Dionysus

Dionysus, or Bacchus (and Iacchus in the mysteries), in Greek mythology the god of wine, was born at Thebes, in Bceotia, of Zeus and Semele. According to one legend he was entrusted by Hermes to the Nymphs, who reared him upon Mount Nysa, whence his name. He is generally represented as wandering in the East with Satyrs and Maenads. He conquered India; at Naxos he encountered and married Ariadne, who had been deserted by Theseus; in Thrace he smote Lycurgus with blindness; and at Thebes, Pentheus was torn in pieces on Mount Citheeron for insulting the rites.

He also changed the daughters of Minyas into bats. Sometimes Bacchus is represented as in the height of youthful beauty, accompanied by Bacchanals and drawn by panthers, and clothed in a panther's skin, bearing the thyrsus, and crowned with ivy and vine tendrils; at other times he is represented as older, and clad in Oriental raiment.