovered that a wonderful juice can be extracted from the vine, which has amazing properties.

Doomed the young god to madness, and he had to wander around the world. However, he found like-minded people and taught them how to make wine.

Dionysus was in Spain, Ethiopia,. From these wanderings, a legend was born that this is how wine literally conquered the whole world.

Dionysus was exceptionally attractive. One of the Homeric hymns tells how, disguised as a mortal sitting on the coast, several sailors noticed him and assumed that he was a prince.

The fishermen wanted to steal him and sail away, asking for a large ransom for God. However, Dionysus turned into a lion and killed everyone on the ship.

Dionysus in mythology

The name of Dionysus is also associated with the myth of King Midas. Once, having discovered that his mentor, the wise Silenus, had disappeared, God unexpectedly found him visiting King Midas. For the return of his beloved teacher, Dionysus offered the king to fulfill his every wish.

The greedy king deigned that everything he touched turned into gold. Dionysus complied with his request.

However, soon the king realized that food, water, and the people he touches become golden. The king begged Dionysus to return everything to normal, he was ready to give up his desire.

God had mercy: Midas plunged into the river Paktol, and the spell was lifted. Dionysus is also mentioned in the myths about Pentheus, Lycurgus, Ampelus and others.

According to legend, Dionysus owes his appearance to the militant Hera, who was fiercely, although not without reason, jealous of her husband Zeus. She prompted Semele to ask him to appear before her in his warlike guise: on a chariot with fire-breathing horses, surrounded by flames. Zeus gave the go-ahead and soon appeared in front of Cadmus, the palace of the girl's father. Lightnings wrapping around the chariot flew towards the formations and burned them. Semele herself suffered from the fire, who during the fire gave birth to a premature baby - Dionysus, and she herself passed into the world of the dead.

However, the child of Zeus did not die in the flames, he was protected by ivy. Seeing the child, God sewed him into his thigh, where he completed his development and later came into the world at the right time. Little Dionysus was transferred to the upbringing of Semele's sister Ino and brother-in-law Afamantus, the last Hera doomed to madness.

According to another version, Dionysus and his mother Semele were imprisoned in a barrel by their father Cadmus, where they spent several days, after which they crashed against the rocks, and only the child survived.

The path of education and growing up

In order to protect the young God from the wrath of Hera, his adoptive parents began to raise him as a girl. However, as mentioned above, the father fell ill with a mental disorder (not without the help of Zeus's wife, of course) and began to kill his own children, and even attempted on Dionysus.

Then the future patron of winemakers ended up in the caves of Nis - Hermes himself brought him there transformed into a kid. The nymphs hid the child from Hera and contributed to his upbringing. However, Silenus played the greatest role in the formation of Dionysus as a God: the mentor taught the young man the business of winegrowers and instilled a love for agriculture.

After reaching adulthood, the ruler of Olympus decided to thank the nymphs of Nis and elevated them to heaven.

Madness of Dionysus

Inviting madness is the most insidious and most frequent revenge of Hera, this punishment did not pass and Dionysus. Under the influence of her charms, he goes on a long journey through Asia and Africa. Its presence in different countries brought both positive and negative effects. He taught the inhabitants of Egypt, Syria, India and Asia Minor aspects of agriculture, revealed to them the secrets of productive cultivation. different cultures. Along with the useful skills with which the patron of vegetation enriched the life of the owners of the fields, those who did not believe in his ability had a hard time.

According to the legends, the embittered god of fertility could send madness to his victim or even kill him. According to other sources, Hera led Dionysus through the deserts, and she surrounded him with madmen. Worst of all were young mothers with babies who were sent to the mountains, where they ate raw meat with pleasure.

Why are the "three-year sacrifices" made to Dionysus?

The fact is that God traveled through India for three years. His initial motives were confrontation, battle, and a small number of sources even speak of his death during a duel and burial without honors.

The number 3, as it were, marks Dionysus, therefore it is customary to arrange bacchanalia for him every 3 years and collect donations in a three-year volume.

Among the significant events in the life of the patron of agriculture, one can also single out a visit to the Kingdom of Hades, from where he brought his mother and subsequently made her the Goddess Fiona.

Tyrrhenian pirates

Tyrrhenian pirates, namely two of their society - Aket and Alkimedon, attacked the trireme of Dionysus on the way to Naxos. They captured the God of winemaking, tied him up, chained his hands and feet, their plan was to transfer God to Asia, where, in turn, to sell for a huge sum.

Alas, the plans of the Tyrrhenian pirates did not coincide with the vision of the future patron of agriculture. In an instant, the chains fell from his arms and legs, the masts and oars turned into fierce snakes and wrapped around the invaders. The whole ship was covered with a vine, and Aket and Alcimedon jumped into the ocean in flight. According to one legend, they turned into dolphins.

Love of Dionysus

God married Ariadne, a Cretan beauty, the daughter of King Minos, although initially the girl was not intended for him at all. Her husband was supposed to be Theseus, whom she led out of the labyrinth with the help of a ball of magic threads. However, the young man turned out to be not very honest and left Ariadne on the way to Athens. Dionysus immediately noticed a young lady of unearthly beauty and took him with him.

There is also alternative version, where the legend was sent to the patron of winegrowers that Ariadne would become his wife and he personally challenged Theseus to fight in order to win back the beauty.

