Zeus the Thunderer, the favorite of Olympus, according to myths, loved many goddesses and mortal women. Dozens of children were born from them. We know the name of the son of Zeus and Semele - Dionysus. In the list of others, many are named after Hercules. All are labeled by name and approximately by their mothers. Hercules the sixth was born by the Mycenaean queen Alcmene, the first by Lysiphoia, the fourth by Asteria. From whom others - no information.
But he did not have a single Hercules from his third wife - the goddess Hera. And with her, according to mythology, her brother Zeus lived in incest for 300 years. But she gave birth to Hephaestus and Athena even without him, and Ares and Hebu - in general from nature: a flower from the Olensk fields and lettuce (lettuce). This is mystical mythology - a tale for centuries and millennia. The Greeks believed in it and still believe in it.
Hercules and the Kerinean doe
And what was the name of the son of Zeus, who was born from his thigh?
It was Dionysus. The aforementioned god loved very much in his youth the beautiful Semele, the heiress of King Cadmus (Thebes, or earlier Cadmium - the main city of Hellas). He generously gave promises to fulfill her every wish, whatever it may be. He confirmed the words with the oath of the gods, which is not accepted to break.
Dionysus
But you need to know the goddess Hera well. She punished everyone who approached her husband. Semele, the future mother of Zeus' illegitimate son, also fell out of favor. Hera acted, as always, with cunning. She persuaded Semele to summon the king of Olympus to appear to her with excessive importance. Like, she should find out if he really is who he claims to be? Let him prove his destiny among the gods of Greece.
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This meant that the future father of the child should be able to spew out thunder and lightning, as he called himself. He did so, fulfilling the request of a mortal woman he respected. But something went wrong: from the fire and roar in the king's palace, everything began to burn and collapse. The clothes of the Tsar's daughter were already on fire. And then Semele realized that she would be ruined by the stated request, which the villainous goddess prompted to express.
Death of Semele. Painting by Rubens 1640
Dionysus's Miraculous Salvation
And Semele, burning from a fierce flame, gave birth to a child, unable to survive, Dionysus. But the father did not allow the newborn to die, covering it from the fire with instantly grown juicy ivy. Later he sewed the premature baby into his thigh and took it out when he got stronger. Then he sent Dionysus to be raised by his aunt Ino and her husband, Tsar Atamant.
Now the hated Hera decided to punish them for helping her husband. She made the Atamant insane. In a fit of rage, he began to destroy everything and everyone in the house. Ino managed to escape to the sea with Dionysus. There she jumped into the water, and the boy was saved by his brother Hermes. Now having given them up to nymphs.
Hermes with the baby Dionysus. Marble statue, 4th century BC
Dionysus, who later completed many adventures and deeds, was ascended to the Olympic pantheon, saved his mother. She, already under a different name, was recognized as a celestial and took a place among the revered masters of heaven and earth.
Dionysus and Ceres (goddess of agriculture)
When the hero grew up and became the god of wine and fertility, he discovered the cult of the divine intoxicating drink. There were also opponents of winemaking, because, as Plutarch pointed out, festivities with the use of wine often turned into bacchanalia in the current sense of the word. Everywhere on God's travels around the world were accompanied by mad and raging companions and goat-footed satyrs. From the Roman translation of the name of the god Bacchus, the word "bacchanalia" came from - drunkenness, debauchery. In Rome, where the Greek cult of Dionysus-Bacchus passed over, the earthly authorities had to tame such riotous laws. Not all worshipers of God honored the ancient, simple postulate of life: "meden agan" - "nothing beyond measure."
Dionysus and Ariadne. Bas-relief
Dionysus performances were held regularly. Greek theater culture adopted the genres of tragedy and comedy. The first is translated as "goat singing" because it was performed by people with goat legs or covered with goat skins. And comedy came out of comic songs at such events.
