PBP- D is for Dionysos

For my second D post I am going to concentrate on Dionysos, the last of the three deities I am working on building a personal relationship with. My relationship with him is one that is still very new so this post will focus on his areas of influence, attributes and epithets. Once I know him better I hope to come back and write a more detailed post. 

Dionysos is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Semele. He is often called ‘Twice-born’, and the story of his birth can be read about here. He is the God of Viticulture, Wine, Fruit, Drunkenness, Parties & Festivities, Madness & Insanity, Homosexuality, Wilderness, Predatory big cats, Reincarnation & the Afterlife, and Plays and the theatre.  

Some of his Epithets (for the full list see here) are; 

Agrios (The Wild One)

Anax Agreus  (Lord Hunter)

Axios Tauros (The Worthy Bull)

Bromios (He Who Roars)

Choreutes (The Dancer)

Ekstatophorus (The Bringer of Ecstasy)

Euios (The Reveller)

Gethosynos (The Joyful)

Iatros (The Healer)

Kissos (Ivy)

Kryphios ( The Hidden One)

Lampter (Light-bringer)

Lyseus (Liberator)

Mainomenos (The Maddened One)

Manikos (The Manic One) 

Nyktelios (He of the Night)

Zoophoros (Life Bringer) 

Symbols= Thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff); Ivy Crown

Attributes= Tyrsos; Ivy-crown; Grape-vine

Sacred Plants/Flowers= Grape-vine; Ivy; Cinnamon; Silver Fir; Bindweed

Sacred Animals= Leopard; Goat; Donkey; Lion; Serpent; Wild Bull