Editing Dionysus (section)

===Second birth===
[[File:Jupiter and Semele by Gustave Moreau.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Jupiter and Semele|Jupiter et Sémélé]]''. Oil on canvas by [[Gustave Moreau]], 1895.]]
The birth narrative given by [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] ({{Circa|64 BC}} – 17 AD) in ''Fabulae'' 167, agrees with the Orphic tradition that Liber (Dionysus) was originally the son of Jove (Zeus) and Proserpine (Persephone). Hyginus writes that Liber was torn apart by the Titans, so Jove took the fragments of his heart and put them into a drink which he gave to [[Semele]], the daughter of Harmonia and [[Cadmus]], king and founder of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]]. This resulted in Semele becoming pregnant. [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] appeared to Semele in the form of her nurse, Beroe, and told her: "Daughter, ask Jove to come to you as he comes to Juno, so you may know what pleasure it is to sleep with a god." When Semele requested that Jove do so, she was killed by a thunderbolt. Jove then took the infant Liber from her womb, and put him in the care of Nysus. Hyginus states that "for this reason he is called Dionysus, and also the one with two mothers" (''dimētōr'').<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' CLXVII</ref>

Nonnus describes how, when life was rejuvenated after the flood, it was lacking in revelry in the absence of Dionysus. "The [[Horae|Seasons]], those daughters of the lichtgang, still joyless, plaited garlands for the gods only of meadow-grass. For Wine was lacking. Without Bacchos to inspire the dance, its grace was only half complete and quite without profit; it charmed only the eyes of the company, when the circling dancer moved in twists and turns with a tumult of footsteps, having only nods for words, hand for mouth, fingers for voice." Zeus declared that he would send his son Dionysus to teach mortals how to grow grapes and make wine, to alleviate their toil, war, and suffering. After he became protector of humanity, Zeus promises, Dionysus would struggle on earth, but be received "by the bright upper air to shine beside Zeus and to share the courses of the stars." (Dionysiaca 7).<ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 14 ff (trans. Rouse)</ref>

[[File:Sebastiano_Ricci_-_Dionysus_(1695).jpg|thumb|left|''Jove and Semele'' (c. 1695) by [[Sebastiano Ricci]]]]
The mortal princess Semele then had a dream, in which Zeus destroyed a fruit tree with a bolt of lightning, but did not harm the fruit. He sent a bird to bring him one of the fruits, and sewed it into his thigh, so that he would be both mother and father to the new Dionysus. She saw the bull-shaped figure of a man emerge from his thigh, and then came to the realization that she herself had been the tree. Her father Cadmus, fearful of the prophetic dream, instructed Semele to make sacrifices to Zeus.<ref name=":8" /> Semele became a priestess of the god and, on one occasion, she was observed by Zeus as she slaughtered a bull at his altar and afterwards swam in the river [[Asopus]] to cleanse herself of the blood. Flying over the scene in the guise of an eagle, Zeus fell in love with Semele and repeatedly visited her secretly.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' 7.110-8.177 {{Harv|Dalby|2005|pp=19–27, 150}}</ref> The first time he came to Semele in her bed, he was adorned with various symbols of Dionysus. He transformed into a snake, and "Zeus made long wooing, and shouted "Euoi!" as if the winepress were near, as he begat his son who would love the cry." Immediately, Semele's bed and chambers were overgrown with vines and flowers, and the earth laughed. Zeus then spoke to Semele, revealing his true identity, and telling her to be happy: "you bring forth a son who shall not die, and you I will call immortal. Happy woman! you have conceived a son who will make mortals forget their troubles, you shall bring forth joy for gods and men." (Dionysiaca 7).<ref name=":8">Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 139 ff (trans. Rouse)</ref>

