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Dionysus. Mother was Semele , a mortal, and father was Zeus, the most powerful Olympian. Only god whose parents were not both gods. God of the Vine. Zeus was so in love with her that he promised her anything on the river Styx.
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Dionysus • Mother was Semele, a mortal, and father was Zeus, the most powerful Olympian. • Only god whose parents were not both gods. • God of the Vine. • Zeus was so in love with her that he promised her anything on the river Styx. • Hera, annoyed that Zeus had fallen in love with yet another woman, made Semele wish to see Zeus’s immortal glory. • Semele died because of this wish, but her soon-to-be-born child, Dionysus, was saved by Zeus.
Dionysus (cont.) • When Dionysus grew up, he journeyed far ; was accepted everywhere as a god until he came closer to Thebes, his mother’s country. • He was spotted on the beach by sailors, who kidnapped him. All but one refused to believe he was a god. • Possibly fell in love with Ariadne, the princess Theseus abandoned. • Brought his mother (Semele) back from death to live amongst the Olympians. • Followers were the Maenads, a group of women who could either be frenzied or joyful in their worship.
Dionysus (cont.) • When Dionysus reached Thebes, the king was so repelled by the Maenads he refused to accept Dionysus as a god. • Dionysus and the king’s old prophet calmly insisted the king relent, but the king never did. • As punishment, Dionysus sent the Maenads, including the king’s mother and sister, to tear King Pentheus into pieces. • Dionysus was the god of sorrow and the god of joy. (Wine makes you drunk, or it gives you courage.) • Also the god who represented that death did not end all.
Pyramus and Thisbe • The story of two lovers who had a tragic end. • Both lived in Babylon, in houses next to each other, separated by a wall. • Their parents forbid their marriage, so the two had to whisper to and kiss each other through a little crack in the wall. • One day, Pyramus made a plan with Thisbe to run away, and they decided to meet by a mulberry tree around a certain grove.
Pyramus and Thisbe (cont.) • Thisbe reached the meeting place first, and when she arrived, there was a lioness who had just killed an animal. • The lioness had bloody jaws and was approaching Thisbe, so she threw down her cloak, which the lioness ripped apart while Thisbe escaped. • When Pyramus arrived, he saw the cloak’s bloody shreds, and he assumed Thisbe was dead. • He stabbed himself and his blood spurted onto the then-white berries of the mulberry tree. • Thisbe then found him and the two had one last moment before she killed herself as well.