God of the week : Dionysus

God of the week : Dionysus

Dionysus was the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele(daughter of Cadmus of Boeotia) Often referred to as the god of vegetation and wine. The jealousy of Hera led to the deception of Zeus ,tricking him into showing his true self to Semele. The true form of Zeus incinerated Semele. In some accounts, Zeus took the unborn Dionysus into his thigh were he was taken to Olympus to be born.

The adult life of Dionysus was filled with spreading his teachings in human form across the land. He would madden those who didn't believe or worship his divinity, and he would bring wine and happiness to those who did. We see in the tragedy of Euripides, The Bacchae, Dionysus is arrested and brought before Pentheus. Pentheus interrogates Dionysus for his crimes of corrupting Thebes. After the brief interrogation period Dionysus is placed in the dungeon , where he escapes by conjuring earthquakes and fire from his mothers tomb. Dionysus proceeds to madden and trick Pentheus into adorning a costume and walking up the mountain to be torn apart by his own mother. The method of slaughter was indicative of the ritual madness the worship of Dionysus involved.

In The Metamorphoses of Ovid we see Dionysus by the name preferred by the Romans, Bacchus. This is the story were we get the fable of king Midas. Dionysus grants king Midas any gift he wants for returning Silenus, the foster father of Dionysus. Midas foolishly asks that whatever he touches turns to gold. Finding he can no longer eat or drink because of the impetuous “gift” he asked for, Midas begged Dionysus to free him. Midas was instructed to the river to release his "gift" into the waters, where the riverbed became lined with gold.