[[File:Dyonisus Archmus Heraklion.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Bust of Dionysus, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.]]
During her pregnancy, Semele rejoiced in the knowledge that her son would be divine. She dressed herself in garlands of flowers and wreathes of ivy, and would run barefoot to the meadows and forests to frolic whenever she heard music. Hera became envious and feared that Zeus would replace her with Semele as queen of Olympus. She went to Semele in the guise of an old woman who had been Cadmus' wet nurse. She made Semele jealous of the attention Zeus gave to Hera, compared with their own brief liaison and provoked her to request Zeus to appear before her in his full godhood. Semele prayed to Zeus that he show himself. Zeus answered her prayers but warned her that no other mortals had ever seen him as he held his lightning bolts. Semele reached out to touch them and was burnt to ash. (Dionysiaca 8).<ref>Nonnus, Dionysiaca 8. (trans. Rouse)</ref> But the infant Dionysus survived, and Zeus rescued him from the flames, sewing him into his thigh. "So the rounded thigh in labour became female, and the boy too soon born was brought forth, but not in a mother's way, having passed from a mother's womb to a father's." (Dionysiaca 9). At his birth, he had a pair of horns shaped like a crescent moon. The [[Horae|Seasons]] crowned him with ivy and flowers, and wrapped horned snakes around his own horns.<ref name=dion.9/>

An alternate birth narrative is given by Diodorus from the Egyptian tradition. In it, Dionysus is the son of [[Amun|Ammon]], who Diodorus regards both as the creator god and a quasi-historical king of [[Libya]]. Ammon had married the goddess [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], but he had an affair with [[Amaltheia]], who bore Dionysus. Ammon feared Rhea's wrath if she were to discover the child, so he took the infant Dionysus to [[Nysa (mythology)|Nysa]] (Dionysus' traditional childhood home). Ammon brought Dionysus into a cave where he was to be cared for by Nysa, a daughter of the hero [[Aristaeus]].<ref name=diodiii/> Dionysus grew famous due to his skill in the arts, his beauty, and his strength. It was said that he discovered the art of winemaking during his boyhood. His fame brought him to the attention of Rhea, who was furious with Ammon for his deception. She attempted to bring Dionysus under her own power but, unable to do so, she left Ammon and married [[Cronus]].<ref name=diodiii/>

====Interpretation====
[[File:Delos Museum Mosaik Dionysos 05.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic Greek]] [[mosaic]] depicting the god [[Dionysos]] as a winged [[daimon]] riding on a tiger, from [[Mosaics of Delos|the House of Dionysos]] at [[Delos]] (which [[History of Delos|was once controlled]] by [[History of Athens|Athens]]) in the [[South Aegean]] [[Administrative regions of Greece|region]] of [[Greece]], late second century BC, [[Archaeological Museum of Delos]]]]
Even in antiquity, the account of Dionysus' birth to a mortal woman led some to argue that he had been a historical figure who became deified over time, a suggestion of [[Euhemerism]] (an explanation of mythic events having roots in mortal history) often applied to demi-gods. The 4th-century Roman emperor and philosopher [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] encountered examples of this belief, and wrote arguments against it. In his letter ''To the Cynic Heracleios'', Julian wrote "I have heard many people say that Dionysus was a mortal man because he was born of Semele and that he became a god through his knowledge of [[theurgy]] and the Mysteries, and like our lord Heracles for his royal virtue was translated to Olympus by his father Zeus." However, to Julian, the myth of Dionysus's birth (and that of Heracles) stood as an allegory for a deeper spiritual truth. The birth of Dionysus, Julian argues, was "no birth but a divine manifestation" to Semele, who foresaw that a physical manifestation of the god Dionysus would soon appear. However, Semele was impatient for the god to come, and began revealing his mysteries too early; for her transgression, she was struck down by Zeus. When Zeus decided it was time to impose a new order on humanity, for it to "pass from the nomadic to a more civilized mode of life", he sent his son Dionysus from India as a god made visible, spreading his worship and giving the vine as a symbol of his manifestation among mortals. In Julian's interpretation, the Greeks "called Semele the mother of Dionysus because of the prediction that she had made, but also because the god honored her as having been the first prophetess of his advent while it was yet to be." The allegorical myth of the birth of Dionysus, per Julian, was developed to express both the history of these events and encapsulate the truth of his birth outside the generative processes of the mortal world, but entering into it, though his true birth was directly from Zeus along into the [[Neoplatonism|intelligible realm]].<ref name=julian>Julian, trans. by Emily Wilmer Cave Wright. To the Cynic Heracleios. ''The Works of the Emperor Julian'', volume II (1913) Loeb Classical Library.</ref>