We are accustomed to seeing in this God a person who would be completely absorbed in agriculture and the creation of tart wines, but there are less common but more exciting records of his existence:

Beer is also a creation of Dionysus
The mountain in Messenia is called Eve, because it was precisely this cry that the girls surrounding God reproduced, being at its foot.
Thanks to Dionysus, the donkey is considered a sacred animal. The story is this: he and Hephaestus went to fight the Giants, sitting on donkeys. The animals let out a terrible roar that frightened even huge creatures, thereby driving them away.
To please his wife Hera and divert her attention from the real patron of agriculture, Zeus gave her a ghost in the guise of Dionysus.
It is believed that he invented the first plow and independently plowed the land with it.

Dionysus is the last of the twelve main Olympian Gods, however, it is in his honor that the brightest and most cheerful festivities are held. There is a contest between comic and tragic poetry, theatrical performances. There is always a lot of wine and snacks on the tables. During the bacchanal period, many weddings take place and everything around is filled with an atmosphere of fun.

Nikolai Kun

The birth and upbringing of Dionysus

Zeus the Thunderer loved the beautiful Semele, daughter of the Theban king Cadmus. Once he promised her to fulfill any of her requests, no matter what it was, and swore to her this by an unbreakable oath of the gods, by the sacred waters of the underground river Styx. But the great goddess Hera hated Semele and wanted to destroy her. She told Semele:

Ask Zeus to appear to you in all the glory of the god of thunder, the king of Olympus. If he really loves you, he will not refuse this request.

Hera convinced Semele, and she asked Zeus to fulfill exactly this request. Zeus, however, could not refuse anything to Semele, because he swore by the waters of the Styx. The Thunderer appeared to her in all the grandeur of the king of gods and people, in all the splendor of his glory. Bright lightning flashed in the hands of Zeus; thunderclaps shook the palace of Cadmus. Everything around flashed from the lightning of Zeus. The fire engulfed the palace, everything around shook and collapsed. In horror, Semele fell to the ground, the flames burned her. She saw that there was no salvation for her, that her request, inspired by the Hero, ruined her.

And a son was born to the dying Semele Dionysus, weak, unable to live child. It seemed that he, too, was doomed to perish in the fire. But how could the son of the great Zeus die. From the ground on all sides, as if by a wave of a magic wand, thick green ivy grew. He covered the unfortunate child from the fire with his greenery and saved him from death.

Zeus took the saved son, and since he was still so small and weak that he could not live, Zeus sewed him into his thigh. In the body of his father, Zeus, Dionysus got stronger, and, having got stronger, was born a second time from the thigh of the Thunderer Zeus. Then the king of gods and people called his son, the quick messenger of the gods, Hermes, and ordered him to take little Dionysus to Semele's sister, Ino, and her husband Atamant, king of Orchomenus, they had to raise him.

The goddess Hera was angry with Ino and Atamant because they adopted the son of Semele, who she hated, and decided to punish them. She sent madness to Atamant. In a fit of madness, Atamant killed his son Learchus. She barely had time to escape from the death of Ino with another son, Melikert. The husband chased after her and was already overtaking her. Ahead is a steep, rocky seashore, the sea is rustling below, a crazy husband overtakes behind - Ino has no salvation. In desperation, she threw herself with her son into the sea from the coastal cliffs. The Nereids took Ino and Melikert into the sea. The tutor of Dionysus and her son were converted into sea deities and since then they have been living in the depths of the sea.

Dionysus was saved from the mad Atamant by Hermes. He transferred him in the twinkling of an eye to the Nisei valley and gave it there to be raised by the nymphs. Dionysus grew up as a beautiful, powerful god of wine, a god who gives people strength and joy, a god who gives fertility. The tutors of Dionysus, the nymphs, were taken by Zeus as a reward to heaven, and they shine on a dark starry night, called Hyades, among other constellations.

Dionysus and his retinue

With a cheerful crowd of maenads and satyrs decorated with wreaths, the cheerful god Dionysus walks around the world, from country to country. He walks in front, wearing a wreath of grapes, holding a thyrsus adorned with ivy. Around him young maenads whirl in a quick dance, singing and shouting; clumsy satyrs with tails and goat legs, drunk on wine, jump about. Behind the procession they carry the old man Silenus on a donkey, wise teacher Dionysus. He is very tipsy, he can barely sit on the donkey, leaning on the skin of wine lying next to him. The ivy wreath slid to one side on his bald head. Swaying, he rides, smiling good-naturedly. Young satire they walk beside the cautiously stepping donkey and carefully support the old man so that he does not fall. To the sounds of flutes, pipes and tympans, a noisy procession moves merrily in the mountains, among shady forests, along green lawns. Dionysus-Bacchus merrily walks the earth, conquering everything with his power. He teaches people to plant grapes and make wine from their heavy, ripe bunches.

Lycurgus

Not everywhere recognize the power of Dionysus. Often he has to meet resistance; often by force he has to conquer countries and cities. But who can fight the great god, the son of Zeus? He severely punishes those who oppose him, who do not want to recognize him and honor him as a god. The first time Dionysus had to be persecuted was in Thrace, when in a shady valley with his companions, his maenads, he merrily feasted and danced, intoxicated with wine, to the sounds of music and singing; then the cruel king of the edons, Lycurgus, attacked him. The maenads fled in horror, throwing the sacred vessels of Dionysus to the ground; even Dionysus himself fled. Fleeing from the persecution of Lycurgus, he threw himself into the sea; the goddess Thetis sheltered him there. The father of Dionysus, Zeus the Thunderer, severely punished Lycurgus, who dared to offend the young god: Zeus blinded Lycurgus and reduced his life.

