Dionysus

Dionysus Dionysus-the god of wine Dionysus, the youngest of the Olympians, is the god of wine. His father is none other than the great creator, Zeus, but his mother is only a mortal named Semele. Dionysus is the only god who has a mortal mother. He has seven siblings. They are Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, Apollo, the god of light and music, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, Ares, the god of war, Hephaestus, the god of fire, Hermes, the herald of the gods, and finally, Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. This is Dionysus’s family. As you already know, Dionysus’s father is Zeus, and his mother is the mortal, Semele. Obviously, Zeus’s wife, Hera, hated Semele. At the time, Semele was bearing Zeus’s son, who would soon become Dionysus. So one day, Hera dressed as an old woman and went to visit Semele. She “befriended” Semele and asked her who her husband was. “He is the great creator, Zeus,” Semele boasted. “Are you sure?” asked Hera, “He could just be saying that to impress you. Make him show himself in all of his godly splendor, just to be sure.” And with that, Hera left. Semele was suspicious. What if her beloved husband was lying to her? So the next time she saw Zeus, she asked him to grant her a wish. Zeus agreed. “I wish for you to show yourself in all of your godly splendor!” she shouted. Bound by his promise, Zeus showed himself in all of his splendor, a being of light so bindingly bright that that Semele burned to a crisp. But, luckily, Zeus was able to save his unborn son, Dionysus, and sewed him into his leg. When he was ready to be born, he sprung from Zeus’s leg as Dionysus, the god of wine. However, Zeus knew that Hera would kill Dionysus, so he sent for Hermes to carry him to the splendorous valley of Nysa. There Dionysus was raised by nymphs, and grew up to be the great god he is today.