Semele was the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, king and queen of Thebes,and the mother of Dionysus, god of wine. Zeus fell madly in love with her andmade an oath to do anything that she asked. Hera, the jealous wife ofZeus,realized Zeus was in love with Semele and tricked Semele into asking Zeusto let her see him in his majesty. Bound by an oath, Zeus appeared before theunfortunate woman in all his divine glory. (Morford-Lenardon 187) As she lookedat him, she was consumed by the lightening bolts and light that radiated fromhim. Zeus was able to rescue her unborn child, Dionysus, and hid him in his sideuntil it was ready to be born.
Hermes carried Dionysus to be cared for by the nymphs of Nysa-theloveliest of earth’s valleys.(Hamilton 65) When Dionysus had grown up, hewandered to many far and strange places. Everywhere he went he taught men theculture of the vine and mysteries of his worship and everywhere he had been, hewas accepted as a god.
Dionysus went to Thebes to establish his worship, since that was hismother’s city. He was accompanied by the Maenads. Pentheus, the King of Thebes,was not happy with the behavior of this group of strangers. He ordered hissoldiers to imprison the visitors, but he had no idea that Dionysus was a newgod.
The soldiers tried to imprison the maidens but said that the doorsunbarred themselves. Pentheus was furious. He ordered his soldiers to imprisonDionysus but the prison could not hold him. Dionysis tried to show that thewonders of this new worship of a new and great god was divine but when Pentheusonly heaped insults and threats upon him, Dionysus left him to hisdoom.(Hamilton 71)When Pentheus went to pursue the maidens that had escaped his prison,many Theban women joined him, and that is when Dionysis made them mad and theythought Pentheus was a wild beast and tore him apart.That is when Pentheusrealized that he had fought with a god and must now pay with his life.
Some time during his wanderings, Dionysus came upon the princess of Crete, Ariadne, when she was utterly desolate, having been abandoned on theshore of the island of Naxos by the Athenian prince, Theseus, whose life she hadsaved. (Hamilton 67) Dionysus rescued her and later fell in love with her. Whenshe died, Dionysus took her crown and put it among the stars.
His mother, Semele, whom he had never seen, was not forgotten. He longedfor her so much that he went to the lower world, defied the power of Death andbrought her to live on Olympus. Even though she was a mortal, the gods acceptedher as one of themselves since she gave birth to a god.
The Maenads, or the Bacchantes, were women frenzied with wine. They werethe followers of Dionysus. The most important festival, the Greater Dionysia,was held in Athens for five days each spring.They were days of pure enjoyment.
It was held in a theater, and the ceremony was the performance of a play. Thegreatest poetry in Greece was written for him.
Dionysus died with the coming of a cold, but he was always brought backto life. It was this joyful resurrection celebrated in his festivals.