Daughters of Miniah

And in Orchomenus, in Boeotia, they did not immediately recognize the god Dionysus. When the priest of Dionysus-Bacchus appeared in Orchomenus and called all the girls and women to the forests and mountains to a merry festival in honor of the god of wine, the three daughters of King Minius did not go to the festival; they did not want to recognize Dionysus as a god. All the women of Orchomenus left the city for the shady forests, and there they honored the great god with singing and dancing. Twisted with ivy, with thyrsos in their hands, they rushed with loud cries, like maenads, through the mountains and praised Dionysus. And the daughters of King Orchomenos sat at home and calmly spun and wove; they did not want to hear anything about the god Dionysus. Evening came, the sun set, and the king's daughters still did not give up work, in a hurry to finish it at all costs. Suddenly a miracle appeared before their eyes, The sounds of tympanums and flutes were heard in the palace, the threads of yarn turned into vines, and heavy clusters hung on them. The looms were green with ivy. The fragrance of myrtle and flowers spread everywhere. The king's daughters looked with surprise at this miracle. Suddenly, all over the palace, already shrouded in evening twilight, the ominous light of torches flashed. The roar of wild animals was heard. Lions, panthers, lynxes and bears appeared in all the chambers of the palace. With a menacing howl they ran around the palace and their eyes flashed furiously. In horror, the king's daughters tried to hide in the farthest, darkest rooms of the palace, so as not to see the glare of torches and not hear the roar of animals. But all in vain, they can't hide anywhere. The punishment of the god Dionysus did not stop there. The bodies of the princesses began to shrink, covered with dark mouse hair, wings with a thin membrane grew instead of hands, they turned into bats. Since then, they have been hiding from daylight in dark damp ruins and caves. So Dionysus punished them.

Tyrrhenian sea robbers

Based on the Homeric hymn and Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses"

Dionysus also punished the Tyrrhenian sea robbers, but not so much because they did not recognize him as a god, but for the evil that they wanted to inflict on him as a mere mortal.

One day young Dionysus stood on the shores of the azure sea. The sea breeze gently played with his dark curls and slightly stirred the folds of the purple cloak that fell from the slender shoulders of the young god. A ship appeared out to sea in the distance; he quickly approached the shore. When the ship was already close, the sailors - they were Tyrrhenian sea robbers - saw a wondrous young man on a deserted seashore. They quickly moored, went ashore, grabbed Dionysus and took him to the ship. The robbers did not even suspect that they had captured a god. The robbers rejoiced that such rich booty fell into their hands. They were sure that they would get a lot of gold for such a beautiful young man by selling him into slavery. Arriving on the ship, the robbers wanted to shackle Dionysus in heavy chains, but they fell from the arms and legs of the young god. He sat and looked at the robbers with a calm smile. When the helmsman saw that the chains were not holding on to the hands of the young man, he said to his comrades with fear:

Unhappy! What are we doing? Do we want to bind God? Look - even our ship can barely hold it! Isn't it Zeus himself, isn't it the silver-bowed Apollo or the shaker of the earth Poseidon? No, he doesn't look like a mortal! This is one of the gods living on the bright Olympus. Release him soon, land him on the ground. No matter how he summoned violent winds and raised a formidable storm on the sea!

But the captain angrily answered the wise helmsman:

Despicable! Look, the wind is fair! Our ship will quickly rush along the waves of the boundless sea. We will take care of the young man later. We will sail to Egypt, or to Cyprus, or to the distant country of the Hyperboreans, and there we will sell it; let this young man look for his friends and brothers there. No, the gods sent it to us!

The robbers calmly raised the sails, and the ship went out to the open sea. Suddenly a miracle happened: fragrant wine flowed through the ship, and the whole air was filled with fragrance. The robbers were dumbfounded. But here on the sails vines with heavy clusters turned green; dark green ivy curled around the mast; beautiful fruits appeared everywhere; oarlocks of oars wrapped around garlands of flowers. When the robbers saw all this, they began to pray to the wise helmsman to rule as soon as possible to the shore. But it's too late! The young man turned into a lion and stood on the deck with a menacing growl, his eyes flashing furiously. A shaggy bear appeared on the deck of the ship; she bared her mouth terribly.

In horror, the robbers rushed to the stern and crowded around the helmsman. With a huge leap, the lion rushed at the captain and tore him to pieces. Having lost hope of salvation, the robbers, one by one, rushed into sea waves and Dionysus turned them into dolphins. The helmsman was spared by Dionysus. He assumed his former form and, smiling affably, said to the helmsman:

Don't be afraid! I loved you. I am Dionysus, the son of the Thunderer Zeus and the daughter of Cadmus, Semele!

Icarium

Dionysus rewards people who revere him as a god. So he rewarded Icarius in Attica, when he hospitably received him. Dionysus gave him a vine, and Icarius was the first to cultivate grapes in Attica. But the fate of Ikaria was sad.

Once he gave wine to the shepherds, and they, not knowing what intoxication is, decided that Icarius had poisoned them, and they killed him, and buried his body in the mountains. The daughter of Icarius, Erigona, was looking for her father for a long time. Finally, with the help of her dog Myra, she found her father's tomb. In desperation, the unfortunate Erigone hanged herself on the very tree under which her father's body lay. Dionysus took Icarius, Erigone, and her dog Myra to heaven. Since then, they have been burning in the sky on a clear night - these are the constellations of Bootes, Virgo and Canis Major.

Midas

Based on Ovid's "Metamorphoses"

Oh, great god Dionysus, order that everything I touch turn into pure, shining gold!

Dionysus granted Midas' wish; he only regretted that Midas had not chosen a better gift for himself.

