Dionysus Strengths And Weaknesses

Dionysus was the only god who was born to a human parent. He was the god of wine and festivity. His mother was Princess Semale, a mortal, and his father was Zeus. Dionysus is usually described as either a beautiful youthful god, almost feminine looking, with long curly hair entwined with grape vines and grapes, or an old bearded god. In addition he is credited with the invention of wine and also helping to inspire the theatre, both important parts of Greek life.

A nasty temper, intoxication, and insanity were Dionysus’ weaknesses. When he lost his temper he was know to have his band of women tear the person that made him mad apart and then eating them or changing them into an animal form. Both of these can be seen in the myths told about him and his followers. Dionysus also had powers such as wine making, changing himself and others into different forms, and helping free people from their shyness with wine, music and dancing. Some of the things that Dionysus holds sacred are the tigers the leopards goat, ivy a

Thyrsus grapes a drinking cup but most of all his groupies the Maenads.

One of the myths that made Dionysus who he is was the myth of his birth story
Princess Semele was his mother and Zeus was his father.

Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera, found out that he was having an affair with Princess Semele and she was not happy so Hera went to Princess Semele in disguise. Hera told Princess Semele that if Zeus truly loved her that he would let her see him in his natural form, a frenzy of lightning bolts. Princess Semele asked Zeus to promise to grant her a wish. He loved her and so he swore to her that he would do whatever she wanted. When she told him that her wish was to have him show himself to her as his natural form he knew it was a mistake but he had promised and could not take it back. He had to go to her as a frenzy of lightning bolts and he knew it would kill her; when he went she was fatally scorched. Princess Semele was pregnant with Dionysus, so Zeus reacted by grabbing the fetus and putting it in his thigh. From there, this is where the fetus grew and where Dionysus was born

from.
The birth story it is important because it shows how jealousy can make us do things that will harm others. This story or myth shows the cold, cold, cold act of murder in a way that is difficult to understand. Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, decided that it would be a good idea to sabotage the life of a beautiful person just because the other woman had taken away her husband and the love that they had shared. Today when a person gets caught in an affair it usually ends in a divorce. Sometimes however it ends in the same drastic way a person getting killed just like the murder of the princess Semale.

To me the most interesting fact about Dionysus is that Zeus saved the fetus of Dionysus by sewing it up in his thigh. This is interesting to me because to save the life of his son he ripped open his own flesh and put the baby in his own thigh. This took a lot of guts. He could have easily just let both of them go to the underworld, but he cared enough about his son that he let him survive. He must have thought that his son would do something very special in life so he saved him to make sure it happened. I think in some ways Dionysus lived up to his dad’s expectations but he also showed the path of good and evil. I think the reason for this is because he was half man half god.