God is the patron saint of winegrowers and winemakers in Greece. Dionysus (nicknames: Bacchus, Bacchus), the story of his life, exploits and crimes
"Twice Born" Dionysus appeared on Olympus later than other gods. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman - the beautiful Theban princess Semele. Zeus swore to her to fulfill any request - and so, at the instigation of Hera, Semele asked that Zeus appear before her in all the majesty of the thunder god. This request was thoughtless: when Zeus appeared in the roar of thunder and the flash of lightning, fire engulfed the palace and Semele, who lived in it. A curious woman died, but she was soon to have a child, but could Zeus allow the death of his unborn son? He snatched the child from the fire, and since the baby was too small and weak to live on his own, Zeus sewed it into his thigh. Dionysus grew stronger in the body of his father and was then born a second time from the thigh of the thunderer Zeus. Therefore, Dionysus was called “twice-born.”
Dionysus brings his mother to Olympus. As for Semele, Dionysus, of course, could not come to terms with the fact that his mother was in the kingdom of Hades. When he received a place on Olympus, he made his descent into the world of the dead. There he found Semele and brought her to Olympus, where she became a goddess and was worshiped under the name Tiona. Therefore, Dionysus himself was sometimes called Tionian - son of Tione.
Dionysus is hidden from Hera. After his new birth, Dionysus was handed over to be raised by King Athamas and his wife Ino, Semele’s sister, with whom he lived for some time, disguised as a girl. However, even changing clothes could not hide him from Hera, who was not satisfied with the death of Semele and transferred her hatred to her child. Hoping that Athamas would kill Dionysus, she sent him mad. However, he only killed his son, mistaking him for a deer, and Hermes carried Dionysus away from danger.
Wanting to better shelter Dionysus from persecution by Hera, Hermes took him to the nymphs on Mount Nysa (at the same time, so that Hera would not notice him, Dionysus was turned into a kid by Zeus). The Nisean nymphs settled Dionysus in a cool mountain grotto, looked after him, and fed him honey. For this care of his son, Zeus later placed the Nysaean nymphs in the sky among the stars, where they can be seen to this day in the form of the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus. And the child of Zeus, in memory of his stay on Nisa, received a name that consists of the name of his father (Diy, that is, Zeus) and the name of the place where he was raised; This is how his name came about.
Dionysus makes drinks. It was on Nisa that Dionysus made his most important discovery - he learned to make a soul-merrying drink from grape juice. That is why, when he grew up, he became the cheerful, powerful god of wine, giving people strength and joy. Wanting to bestow his discovery on people, Dionysus walked around almost the entire inhabited earth, teaching everywhere to grow grapes and make wine from them; and in those countries where grapes do not grow, Dionysus taught people to make another, no less fragrant, drink from barley - beer. [For this, in many countries where God made life more pleasant, he was awarded the highest honors.]
The first tragedy because of wines. The first person whom Dionysus treated to wine and taught how to make it was a farmer from Attica named Icarius. He liked the drink and decided to introduce it to other people. That's when the first tragedy happened. The shepherds to whom Icarius brought the wine were delighted - they had never drunk anything like this, and therefore drank too much of the unusual drink.
After getting drunk, they felt bad and thought that Icarius had poisoned them. They attacked him furiously and killed him. Icarius had a daughter named Erigone. When her father did not return home, the girl went to look for him and, with the help of a faithful dog, found him - but dead. Erigone's grief was so great that she hanged herself from a tree above her father's body.
But Dionysus, who treated Icarius well, did not leave his death without revenge. He sent madness to the Athenian girls, and they began to commit suicide, as Erigone did. The inhabitants of Athens asked Apollo why the gods were angry with them, and received the answer that the reason for this was the murder of Icarius. Then the Athenians punished the murderous shepherds, and in memory of Erigone, at the festival in honor of Dionysus, Athenian girls began to arrange swings in the trees and swing on them. And the gods placed the dead Icarius and Erigone in the sky, and he became the constellation Arcturus, and she became the constellation Virgo. There was also a place in the sky for the faithful dog who helped Erigone in search of her father - this is now the star Sirius.