Rejoicing, Midas departed. Rejoicing at the gift he received, he plucks a green branch from the oak - the branch in his hands turns into gold. He plucks ears of corn in the field - they become golden, and golden grains in them. He picks an apple - the apple turns into gold, as if it were from the garden of the Hesperides. Everything Midas touched turned to gold immediately. When he washed his hands, the water dripped from them in golden drops. Midas exults. So he came to his palace. The servants prepared a rich feast for him, and the happy Midas lay down at the table. It was then that he realized what a terrible gift he had begged from Dionysus. One touch from Midas turned everything to gold. Bread, and all dishes, and wine became golden in his mouth. It was then that Midas realized that he would have to die of hunger. He stretched out his hands to the sky and exclaimed:

Have mercy, have mercy, oh Dionysus! Sorry! I beg you for mercy! Take back this gift!

Dionysus appeared and said to Midas:

Go to the origins of Pactol

Dionysus - the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking
A deity of eastern (Thracian and Lydian-Phrygian) origin, which spread in Greece relatively late and established itself there with great difficulty. Although the name Dionysus is found on the tablets of the Cretan linear letter "B" as early as the 14th century. BC, the spread and establishment of the cult of Dionysus in Greece dates back to the 8th-7th centuries. BC. and is associated with the growth of city-states (policies) and the development of polis democracy.

During this period, the cult of Dionysus began to supplant the cults of local gods and heroes. Dionysus, as a deity of the agricultural circle, associated with the elemental forces of the earth, was constantly opposed to Apollo - as, above all, the deity of the tribal aristocracy. The folk basis of the cult of Dionysus was reflected in the myths about the illegitimate birth of the god, his struggle for the right to enter the ranks of the Olympic gods and for the widespread establishment of his cult.
Note: the authors and titles of the paintings pop up when you hover over them.

France. Visual arts of the 1st c. BC e. - 17th century F. Girardon. "Apollo and the Nymphs" (decorative group in the grotto of the park in Versailles), Marble. 1662-72.

There are myths about various ancient incarnations of Dionysus, as if preparing for his arrival. Archaic incarnations of Dionysus are known: Zagreus, son of Zeus of Crete and Persephone; Iacchus, associated with the Eleusinian mysteries; Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Demeter (Diod. III 62, 2 - 28). According to the main myth, Dionysus is the son of Zeus and the daughter of the Theban king Cadmus Semele.

At the instigation of the jealous Hera, Semele asked Zeus to appear to her in all his greatness, and he, appearing in a flash of lightning, incinerated the mortal Semele and her towers with fire. Zeus snatched out of the flame Dionysus, who was born prematurely, and sewed him into his thigh. In due time, Zeus gave birth to Dionysus, having opened the seams on his thigh (Hes. Theog. 940-942; Eur. Bacch. 1-9, 88-98, 286-297), and then gave Dionysus through Hermes to be raised by the Nisaean nymphs (Eur. Bacch. 556-569) or Semele's sister Ino (Apollod. III 4, 3).
The boy who was born three months later was the god Dionysus, who, having reached maturity, sought out his mother in the underworld, after which Semele was transferred to Olympus. The envious sisters of Semele interpreted her death as a punishment sent by Zeus for giving herself to a mortal. Subsequently, Zeus took revenge on the sisters of Semele, sending all sorts of disasters on their sons.
The name Semele is of Phrygian origin, it means "earth"; probably Semele was a Phrygian-Thracian deity of the earth. The myth about the birth of Dionysus from Zeus was supposed to ensure the introduction into the Olympic pantheon of a god who did not originally belong to it.

Dionysus found the vine and taught people how to make wine.
Hera instilled madness in him, and he, wandering through Egypt and Syria, came to Phrygia, where the goddess Cybele-Rhea healed him and introduced him to her orgiastic mysteries.

After that, Dionysus went through Thrace to India (Apollod. III 5, 1). From the eastern lands (from India or from Lydia and Phrygia) he returns to Greece, to Thebes. During the voyage from the island of Ikaria to the island of Naxos, Dionysus is kidnapped by sea robbers - the Tyrrhenians (Apollod. III 5, 3). The robbers are horrified at the sight of the amazing transformations of Dionysus. They chained Dionysus in order to sell him into slavery, but the chains themselves fell from the hands of Dionysus; braiding the mast, the sails of the ship with vines and ivy, Dionysus appeared in the form of a bear and a lion. The pirates themselves, having thrown themselves into the sea out of fear, turned into dolphins (Hymn. Nom. VII).
This myth reflected the archaic plant-zoomorphic origin of Dionysus. The vegetable past of this god is confirmed by his epithets: Evius ("ivy", "ivy"), "bunch of grapes", etc. (Eur. Bacch. 105, 534, 566, 608). The zoomorphic past of Dionysus is reflected in his werewolf and ideas about Dionysus the bull (618 920-923) and Dionysus the goat. The symbol of Dionysus as the god of the fruitful forces of the earth was the phallus.

On the island of Naxos, Dionysus met his beloved Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, kidnapped her and married her on the island of Lemnos; from him she gave birth to Enopion, Foant, and others (Apollod. epit. I 9). Wherever Dionysus appears, he establishes his cult; everywhere on its way teaches people viticulture and winemaking.

The procession of Dionysus, which was of an ecstatic nature, was attended by Bacchantes, satyrs, maenads or bassarids (one of the nicknames of Dionysus is Bassarei) with thyrsus (rods) entwined with ivy. Girdled with snakes, they crushed everything in their path, seized by sacred madness.

