Dionysus, god of wine


Dionysus, known also as Bacchus was the god of the grape harvest, wine, and mystic ecstasy.

Dionysus was the god of Zeus and Semele a beautiful mortal woman. Zeus' wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Hera pretended to be Semele's friend and convinced her to ask from Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory.

Statue of Dionysus,
part of our 12 Olympian Gods collection

Hermes of Praxiteles, 330 B.C.
Hermes carrying the infant Dionysus to Nysa.
Hermes is believed to have been holding grapes with his right hand with Dionysus reaching out to grab them.


The baby was Dionysus, the "twice-born" god.

Zeus sent the baby to be brought up in Nysa, a far-away land (probably Ethiopia in Africa) out of the way of Hera' s jealousy. Hermes was tasked with delivering the baby to the rain-nymphs of Nysa and Papposilenos - who would later become a prominent member of the Satyrs - who nourished his infancy and childhood.


Black figured kylix
featuring the journey of Dionysus to Naxos.
Around the vessel the Tyrrhenian pirates swim transformed in dolphins.
500 BC. Antikensammlung Munich, Germany.

Red figured kylix featuring Dionysus resting under the sound of a flute.
340 B.C. Munich Museum, Germany.


Red figured Oinochoe
Dionysus, Aphrodite and winged Eros. Also known as "The vase of love". 350 BC, Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Source: Wikipedia, Pierre Grimal - Dictionnaire de la Mythologie Greque, Encyclopedia Mythica