Bacchae. On his travels, Dionysus was accompanied by a crowd of admirers, not only men, but also women. Wearing a crown of grapes, he walked or rode on a panther, and behind him and around him in a riotous dance rushed maenads (they are also called bacchantes, because one of the names of Dionysus was the name Bacchus) - women who devoted themselves to serving Dionysus. In their hands were thyrsi - wands entwined with ivy, the same as those of Dionysus himself; they were dressed in deer skins and girded with strangled snakes. In a holy frenzy they crushed everything that came their way. With exclamations of “Bacchus, Evoe!” they beat the tympanums, tore into pieces the wild animals they came across with their hands, carved milk and honey out of the ground and rocks with their thyrsi, and uprooted the trees they encountered. Their violent procession carried away all the people they met and was dedicated to Dionysus Bromius, that is, the “Noisy One.”
Satires. In addition to the maenads, Dionysus was accompanied everywhere by satyrs - creatures similar to humans, but with bodies covered with wool, goat legs, horns and horse tails. They were mischievous, crafty, always cheerful, often drunk; in life, except for wine and beautiful nymphs, they were not interested in anything. Accompanying Dionysus, they performed simple melodies on pipes and flutes, and the piercing sounds of this music echoed throughout the surrounding area, announcing the approach of the cheerful god.
Old Man Silenus. In this noisy procession, which was called fias, the old man Silenus, the teacher of Dionysus, also rides on a donkey. He is quite funny to look at - bald, pot-bellied, snub-nosed, and always sits on a donkey. Silenus likes the drink invented by his pupil so much that no one has seen Silenus sober for a long time. However, he did not drink away his mind, and sometimes, in a completely sober voice, he utters words full of wisdom. Dionysus loves his teacher very much; at his command, he is constantly watched and looked after by satyrs.
Midas. Despite these precautions, one day Silenus disappeared. When a forest hummock fell under the donkey’s feet and he stumbled, Silenus fell from him and remained lying in the roadside bushes. No one noticed this, and Silenus himself slept peacefully in the place where he fell off the donkey.
In the morning he was found by the servants of King Midas and taken to the palace. The king immediately realized who was in front of him, and therefore surrounded him with all honor, let him sleep it off, and then helped him return to Dionysus. For this, God suggested that Midas ask for any reward. He, not distinguished by any particular intelligence or imagination, asked to make everything he touched turn into gold. “I’m sorry, Midas, that you didn’t come up with anything better, but have it your way!” - With these words, Dionysus sent Midas home.
The king was beside himself with happiness. Still would! He will now become the richest man on earth! He broke a branch from a tree - and the branch in his hands became golden. He picked up a stone from the ground - and the stone turned into gold. But now it’s time for the king to have dinner. He took bread from the table - and it also became golden. Only now did Midas understand how terrible the gift of Dionysus was: all food turned into gold in his hands, and he was now in danger of starvation. Then Midas prayed to Dionysus, asking him to take his gift back, and Dionysus, without bearing any grudge against him, agreed. He ordered him to go to the Tmol River and swim in it, wash off the magical power. Midas did just that, and after bathing he could safely touch anything - he no longer turned it into gold. And since then, people began to find golden sand in the Tmol River.
The incident in Thebes. Dionysus is beautiful and eternally young; long, wavy blue-black hair falls onto his shoulders, his dark blue eyes shine. To the sound of flutes and pipes, his fias procession moves from one country to another, and everywhere Dionysus teaches people to grow grapes and make wine from their heavy, ripe bunches. Not everyone and not everywhere liked it; sometimes they did not want to consider Dionysus a god, and then he brought down terrible punishments on the wicked. This is what happened, for example, in Thebes, the homeland of Semele, the mother of Dionysus.