With cries of "Bacchus, Evoe" they praised Dionysus - Bromius ("stormy", "noisy"], beat tympanums, reveling in the blood of torn wild animals, carving honey and milk from the ground with their thyrsus, uprooting trees and dragging crowds along with them. women and men (Eur. Bacch. 135-167, 680-770).

Dionysus is famous as Ley ("liberator"), he frees people from worldly worries, removes the fetters of a measured life from them, breaks the shackles with which his enemies are trying to entangle, and crushes the walls (616-626). He sends madness on enemies and punishes them terribly; so he did with his cousin the Theban king Pentheus, who wanted to ban Bacchic rampages. Pentheus was torn to pieces by Bacchantes led by her mother Agave, who, in a state of ecstasy, mistook her son for an animal (Apollod. III 5, 2; Eur. Bacch. 1061 - 1152).
On Lycurgus, the son of the king of the edons, who opposed the cult of Dionysus, God sent madness, and then Lycurgus was torn to pieces by his own horses (Apollod. III 5, 1)

Dionysus entered the number of 12 Olympian gods late. In Delphi, he began to be revered along with Apollo. On Parnassus every two years, orgies were held in honor of Dionysus, in which fiads - Bacchantes from Attica participated (Paus. X 4, 3). In Athens, solemn processions were held in honor of Dionysus and the sacred marriage of the god with the wife of the archon basileus (Aristot. Rep. Athen. III 3) was played out.

From the religious rituals dedicated to Dionysus (Greek tragodia lit. "song of the goat" or "song of the goats", that is, goat-footed satyrs - companions of Dionysus), an ancient Greek tragedy arose. In Attica, the Great, or City, Dionysias were dedicated to Dionysus, which included solemn processions in honor of the god, competitions of tragic and comic poets, as well as choirs performing dithyrambs (held in March - April); Leney, which included the performance of new comedies (in January - February); Small, or Rural, Dionisia, which preserved the remnants of agrarian magic (in December - January), when dramas already played in the city were repeated.

In Hellenistic times, the cult of Dionysus merges with the cult of the Phrygian god Sabazius (Sabazius became the constant nickname of Dionysus). In Rome, Dionysus was revered under the name of Bacchus (hence Bacchantes, Bacchanalia) or Bacchus. Identified with Osiris, Serapis, Mitra, Adonis, Amon, Liber.

Maenads (M a i n a d e z, "crazy"), Bacchantes, Bassarids · companions of Dionysus. Following Dionysus in fiasas (crowds), maenads, adorned with vine leaves and ivy, crush everything in their path with thyrsae, also entwined with ivy. Half-naked, in sika deer skins, with tangled hair, often girded with strangled snakes, they in insane delight appeal to Dionysus Bromius ("Noisy") or to Dionysus Plushev, exclaiming "Bacchus, Evoe."

They tear wild animals to pieces in the forests and mountains and drink their blood, as if joining the torn deity. Maenads beat milk and honey out of rocks and earth with thirsas, human sacrifices are not uncommon. They drag women along with them, introducing them to the service of Dionysus.

The source of myths about maenads is the tragedy of Euripides "Bacchae", but already in Homer Andromache, who learned about the death of Hector, is called "a maenad with a strongly beating heart" (Homer "Iliad", XXII 460 next).

Bacchanalia - this is how the Romans called orgic and mystical festivities in honor of the god Bacchus (Dionysus), which came from the East and spread first through southern Italy and Etruria, and by the 2nd century. BC e. all over Italy and in Rome.

The bacchanalia was held in secret, attended only by women who gathered in the grove of Similia near the Aventine Hill on March 16th and 17th. Later, men began to come to the ceremony, and celebrations began to be held five times a month.

The notoriety of these festivities, which planned many different crimes and political conspiracies, which was partly promoted by the Senate - the so-called Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus (an inscription on a bronze tablet found in Calabria in 1640) - contributed to the prohibition of Bacchanalia throughout Italy , except for individual special occasions which had to be approved directly by the Senate.

Despite the severe punishment imposed on violators of this ordinance, Bacchanalia was not eradicated, at least in southern Italy, for a very long time. Besides Dionysus, Bacchus is equated with Liber (as well as Liber Pater). Liber ("free") was the god of fertility, wine and growth, he was married to Liber. The holiday in his honor was called Liberalia, it was celebrated on March 17, but according to some myths, the holiday was also celebrated on March 5.

These festivities were combined with a wild, frenzied revelry of the lowest animal passions and were often accompanied by violence and murder. In 186 the senate took the most severe measures against them (the Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus has come down to us on a bronze plaque now kept in Vienna). The consuls made searches throughout Italy, which resulted in many executions, exiles and imprisonments (Livy, 29, 8-18). However, it was not possible to completely eradicate these immoral mysteries, and their name remained for a long time to designate noisy drinking parties, and in this sense it is also used in Russia.

There are many sources of information, including: http://www.greekroman.ru, http://mythology.sgu.ru, http://myfhology.narod.ru, http://ru.wikipedia.org

Dionysus

Dionysus, aka Bacchus (Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio)

Wikipedia

Dionysus(ancient Greek Διόνυσος, Διώνυσος, Mycenaean di-wo-nu-so-jo, lat. Dionysus), Bacchus, Bacchus (ancient Greek Βάκχος, lat. Bacchus) - in ancient Greek mythology the youngest of the Olympians, the god of winemaking, the productive forces of nature, inspiration and religious ecstasy. Mentioned in the Odyssey (XXIV 74).
Before the discovery of the Mycenaean culture, later researchers believed that Dionysus came to Greece from the barbarian lands, since his ecstatic cult with frantic dances, exciting music and immoderate drunkenness seemed to the researchers alien to the clear mind and sober temperament of the Hellenes. However, the Achaean inscriptions testify that the Greeks knew Dionysus even before the Trojan War. In Pylos, one of the months was called di-wo-nu-so-jo me-no (the month of Dionysus).
In Roman mythology, it corresponds to Liber (lat. Liber).

