Dionysus

8 Pages 1918 Words

n-eyed with jealousy. She disguised herself as Semele’s nurse, Beroe, and convinced the girl to ask Zeus to show her his true form. When Zeus came to her that night, being so in love, she forced him to swear that he’d give her anything she desired. Once he agreed, she asked that he show her his true form. Sad but bound by his word, he did so, instantly incinerating Semele. From the ashes, Zeus managed to save the premature baby and sew him into his thigh until the baby, later named Dionysus, was due to be born, and he gained the nick name Tice Born. After that, his father sent him to be raised by the Nymphs on Mt. Nysa where he invented the art of wine making (Parada, 3).
In another popular story, Dionysus was the product of Zeus and Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. In the Orphic version of this story, Dionysus appears successively in three different forms: Phanes-Dionysus, the bisexual god of light, who bursts from the silver egg of the cosmos at the beginning of time. Alone, Phanes created Nyx (Night), with whom he begot Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven). They eventuall create the Titans who create the gods, as follows the popular Greek creation myth. This is the same Phanes whose grandson, Zeus, swallowed him to usurp his power and control of Chronos’ throne. Zeus then took the form of a serpent and begot the second Dionysus, Dionysus-Zagreus, the Horned Child, upon Persephone. This second Dionysus was bequeathed with rulership of the world and underworld while he was still a child, greatly angering Hera and the Titans. Hera bribed the Titans, and w...