Semele had a sister, Agave. When she died, incinerated by the lightning of Zeus, Agave began to say that Semele died deservedly: she spread rumors that Zeus himself had honored her with marital intercourse, and as punishment he destroyed her. The son of Agave, Pentheus, who became the Theban king, said the same thing: there is no god Dionysus, all these are inventions of idle people. Then Dionysus himself decided to stand up for the honor of his mother. Taking the form of a beautiful youth, he appeared in Thebes and there infected Agave and other Theban women with a bacchanalian frenzy. With wild cries of “Bacchus, Evoe!” they rushed to the mountains and there began to lead the life of frantic maenads.
Dionysus before Pentheus. The angry Pentheus ordered that the stranger who caused this disaster be brought to him. And now Dionysus, chained in chains, stands before the king. He smiles, watching how Pentheus rages, how, wanting to bind his captive even more tightly, he binds with strong bonds a bull, which seems to him to be Dionysus. Suddenly the entire palace shook, the columns began to shake, and in the place where Semele had once died, a pillar of fire appeared, illuminating the entire palace with its radiance. Pentheus, overcome by madness, thought that the palace was on fire and ordered water to be carried to extinguish the fire, and rushed at Dionysus, so that he would not escape his vengeance, with a drawn sword. It seemed to him that he had dealt a mortal blow to the stranger, but when he ran out of the palace, he again saw him, surrounded by a crowd of bacchantes.
God Dionysus
Pentheus falls victim to madness. Pentheus becomes increasingly mad. When a shepherd came from the mountains and told about the way of life that the bacchantes lead there, the king ordered the army to prepare for a campaign - all the bacchantes would be captured by force and killed! The king himself decided, disguised as a woman, to personally look at them in the forest. However, when he came to the forest, the women noticed him.
Dionysus made it so that they did not understand that there was a man in front of them, deciding that they were seeing a wild beast. The whole crowd attacked the unfortunate man and tore him to pieces. Agave, having planted the head of Pentheus on her staff, entered the city with this booty, calling everyone to look at the head of the fierce lion that she had killed. When the madness passed and she realized what crime she had committed, Agave left her hometown and died in a foreign land, and all the Thebans from now on had no doubt that Dionysus was a real god, and Semele was the wife of Zeus.
Dionysia.
Since Dionysus was associated with the cultivation of grapes, it is natural that the holidays in his honor were largely associated with work in the vineyards. This work was completed in December; At this time the holiday of the Lesser Dionysia fell. It was a joyful holiday in honor of the god of wine and fun, full of fun and jokes. On this day, noisy processions walked through the Greek villages, in which everyone participated - both men and women, both free and slaves. Those participating in these processions carried sacred objects and symbols of Dionysus - grape branches and vessels of wine. At the temple of Dionysus, sacrifices were made, and then feasts and entertainment began. It was on this day that Icarius and Erigone were honored, on this day the youth indulged in a fun and noisy game: they had to hold on to an inflated leather bag, lubricated with oil, on one leg. The winner received the same bag as a reward, but already filled with wine.
In February, another holiday was celebrated - Lenaia, and soon after them - Anthesteria. According to tradition, it was customary to taste young wine on the days of this holiday. At this time, vessels with wine were decorated with garlands of the first spring flowers; Children were also decorated with flowers, to whom it was customary to buy and give various toys on this day. During this holiday, adults held wine drinking competitions. The winner was the one who drank his cup faster.
But the main holiday in honor of Dionysus was the Great Dionysia, which was celebrated in late March - early April. It lasted a whole week and was celebrated with great pomp. But, perhaps, what is more important for us is not this pomp, but the fact that the birth of the theater is connected with this holiday. Tragedy and comedy later arose from the skits performed by the costumed participants in the Dionysian processions. On the Great Dionysia, tragedies were played in theaters for four days, and on Lenaia, comedies were staged in theaters of ancient Greece.