Dionysus, detail of the fresco Allegory Autumn (Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610-1662)

Myths about Dionysus

According to the speech of Cotta given by Cicero, there were five Dionyses:

Son of Zeus and Persephone.
Son of the Nile, killed Nysa.
The son of Kabir, the king of Asia, in his honor the festivities of Sabazi.
The son of Zeus and Selene, in his honor the Orphic festivals.
Son of Nis and Fiona, founder of the Trieterides.

Classic version

It is traditionally believed that Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Learning that Semele was expecting a child from Zeus, his wife Hera in anger decided to destroy Semele and, taking the form of either a wanderer or Beroya, the nurse of Semele, inspired her to see her lover in all divine splendor. When Zeus appeared again at Semele, she asked if he was ready to fulfill any of her desires. Zeus swore by the waters of the Styx that he would fulfill it, and the gods cannot break such an oath. Semele also asked him to hug her in the form in which he hugs Hera.

Jupiter and Semele (Gustave Moreau, 1826-1898)

Zeus was forced to fulfill the request, appearing in a flame of lightning, and Semele was instantly enveloped in fire. Zeus managed to pull out a premature fetus from her womb, sewed it up in his thigh and successfully carried it out. Thus, Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zeus. When Zeus was tormented by childbirth, Poseidon treated him to tuna.
Dionysus was born at six months old and was carried by Zeus for the rest of the time. Born on Naxos and raised by local nymphs. Or was born on the slopes of Drakana (Crete).

Youth of Bacchus (central fragment)
Bouguereau, Adolf William (1825-1905)

Alternative versions

According to the legend of the inhabitants of Brasia (Laconica), when Semele gave birth to a son from Zeus, Cadmus imprisoned her in a barrel along with Dionysus. The barrel was thrown to the ground by Brasius, Semele died, and Dionysus was brought up, Ino became his nurse, raising him in a cave.
According to the Achaean story, Dionysus was brought up in the city of Mesatis and there he was exposed to the dangers of the Titans.

Education of Dionysus

Ino taking care of the baby Dionysus
(John Henry Foley 1818-74)

The myths, where Semele, the second mother of Dionysus, appears, have a continuation about the upbringing of a god.
To protect his son from the wrath of Hera, Zeus gave Dionysus to be raised by Semele's sister Ino and her husband Afamantus, the king of Orchomenus, where the young god was brought up as a girl so that Hera would not find him. But it did not help. The wife of Zeus sent madness to Athamas, in a fit of which Athamas killed his son Learchus. ...She barely had time to escape from the death of Ino with another son, Melikert. The husband chased after her and was already overtaking her. Ahead is a steep, rocky seashore, the sea is rustling below, a crazy husband overtakes behind - Ino has no salvation. In desperation, she threw herself with her son into the sea from the coastal cliffs. The Nereids took Ino and Melikert into the sea. The teacher of Dionysus and her son were turned into sea deities and since then they have been living in the depths of the sea ...
Then Zeus turned Dionysus into a kid, and Hermes took him to the nymphs in Nisa (between Phoenicia and the Nile). The nymphs hid him from Hera, covering the cradle with ivy branches. Brought up in a cave on Nisa. After the death of the first educators, Dionysus was given to the education of the nymphs of the Nisei valley. There, the mentor of the young god Silenus revealed the secrets of nature to Dionysus and taught him how to make wine.

Silenus with little Dionysus in his arms
(Roman copy of an original by Lysippus
4th century BC.)

As a reward for raising his son, Zeus transferred the nymphs to the sky, so, according to myth, clusters of stars appeared in the sky of Hyades in the constellation Taurus next to the star Aldebaran.

Dionysus and Madness

When Hera instilled madness in him, he left the Oreads who raised him and wandered through the lands of Egypt and Syria. According to the myths, Dionysus traveled through Egypt, India, Asia Minor, crossed the Hellespont, ended up in Thrace, and from there reached his native Thebes in Greece. Wherever this god came, he everywhere taught people to grow grapes, but he was accompanied by madness and violence. According to some myths, Dionysus was driven mad by Hera who hated him (Hera is the wife of Zeus, and Dionysus is the illegitimate son of a thunderer), he even committed murders, being enraged.

Bacchanalia, 1608 (Jan Brueghel (I) (1568-1625)

According to other versions, he himself drove those who rejected him and did not recognize him as a god crazy.

So, according to one version of the myth, King Lycurgus, who rejected Dionysus, killed his son in a fit of madness with an ax, convinced that he was cutting down the vine of Dionysus.

