vassilias:

_{MYTHOLOGY MEME  |  [6/9] GREEK GODS & GODDESSES » DIONYSUS} 

Dionysus was the god of wine and winemaking, theater, ecstasy, and madness in greek mythology. He was the son of Zeus and Semele, a nymph who was killed by the overpowering presence of Zeus when Hera taunted him to appear in his true divine form to Semele. Zeus took the still unborn Dionysus and sew him into his thigh thus resulting in Dionysus to becoming “twice-born”. He is often depicted in the presence of drunken satyrs and nymphs as well as the Maenads, the human women who once a year are driven to madness by his presence. Dionysus is also often associated with Hades and is known to be the “Eater of Raw Flesh”. A popular tale featuring Dionysus is of Ariadne and the Magic Thread, in which Dionysus becomes a heroic figure of mercy as he seeks to rescue Ariadne from death at the hands of abandonment after Theseus leaves her stranded upon an island. The first greek tragedy was written in his honor, and in the old days, people devoted plays and tragedies to the wine god.