Vina Dionysus has always been distinguished by his extraordinary eccentricity. When modern researchers studied his cult in detail, they were sincerely surprised that the Hellenes, with their sober worldview, could tolerate such a celestial being with his frantic dancing, exciting music and immoderate drunkenness. Even the barbarians who lived nearby suspected that he had come from their lands. However, the Greeks had to recognize him as their brother and agree that Dionysus is the god of anything, but not boredom and despondency.
Illegitimate son of the Thunderer
Even with the story of his birth, he stands out from the general mass of dark-skinned and loud-mouthed babies born on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is known that his father, Zeus, in secret from his legal wife Hera, had a secret passion for a young goddess named Semele. Having learned about this, the legal half, filled with anger, decided to destroy her rival and, with the help of magic, instilled in her the crazy idea of asking Zeus to hug her the way he does with her - his legal wife.
Semele chose the moment when Zeus was ready for any promises, and whispered her wish to him. The poor thing didn't know what she was asking for. No wonder he earned the reputation of a thunderer. When he pressed his beloved to his chest, he was immediately engulfed in fire and illuminated by lightning. Hera, the wife, may have liked it, but poor Semele could not bear such passion and instantly burned out. An overly ardent lover managed to snatch the premature fetus from her womb and, placing it in his own thigh, carried out the remaining term. This is how the baby Dionysus was born in an unusual way.
New intrigues of Hera
Such a happy event took place, according to various sources, either on the island of Naxos, or on Crete; now no one remembers for sure, but it is known that the first educators of the young deity were nymphs, of whom a great many lived in those places. So young Dionysus would have frolicked between them, but suddenly the matter was complicated by the fact that Zeus learned about Hera’s desire to destroy his illegitimate son. To stop her, he gives the young man to his mother’s sister Ino and her husband Athamas.
But Zeus underestimated his jealous wife. Hera found out the whereabouts of Dionysus and sent madness to Athaman, wanting him to kill the child she hated in a fit of violence. But it turned out differently: his own son became the victim of the unfortunate madman, and the future god of wine safely escaped by jumping into the sea with Ino, where they were accepted into their arms by the Nereids - the Greek sisters of the mermaids well known to us.
The Satyr's Apprentice
In order to further protect his son from his evil wife, Zeus turned him into a kid and in this guise, he handed him over to kind and caring nymphs from Nysa, a city in the territory of present-day Israel. The legend says that they hid their ward in a cave, hiding the entrance with branches. But it just so happened that one old, but very frivolous satyr - a demon, a student of the drunkard Bacchus - chose this same place as his home. It was he who taught Dionysus the first lessons in winemaking and introduced him to immoderate libations.
So from a harmless-looking kid, the god of wine turned out. Further, disagreements begin in the legends - either Hera instilled madness in him, or alcohol had that effect, but Dionysus scattered the branches that hid the entrance to his shelter and went wherever his eyes led him. He was seen idly wandering around in Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and even in India. And everywhere he taught people how to make wine. But the strange thing is that wherever he held celebrations, they always ended in madness and violence. It was as if there was something demonic in the juicy grapes.
The further life of Dionysus was full of adventures. He spent three years on a military campaign against India, and in memory of this, the ancient Greeks established a noisy Bacchic holiday. It was he, the god of wine and fun, who built the first bridge across the great Euphrates River, using a rope made of grapevine and ivy to make it. After this, Dionysus descended into the kingdom of the dead and safely brought out his mother, Semele, who entered later mythology under the name Fiona.
There is also a story about how the god of wine was once captured by pirates. Sea robbers captured him during one of his sea voyages. But apparently they had little idea who they were dealing with. The shackles naturally fell from his hands, and Dionysus turned the masts of the ship into snakes. To top it all off, he appeared on deck in the form of a bear, causing the frightened pirates to jump into the sea, turning into dolphins.
