Dionysus

Also known as: Insewn · Role: god · First appears: The Catalogues of Women and Eoiae · Fragments 81–100

Zeus gave birth to Dionysus secretly from Hera, while other accounts in the Homeric Hymn I place his birth at Thebes or Naxos, or say that Semele bore him to Zeus. The Nymphs received him from his father and fostered him in the dells of Nysa as he grew up.

In the Homeric Hymn VII, Dionysus appeared on a shore as a stripling, and Tyrsenian pirates seized him and put him aboard their ship. His bonds fell away; wine, a vine, ivy, and garlands appeared, and he took the forms of a lion and a bear. As a lion he seized the ship’s master, while the sailors leapt into the sea and became dolphins. Dionysus spared the helmsman and made him happy.

The Catalogues of Women and Eoiae names Dionysus as the father of Oenopion, in a genealogy describing Maro as the son of Euanthes, son of Oenopion, son of Dionysus.

Relationship record

Life events

Zeus gave birth to Dionysus secretly from Hera.(Homeric Hymn I · To Dionysus)
- With: Zeus
- “The Father of men and gods gave you birth remote from men and secretly from white-armed Hera.”
Dionysus appeared on a headland by the shore, seeming like a stripling.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “how he appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the fruitless sea, seeming like a stripling”
Tyrsenian pirates seized Dionysus and put him aboard their ship.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “When they saw him they made signs to one another and sprang out quickly, and seizing him straightway, put him on board their ship exultingly”
Dionysus's bonds would not hold him and fell away from his hands and feet.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “They sought to bind him with rude bonds, but the bonds would not hold him, and the withes fell far away from his hands and feet”
Wine, a vine, ivy, and garlands miraculously appeared throughout the ship.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “First of all sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black ship and a heavenly smell arose”
Dionysus transformed into a lion and a bear aboard the ship.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “But the god changed into a dreadful lion there on the ship, in the bows, and roared loudly: amidships also he showed his wonders and created a shaggy bear”
Dionysus seized the ship's master as a lion, and the master was killed.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “until suddenly the lion sprang upon the master and seized him”
The sailors leapt overboard and were changed into dolphins.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “and when the sailors saw it they leapt out overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a miserable fate, and were changed into dolphins”
Dionysus spared the helmsman and made him happy.(Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus)
- “But on the helmsman Dionysus had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy”
The Nymphs fostered and nurtured Dionysus as he grew up.(Homeric Hymn XXVI · To Dionysus · 📍 Nysa)
- With: Nymphs
- “The rich-haired Nymphs received him in their bosoms from the lord his father and fostered and nurtured him carefully in the dells of Nysa”

The Catalogues of Women and Eoiae · Fragments 81–100

child: Oenopion “Maro , whose father, it is said, Hesiod relates to have been Euanthes the son of Oenopion, the son of Dionysus.”

Homeric Hymn I · To Dionysus

parent: Semele (The hymn also explicitly says Semele bore Dionysus to Zeus.) “And others yet, lord, say you were born in Thebes; but all these lie. The Father of men and gods gave you birth remote from men and secretly from white-armed Hera.”
parent: Zeus “And some, in Naxos, O Heaven-born, Insewn ; and others by the deep-eddying river Alpheus that pregnant Semele bare you to Zeus the thunder-lover.”

Homeric Hymn VII · To Dionysus

parent: Semele “I am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus’ daughter Semele bare of union with Zeus.”
parent: Zeus “I am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus’ daughter Semele bare of union with Zeus.”

Homeric Hymn XXVI · To Dionysus

parent: Zeus “splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele.”
parent: Semele “splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele.”

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Extracted from the original text of Hesiod and Homerica. Made with Rho MD.