Drinking Deities
Bacchus/ Dionysus
The Greek God Dionysus, known to the Romans as Bacchus was
the God of fertility, wine and the arts, so essentially sex, drugs, and rock
and roll. He was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. His mother was destroyed
by Zeus’ image and Dionysus had to be implanted in Zeus’ thigh to be born from
it. I know, weird, but it gets better. Zeus sent him to be raised by nymphs for
his safety until he came of age. Once he was old enough, he wandered to the
far-east teaching the community how to cultivate wine for several years. He
returned to the western world a full-fledged God and traveled from town to town
getting hammered and sharing the glories of wine. He would enter towns in a drunken
parade with Goat-footed Satyrs jamming on the pan flute, with nymphs scantily
clad playing the role of his groupies. Dionysus would ride in a chariot driven
by tigers, lions and other wild beasts. He would disperse wine and his partying
vibes to a crowd welcoming him like the King of Mardi Gras. Dionysus’ ability
to spread the party spirit was so legendary that Kings would be worried about
his visits due to his ability to turn men into drunken animals.
Beyond the mythology, the real citizens of Rome, who focused
their worship on the God of wine, would mimic in Dionysus’ carefree drinking
ways with extravagant parties full of hedonistic behavior. The parties and overindulgence
brought on by the Cult of Dionysus became so out of control, they were outlawed
by Rome and which caused the citizens to worship (party) in secret.
Sources
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