Marriage of Dionysus and Ariadne
Before finally settling on Olympus, the god of wine got married. His chosen one was Ariadne, the same daughter of the Cretan who, with the help of her thread, managed to help the legendary Theseus get out of the labyrinth. But the fact is that, once he was safe, the scoundrel treacherously abandoned the girl, which is why she was ready to commit suicide. Dionysus saved her, and the grateful Ariadne agreed to become his wife. To celebrate, her new father-in-law, Zeus, granted her immortality and a rightful place on Olympus. Many other adventures of this hero are described in Greek legends, because Dionysus is the god of what? Wine, but you just have to taste it, and all sorts of things will happen...
Preparation of moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!
After the collapse of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and the article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law that prohibits you and me from engaging in our favorite hobby - preparing alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ “On the administrative liability of legal entities (organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the field of production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1999, No. 28 , art. 3476).
Extract from the Federal Law of the Russian Federation:
“The effect of this Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) producing products containing ethyl alcohol for purposes other than sale.”
Moonshining in other countries:
In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses dated January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. Thus, according to Article 335 “Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages”, illegal production of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, mash and other alcoholic beverages for the purpose of sale, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with confiscation of alcoholic beverages , apparatus, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.
In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the production and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for the storage of devices* for its production without the purpose of sale.
Article 12.43 repeats this information almost word for word. “Production or acquisition of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), storage of apparatus for their production” in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Clause No. 1 states: “The production by individuals of strong alcoholic drinks (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as the storage of devices* used for their production, will entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with confiscation of the specified drinks, semi-finished products and devices."
*You can still purchase moonshine stills for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumes.
Dionysus - god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture, winemaking
A deity of eastern (Thracian and Lydian-Phrygian) origin, which spread to Greece relatively late and established itself there with great difficulty. Although the name Dionysus appears on the Cretan Linear B tablets back in 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 (polises) 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 the deity of the agricultural circle, associated with the elemental forces of the earth, was constantly contrasted with Apollo - as primarily the deity of the tribal aristocracy. The folk basis of the cult of Dionysus was reflected in the myths about the illegal birth of the god, his struggle for the right to become one of the Olympian 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. Fine art of the 1st century. BC e. - 17th century F. Girardon. “Apollo and the Nymphs” (decorative group in the grotto of the park at Versailles), Marble. 1662-72.
There are myths about various ancient incarnations of Dionysus, as if preparing for his coming. The archaic hypostases 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 tower with fire. Zeus snatched Dionysus, who was born prematurely, from the flames and sewed him into his thigh. In due time, Zeus gave birth to Dionysus, unraveling the sutures in 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 Nisean nymphs (Eur. Bacch. 556-569) or Semele's sister Ino (Apollod. III 4, 3).
The boy born three months later was the god Dionysus, who, having reached maturity, found his mother in the underworld, after which Semele was transferred to Olympus. Semele's envious sisters interpreted her death as a punishment sent by Zeus for giving herself to a mortal. Subsequently, Zeus took revenge on Semele's sisters by sending all kinds of disasters to their sons.
The name Semele is of Phrygian origin, meaning "earth"; Semele was probably a Phrygian-Thracian earth deity. The myth of the birth of Dionysus from Zeus was supposed to ensure the introduction into the Olympian pantheon of a god who initially did not belong to it.
Dionysus found a vine and taught people how to make wine.
Hera instilled madness in him, and he, wandering around Egypt and Syria, came to Phrygia, where the goddess Cybele-Rhea healed him and introduced him to her orgiastic mysteries.
After this, Dionysus went to India through Thrace (Apollod. III 5, 1). From the eastern lands (from India or from Lydia and Phrygia) he returns to Greece, to Thebes. While sailing 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 to sell him into slavery, but the chains themselves fell from Dionysus's hands; entwining the mast and sails of the ship with vines and ivy, Dionysus appeared in the form of a bear and a lion. The pirates themselves, who threw themselves into the sea out of fear, turned into dolphins (Hymn. Nom. VII).
