Dionysus, the god of wine and merry making-the twelfth Olympian
Dionysus was the god of wine, grapes, merry-making and ecstasy. Dionysus was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal woman Semele. Hera, being jealous, transformed herself into an old nanny and went to Semele, whom She befriended . Then Semele told Hera that Dionysus was the son of Zeus, Hera acted as if she didn’t believe her and that planted some seeds of doubt in Semele’s mind. When Zeus visited her, Semele demanded that he show his true godly form. Zeus tried to stop her from this madness but had to relent. When he showed his true godly form, Semele crumbled to dust, for mortals couldn’t look at the true form of a god without burning up. Zeus took Dionysus and sewed him up in his thigh. This is why Dionysus is sometimes called twice-born.
When he was young he discovered a method of extracting wine form grapes. He decided to wander around the world teaching his cult, but Hera struck him with madness and that led to him being called the mad traveler. Even then, his cult was a success. Rhea came to him and saved him from this madness and he started to go back to Greece to join the Olympian council. It is because of this that Dionysius is called the foreign Olympian. As he travelled back, he sat on the shore where he was kidnapped by sailors who thought that that he was a prince, from whom they could get a ransom out of. Dionysus turned into a lion and unleashed a bear onto the sailors; any sailors that jumped overboard were turned into dolphins. The only one who survived was the helmsman, who tried to stop the sailors from the beginning. It is because of this story that Dionysus is also called the lord of the dolphins.
Dionysus also had a brief stint learning under Chiron, the centaur, who considered him as one of his best pupils.
When he was young he discovered a method of extracting wine form grapes. He decided to wander around the world teaching his cult, but Hera struck him with madness and that led to him being called the mad traveler. Even then, his cult was a success. Rhea came to him and saved him from this madness and he started to go back to Greece to join the Olympian council. It is because of this that Dionysius is called the foreign Olympian. As he travelled back, he sat on the shore where he was kidnapped by sailors who thought that that he was a prince, from whom they could get a ransom out of. Dionysus turned into a lion and unleashed a bear onto the sailors; any sailors that jumped overboard were turned into dolphins. The only one who survived was the helmsman, who tried to stop the sailors from the beginning. It is because of this story that Dionysus is also called the lord of the dolphins.
Dionysus also had a brief stint learning under Chiron, the centaur, who considered him as one of his best pupils.