Definitions for dionysus
ˌdaɪ əˈnaɪ səsdiony·sus

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dionysusnoun

   (Greek mythology) god of wine and fertility and drama; the Greek name of Bacchus

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dionysusnoun

   The god of wine, specifically its intoxication and social influence, but also the patron of agriculture and the theater. Also related to the mystery of religion, as in "spiritual intoxication".

2. Etymology: Via Dionysus, from Διόνυσος.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dionysus

   In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; Ancient Greek: Διόνυσος Dionysos) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. The Romans called him Bacchus ( or ; Ancient Greek: Βάκχος Bacchos) for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia. As Dionysus Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His thyrsus, a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In Orphic religion, he was variously a son of Zeus and Persephone; a chthonic or underworld aspect of Zeus; or the twice-born son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. The Eleusinian Mysteries identify him with Iacchus, the son or husband of Demeter. Most accounts say he was born in Thrace, traveled abroad, and arrived in Greece as a foreigner. His attribute of "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults, as he is a god of epiphany, sometimes called "the god that comes".Wine was a religious focus in the cult of Dionysus and was his earthly incarnation. Wine could ease suffering, bring joy, and inspire divine madness. Festivals of Dionysus included the performance of sacred dramas enacting his myths, the initial driving force behind the development of theatre in Western culture. The cult of Dionysus is also a "cult of the souls"; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead. He is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god.Romans identified Bacchus with their own Liber Pater, the "Free Father" of the Liberalia festival, patron of viniculture, wine and male fertility, and guardian of the traditions, rituals and freedoms attached to coming of age and citizenship, but the Roman state treated independent, popular festivals of Bacchus (Bacchanalia) as subversive, partly because their free mixing of classes and genders transgressed traditional social and moral constraints. Celebration of the Bacchanalia was made a capital offence, except in the toned-down forms and greatly diminished congregations approved and supervised by the State. Festivals of Bacchus were merged with those of Liber and Dionysus.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dionysus

   Dionysus is a deity from the ancient Greek mythology, often recognized as the god of wine, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and religious ecstasy. Conceived from the union of Zeus and a mortal woman Semele, Dionysus is known for his dual nature - his ability to bring joy and divine ecstasy, or to cause brutal and blinding rage. Festivals in Dionysus' honor were characterized by expressively ecstatic celebrations involving music, dancing, and theater performances. He was one of the most significant gods among the twelve Olympians in Greek mythology.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dionysus

   Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, "the god that comes," and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure of Greek mythology and religion, and is included in some lists of the twelve Olympians. Dionysus was the last god to be accepted into Mt. Olympus. He was the youngest and the only one to have a mortal mother. His festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. He is an example of a dying god. The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds a fennel staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or "man-womanish." In its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession is made up of wild female followers and bearded satyrs with erect penises. Some are armed with the thyrsus, some dance or play music. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers, and is sometimes attended by a bearded, drunken Silenus. This procession is presumed to be the cult model for the human followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. In his Thracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox-skin, symbolizing a new life. Dionysus is represented by city religions as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and thus symbolizes everything which is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. Dionysus

   the god of the vine or wine; the son of Zeus and Semele (q. v.), the "twice born," as plucked first from the womb of his dead mother and afterwards brought forth from the thigh of Zeus, which served to him as his "incubator." See Bacchus.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:1.0 / 2 votes

1. dionysus

   Song lyrics by dionysus -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by dionysus on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Greek Deity
   • Greek Mythology

How to pronounce dionysus?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

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   Fred

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   Tessa

   South African

How to say dionysus in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dionysus in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dionysus in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

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References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=dionysus
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dionysus
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=dionysus
6. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Dionysus