Lycurgus

Minya's daughters also went mad

Daughters of Minya.
And in Orchomenus, in Boeotia, they did not immediately recognize the god Dionysus. When the priest of Dionysus-Bacchus appeared in Orchomenus and called all the girls and women to the forests and mountains to a merry festival in honor of the god of wine, the three daughters of King Minius did not go to the festival; they did not want to recognize Dionysus as a god. All the women of Orchomenus left the city for the shady forests, and there they honored the great god with singing and dancing. Twisted with ivy, with thyrsos in their hands, they rushed with loud cries, like maenads, through the mountains and praised Dionysus. And the daughters of King Orchomenos sat at home and calmly spun and wove; they did not want to hear anything about the god Dionysus. Evening came, the sun set, and the king's daughters still did not give up work, in a hurry to finish it at all costs. Suddenly a miracle appeared before their eyes, The sounds of tympanums and flutes were heard in the palace, the threads of yarn turned into vines, and heavy clusters hung on them. The looms were green with ivy. The fragrance of myrtle and flowers spread everywhere. The king's daughters looked with surprise at this miracle. Suddenly, all over the palace, already shrouded in evening twilight, the ominous light of torches flashed. The roar of wild animals was heard. Lions, panthers, lynxes and bears appeared in all the chambers of the palace. With a menacing howl they ran around the palace and their eyes flashed furiously. In horror, the king's daughters tried to hide in the farthest, darkest rooms of the palace, so as not to see the glare of torches and not hear the roar of animals. But all in vain, they can't hide anywhere. The punishment of the god Dionysus did not stop there. The bodies of the princesses began to shrink, covered with dark mouse hair, wings with a thin membrane grew instead of hands - they turned into bats. Since then, they have been hiding from daylight in dark damp ruins and caves. So Dionysus punished them.

King Pentheus was torn to pieces by distraught Bacchantes. The mother of the unfortunate Agave herself was among these women; she fixed the bloody head of her son on the thyrsus, convinced that it was the head of a lion cub.
In Argos, Dionysus plunged the women into madness. They fled to the mountains with babies in their arms and began to devour their meat.

Indian hike

Dionysus fights with the inhabitants of India. Roman mosaic of the 4th century AD (Massimo)

He went on a campaign against India and returned after three years, so they bring him "three-year sacrifices" and perform Bacchic festivities every 3 years. He was the first to build a bridge over the Euphrates near the city of Zeugma, where a rope made of vines and ivy was kept. Megasthenes spoke about the veneration of Dionysus in India. According to some reports, during the war in India, he was killed by Perseus and buried.

Descent into Hades

Dionysus descended to Hades through the Alcyony swamp, and Polymnos showed him the descent. From Hades, he brought his mother Semele, who became the goddess Fiona.

Captivity of the Tyrrhenian pirates

During the voyage of Dionysus from Ikaria to Naxos, he was kidnapped by Tyrrhenian pirates (among whom were Alcimedon and Aket), whose trireme he hired by negligence.

Dionysus at the Tyrrhenian Pirates (mosaic)

But they sailed past Naxos, put Dionysus in chains and headed for Asia, wanting to sell him into slavery. However, the chains themselves fell from the hands of Dionysus, and Dionysus turned the masts and oars into snakes, filling the ship with branches of vines and ivy and the singing of flutes. He appeared on deck in the form of a bear and a lion. Pirates from fear jumped into the sea and turned into dolphins.

Based on the poem "Metamorphoses" by Ovid.
Dionysus also punished the Tyrrhenian sea robbers, but not so much because they did not recognize him as a god, but for the evil that they wanted to inflict on him as a mere mortal.
One day young Dionysus stood on the shores of the azure sea. The sea breeze gently played with his dark curls and slightly stirred the folds of the purple cloak that fell from the slender shoulders of the young god. A ship appeared out to sea in the distance; he quickly approached the shore. When the ship was already close, the sailors - they were Tyrrhenian sea robbers - saw a wondrous young man on a deserted seashore. They quickly moored, went ashore, grabbed Dionysus and took him to the ship. The robbers did not even suspect that they had captured a god. The robbers rejoiced that such rich booty fell into their hands. They were sure that they would get a lot of gold for such a beautiful young man by selling him into slavery. Arriving on the ship, the robbers wanted to shackle Dionysus in heavy chains, but they fell from the arms and legs of the young god. He sat and looked at the robbers with a calm smile. When the helmsman saw that the chains were not holding on to the hands of the young man, he said to his comrades with fear:
- Unhappy! What are we doing? Do we want to bind God? Look - even our ship can barely hold it! Isn't it Zeus himself, isn't it the silver-armed Apollo or Poseidon, the shaker of the earth? No, he doesn't look like a mortal! This is one of the gods living on the bright Olympus. Release him soon, land him on the ground. No matter how he summoned violent winds and raised a formidable storm on the sea!
But the captain angrily answered the wise helmsman:
- Despicable! Look, the wind is fair! Our ship will quickly rush along the waves of the boundless sea. We will take care of the young man later. We will sail to Egypt, or to Cyprus, or to the distant country of the Hyperboreans, and there we will sell it; let this young man look for his friends and brothers there. No, the gods sent it to us!
The robbers calmly raised the sails, and the ship went out to the open sea. Suddenly a miracle happened: fragrant wine flowed through the ship, and the whole air was filled with fragrance. The robbers were dumbfounded. But here on the sails vines with heavy clusters turned green; dark green ivy curled around the mast; beautiful fruits appeared everywhere; oarlocks of oars wrapped around garlands of flowers. When the robbers saw all this, they began to pray to the wise helmsman to rule as soon as possible to the shore. But it's too late! The young man turned into a lion and stood on the deck with a menacing growl, his eyes flashing furiously. A shaggy bear appeared on the deck of the ship; she bared her mouth terribly.
In horror, the robbers rushed to the stern and crowded around the helmsman. With a huge leap, the lion rushed at the captain and tore him to pieces. Having lost hope of salvation, the robbers rushed into the sea waves one by one, and Dionysus turned them into dolphins. The helmsman was spared by Dionysus. He assumed his former form and, smiling affably, said to the helmsman:
- Don't be afraid! I loved you. I am Dionysus, the son of the Thunderer Zeus and the daughter of Cadmus, Semele!

