Dionysus and the Legend of Wine 狄俄尼索斯與酒的傳說

張爽

The Thracian God of Wine—Zagreus is thought to be the inspiration for the Greek God of Wine Dionysus1 who is more widely known across the world. Dionysus is associated with wine， joy， feasts， the Dionysus mysteries2 and has become a synonym for “enjoying oneself”， “having a good time”. So， what is the story of Dionysus？

The legend goes that Dionysus was born from his fathers Zeus thigh. Dionysus was yet another of Zeus children that was a result of one of his numerous affairs. This is why Zeus wife—Hera did not like the boy. On the contrary， all other Olympus Gods were fond of the young Dionysus because he was beautiful and joyful.

When he entered adolescence Dionysus started surrounding himself and enjoying the company of the maenads. The name “maenad” literally means “the raging one”. The maenads were a group of women who were famous for their lustfulness， feasts and frivolous spirit. All these characteristics of the maenads drew the young Dionysus and he started enjoying their company regularly until the point when the maenads were the constant entourage3 of Dionysus.

Soon Dionysus left Olympus with his entourage of maenads and set on travelling and experiencing the world. One of the groups early journeys took them to a beautiful town with splendid gardens. The wife of the towns ruler was famous for her unsurpassed beauty. Dionysus heard of her beauty and wished that he seduce her. He saw her in one of the gardens and persuaded to follow him in his journeys across the world. She accepted and escaped from her husband to join Dionysus and the maenads. Thus， she became Dionysus supreme wife.

She had long， red hair， voluptuous body， passionate temper and frivolous spirit， so she became a perfect match for the merry group of travelers. Thus， Dionysus， his beautiful wife and the maenads traveled across the world， enjoying themselves at every stop， organizing feasts and bringing chaos and frivolity. Somehow their behavior mesmerized the ordinary people and wherever they stopped， people discontinued their chores and engaged in the feasts.

One of their stops happened to be a town that was ruled by the brother of the husband who Dionysus left with no wife. This was a perfect opportunity for Hera， Zeus wife who did not like Dionysus， to satisfy her desire to punish Dionysus. She appeared in the dream of the deceived husband and pointed to the location of his wife and urged him to avenge Dionysus by killing her. So， it happened. The husband sneaked into the place where Dionysus and his entourage were feasting and speared the beautiful woman with a dagger.