This myth reflected the archaic plant-zoomorphic origin of Dionysus. The plant 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 werewolfism and the ideas of 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 Oenopion, Foant and others (Apollod. epit. I 9). Wherever Dionysus appears, he establishes his cult; everywhere along his path he teaches people viticulture and winemaking. 
The procession of Dionysus, which was of an ecstatic nature, was attended by bacchantes, satyrs, maenads or bassarides (one of the nicknames of Dionysus - Bassarei) with thyrsus (rods) entwined with ivy. Belted with snakes, they crushed everything in their path, seized by sacred madness. 
With cries of "Bacchus, Evoe" they praised Dionysus - Bromius ("stormy", "noisy"), beat the tympanums, reveling in the blood of torn wild animals, carving honey and milk from the ground with their thyrses, uprooting trees and dragging crowds with them women and men (Eur. Bacch. 135-167, 680 - 770). 
Dionysus is famous as Liaeus (“liberator”), he frees people from worldly worries, removes the shackles of a measured life from them, breaks the shackles with which his enemies are trying to entangle him, and crushes walls (616-626). He sends madness to his enemies and punishes them terribly; This is what he did with his cousin, the Theban king Pentheus, who wanted to prohibit Bacchic rampages. Pentheus was torn to pieces by the Bacchantes under the leadership of his mother Agave, who in a state of ecstasy mistook her son for an animal (Apollod. III 5, 2; Eur. Bacch. 1061 - 1152).
God sent madness to Lycurgus, the son of the king of the Aedons, who opposed the cult of Dionysus, and then Lycurgus was torn to pieces by his own horses (Apollod. III 5, 1)
Dionysus entered the list of the 12 Olympian gods late. In Delphi he began to be revered along with Apollo. On Parnassus, orgies were held every two years in honor of Dionysus, in which the fiads - bacchantes from Attica (Paus. X 4, 3) participated. In Athens, solemn processions were organized in honor of Dionysus and the sacred marriage of the god with the wife of the archon basileus was played out (Aristot. Rep. Athen. III 3). 
An ancient Greek tragedy arose from religious and cult rites dedicated to Dionysus (Greek tragodia, lit. “song of the goat” or “song of the goats,” that is, goat-footed satyrs - companions of Dionysus). In Attica, the Great, or Urban, Dionysias were dedicated to Dionysus, which included solemn processions in honor of the god, competitions of tragic and comic poets, as well as choirs singing dithyrambs (held in March - April); Leneys, which included the performance of new comedies (in January - February); Small, or Rural, Dionysia, preserving the remnants of agrarian magic (in December - January), when dramas already played in the city were repeated. 
In Hellenistic times, the cult of Dionysus merged with the cult of the Phrygian god Sabazius (Sabasius became the permanent nickname of Dionysus). In Rome, Dionysus was revered under the name Bacchus (hence the bacchantes, bacchanalia) or Bacchus. Identified with Osiris, Serapis, Mithras, Adonis, Amun, Liber. 
Maenads (M a i n a d e z, “mad ones”), bacchantes, bassarides · companions of Dionysus. Following the thias (crowds) behind Dionysus, the maenads, decorated with vine leaves and ivy, crush everything in their path with thyrses, also entwined with ivy. Half-naked, in the skins of sika deer, with matted hair, often belted with strangled snakes, they in mad delight call on Dionysus Bromius ("Noisy") or Dionysus Ivy, exclaiming "Bacchus, Evoe." 
They tear apart wild animals in the forests and mountains and drink their blood, as if communing with the torn deity. With thyrses, maenads beat milk and honey out of rocks and earth, and human sacrifices are not uncommon. They attract women with them, introducing them to the service of Dionysus. 
The source of myths about maenads is the tragedy of Euripides “The 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 seq.).