Midas. Based on the poem "Metamorphoses" by Ovid.

Once a cheerful Dionysus with a noisy crowd of maenads and satyrs wandered through the wooded rocks of Tmola in Phrygia. Only Silenus was not in the retinue of Dionysus. He lagged behind and, stumbling at every step, heavily intoxicated, wandered through the Phrygian fields. The peasants saw him, tied him with garlands of flowers and took him to King Midas. Midas immediately recognized the teacher Dionysus, received him with honor in his palace and honored him with sumptuous feasts for nine days. On the tenth day, Midas himself took Silenus to the god Dionysus. Dionysus rejoiced when he saw Silenus, and allowed Midas, as a reward for the honor that he showed his teacher, to choose any gift for himself. Then Midas exclaimed:
- Oh, the great god Dionysus, ordered that everything I touch turned into pure, shiny gold!
Dionysus granted Midas' wish; he only regretted that Midas had not chosen a better gift for himself.
Rejoicing, Midas departed. Rejoicing at the gift he received, he plucks a green branch from the oak - the branch in his hands turns into gold. He plucks ears of corn in the field - they become golden, and golden grains in them. He picks an apple - the apple turns into gold, as if it were from the garden of the Hesperides. Everything Midas touched turned to gold immediately. When he washed his hands, the water dripped from them in golden drops. Midas exults. So he came to his palace. The servants prepared a rich feast for him, and the happy Midas lay down at the table. It was then that he realized what a terrible gift he had begged from Dionysus. One touch from Midas turned everything to gold. Bread, and all dishes, and wine became golden in his mouth. It was then that Midas realized that he would have to die of hunger. He stretched out his hands to the sky and exclaimed:
- Have mercy, have mercy, oh Dionysus! Sorry! I beg you for mercy! Take back this gift!
Dionysus appeared and said to Midas:
- Go to the sources of Pactol, there in its waters wash away this gift and your guilt from your body.
Midas went at the behest of Dionysus to the sources of Pactolus and immersed himself in his clear waters. The waters of Pactolus flowed like gold and washed away the gift received from Dionysus from the body of Midas. Since then, Pactol has become gold-bearing.

Marriage to Ariadne

Dionysus and Ariadne
(Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734)

Ariadne is the daughter of the Cretan king Minos, with the help of which the Athenian hero Theseus was able to get out of the labyrinth. On the island of Naxos, on the way to Athens, the hero treacherously abandoned the girl. Ariadne was ready to commit suicide, but Dionysus saved her, he took her as his wife. Out of love for his youngest son, Zeus made Ariadne an immortal goddess.

Bacchus and Ariadne (Alessandro Turchi)

According to another version, Dionysus himself appeared to Theseus in a dream, when the hero was sleeping on Naxos, and said that the gods appointed Ariadne to him, Dionysus, as his wife. Theseus obeyed the will of the gods and left Ariadne on the island.

Other legends

In addition to wine, Dionysus invented "beer".
Dionysus and the women who accompanied him first uttered the cry "Evoe" on a mountain in Messenia, which they named Eve.
Dionysus was revered by the Arabs. When the gods fled to Egypt, he turned into a goat.
He went on a campaign against the giants (?) Together with Hephaestus and satyrs on donkeys, the donkeys, sensing the giants, roared, and they ran away. For this, Asses are placed in heaven.
According to Euripides, Zeus made the ghost of Dionysus from the ether and gave it to Hera.

Characters associated with Dionysus

Beloved of Dionysus

Adonis.
Ampel.
Beroya.
Hermaphrodite.
Hymen.
And about. (rare version)
Laon.
Erigone (daughter of Icarius).
Offspring of Dionysus
Hermes Chthonius. From Aphrodite (version).
Hymen. From Aphrodite (version).
Dejanira. From Alfea (version).
Didyma (Jovacchus is one of them). From Avra.
Com (Comus).
Maroon. (version)
Narkey. From Fiscoe.
Priapus From Aphrodite, or Chione, or a nymph.
Satyr and Teleta. From Nikea.
Fan. (Argonaut)
Fiona.
Flyant. From Arephyrea, or Chthonophiles, or Ariadne.
Foant, Stafil, Oenopion and Peparef, also Eurymedon and Aeneas. From Ariadne.
Charity. From Koronida or Aphrodite (version).
Approx. 20 names.

Defeated by Dionysus

Alpos.
Ask (giant). Captured Dionysus, defeated by Hermes.
Eurytus (giant).
Lycurgus (son of Drianta). Dionysus instilled madness into him.
Orontes.
Penfey. Ravaged by the Bacchantes.
Reth (giant).
Siphon, king in Thrace.
Tyrrhenian pirates.

Companions of Dionysus

Bassarids.
Bacchantes.
Hyades.
Corybantes.
Melia.
Maenads.
Mimallons.
Satires.
Titles.
Trieterides. Companions of Dionysus. The Trieterides holiday was established by the fifth Dionysus.
Fiads.
Acrates. Companion of Dionysus, demon of unmixed wine.
Acratopot. God of wine drinking, revered in Munichia.
Corinth. Son of Mistida.
Meta (Mete). Stafil's wife. Goddess of drunkenness in Elis, in the temple of Silenus. Painting depicting her in Epidaurus. She gives Silenus wine in a goblet.
Mistida. One of the nurses of Dionysus.
Ovista. Wrong spelling of the name Stafil.
Thales (Phalet). Deity, companion of Dionysus. The killenes offer sacrifices to him.
Fasilia (Fasileya). Companion of Meta.
Fisa. Daughter of Dionysus, with whom he has fun on Ida.