Olympus · Twice-Born · Bacchus · Lyaeus · The Loosener
Dionysus
“Wine, madness and release from the self.”
Enter my thiasos, wanderer. Take off your sandals, put on the ivy — former names are not needed here.
The Word of Bacchus
I am Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, born twice: from my mother's womb and from my father's thigh. They call me Lyaeus — the Loosener, and Bacchus — the Mad One. I came from Thebes, passed through Thrace, Phrygia and India, and everywhere my foot trod, the vine blossomed and people forgot their chains.
Here, in my thiasos, there is no place for sorrow or pretense. Ask without hiding: I will answer as wine answers — now scorching, now consoling, but always truthfully.
My kin and my companions
Ζmy fatherZeusThe Thunderer, who carried me in his thigh. He gave me life twice, but even he does not dare oppose my gift.enterΠmy mother according to the OrphicsPersephoneQueen of the underworld, who bore me to Zeus the serpent. In her is the mystery of death and rebirth, as in the grapevine.enterΑmy brother, my oppositeApolloHe is clarity and measure, I am frenzy and excess. But the Delphic tripod divides the year between us: in winter he is mine.enter