Bacchanalia - this is what the Romans called the orgical and mystical festivals in honor of the god Bacchus (Dionysus), which came from the East and spread first across the south of Italy and Etruria, and by the 2nd century. BC e. - throughout Italy and 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 festivals, at which many different crimes and political conspiracies were planned, which was partly spread 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 the Bacchanalia throughout Italy , except for certain special cases that had to be approved directly by the Senate. 
Despite the heavy punishment imposed on violators of this decree, Bacchanalia was not eradicated, at least in the south of Italy, for a very long time. In addition to 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 (Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus has come down to us on a bronze plaque, now kept in Vienna). The consuls carried out 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 bouts, 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
According to legend, Dionysus owes his appearance to the warlike Hera, who was fiercely, although not unreasonably, jealous of her husband Zeus. She prompted Semele to ask him to appear before her in his warlike form: 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. Lightning, wrapping around the chariot, flew towards the formations and burned them. Semele herself also suffered from the fire; during the fire she 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 handed over to be raised by Semele’s sister, Ino, and his brother-in-law, Athamas; Hera doomed the latter to madness.
According to another version, Dionysus and his mother Semele were imprisoned in a barrel by 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 (with the help of Zeus’s wife, of course) and began to kill his own children, and even attempted to kill Dionysus.
Then the future patron of winemakers ended up in the caves of Nisa - 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 development of Dionysus as God: the mentor taught the young man the business of winegrowers and instilled in him a love of agriculture.
After reaching adulthood, the ruler of Olympus decided to thank the nymphs of Nysus and raised them to heaven.
Madness of Dionysus
Inducing madness is the most insidious and most frequent revenge of Hera; this punishment did not escape Dionysus. Under the influence of her spell, he goes on a long journey through Asia and Africa. Its presence in different countries brought with it both positive influence and negative consequences. He taught the inhabitants of Egypt, Syria, India and Asia Minor aspects of agriculture, revealing to them the secrets of productive cultivation of various crops. Along with the useful skills with which the patron of vegetation enriched the lives of the owners of the fields, those who did not believe in his abilities had a hard time.
According to 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. The worst thing was for young mothers with babies who were sent to the mountains, where they happily ate raw meat.
Why do they offer “three-year sacrifices” to Dionysus?
The fact is that God traveled throughout India for three years. His initial motives were confrontation, battle, and a small number of sources even talk about his death during a duel and burial without honors.
The number 3, as it were, marks Dionysus, so it is customary to organize bacchanalia for him every 3 years and collect donations for a three-year period.
Among the significant events in the life of the patron of agriculture, one can also highlight a visit to the Kingdom of Hades, from where he brought his mother and subsequently made her the Goddess Fiona.
Tyrrhenian pirates
The Tyrrhenian pirates, namely two of their company - Acetus and Alcimedon, attacked the trireme of Dionysus on the way to Naxos. They captured the God of winemaking, tied him up, shackled his hands and feet, their plan was to transfer God to Asia, where, in turn, to sell him 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 themselves around the invaders. The entire ship was covered by a vine, and Aket and Alkimedon 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. 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 particularly honest and abandoned Ariadne on the way to Athens. Dionysus immediately noticed the young lady of unearthly beauty and took her with him.
There is also an alternative version, where the patron of winegrowers was sent a legend that Ariadne would become his wife and he personally challenged Theseus to battle in order to win back the beauty.
We are accustomed to seeing this God as a person who would be completely absorbed in agriculture and the creation of tart wines, but there are less common, but more exciting reports of his existence:
- Beer is also a creation of Dionysus
- The mountain in Messenia is called Eve, because it was this cry that the girls surrounding God reproduced while 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, which frightened even the 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 plowed the land with it himself.
Dionysus is the last of the twelve main Olympian Gods, however, it is in his honor that the most vibrant and cheerful festivals are held. There is a competition between comic and tragic poetry and theatrical performances. There is always a lot of wine and snacks on the tables. During the bacchanalia period, many weddings take place and everything around is filled with an atmosphere of fun.
