Editing Dionysus (section)

====Love affairs====
[[File:Antoine-Jean Gros - Bacchus and Ariadne.jpg|thumb|''Bacchus and Ariadne'' (1822) by [[Antoine-Jean Gros]]]]
When [[Theseus]] abandoned [[Ariadne]] sleeping on Naxos, Dionysus found and married her. They had a son named Oenopion, but she committed suicide or was killed by [[Perseus]]. In some variants, Dionysus had her crown put into the heavens as the constellation Corona; in others, he descended into [[Hades]] to restore her to the gods on Olympus. Another account claims Dionysus ordered Theseus to abandon Ariadne on the island of Naxos, for Dionysus had seen her as Theseus carried her onto the ship and had decided to marry her.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} [[Psalacantha]], a nymph, promised to help Dionysus court Ariadne in exchange for his sexual favours; but Dionysus refused, so Psalacantha advised Ariadne against going with him. For this Dionysus turned her into the plant with the same name.<ref>[[Ptolemy Hephaestion]], ''New History'' 5, epitomized in Patriarch [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]]'s ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]]'' [https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=237#190.35 190.35]</ref>

{{Multiple image
|total_width=300
|image1=Dioniso scopre arianna, da casa dei capitelli colorati a pompei, 9278.JPG
|image2=Affresco con l'epifania di Dioniso a Nasso, da Pompei, I 4, 5 Casa del Citarista . Napoli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, inv. 9286.png
|footer=Dionysos surrounded by his [[thiasus]] discovers Ariadne asleep at [[Hypnos]]'s side. Frescoes in [[Pompeii]]}}

Dionysus fell in love with a nymph named [[Nicaea (mythology)|Nicaea]], in some versions by [[Eros]]' binding. Nicaea however was a sworn virgin and scorned his attempts to court her. So one day, while she was away, he replaced the water in the spring from which she used to drink with wine. Intoxicated, Nicaea passed out, and Dionysus raped her in her sleep. When she woke up and realized what had happened, she sought him out to harm him, but she never found him. She gave birth to his sons [[Telete]], [[Satyr]]us, and others. Dionysus named the ancient city of [[Nicaea]] after her.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/page/20/mode/2up?view=theater 16.244–280]; [[Memnon of Heraclea]], ''History of Heraclea'' book 15, as epitomized by [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius of Constantinople]] in his ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]]'' [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_06bibliotheca.htm 223.28]</ref>

In [[Nonnus]]'s ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', Eros made Dionysus fall in love with [[Aura (mythology)|Aura]], a virgin companion of [[Artemis]], as part of a ploy to punish Aura for having insulted Artemis. Dionysus used the same trick as with Nicaea to get her fall asleep, tied her up, and then raped her. Aura tried to kill herself, with little success. When she gave birth to twin sons by Dionysus, [[Iacchus]] and another boy, she ate one twin before drowning herself in the [[Sakarya River|Sangarius]] river.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca03nonnuoft#page/459/mode/2up 48.470–634 (III pp. 458]–[https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca03nonnuoft#page/491/mode/2up 48.928–936 (III pp. 490, 491)].</ref>

Also in the ''Dionysiaca'', Nonnus relates how Dionysus fell in love with a handsome satyr named [[Ampelos]], who was killed by Selene due to him challenging her. On his death, Dionysus changed him into the first grapevine.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' 11. 185 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.):

"[Ampelos the love of Dionysos rode upon the back of a wild bull:] He shouted boldly to the fullfaced Moon (Mene)—'Give me best, Selene, horned driver of cattle! Now I am both—I have horns and I ride a bull!'

So he called out boasting to the round Moon. Selene looked with a jealous eye through the air, to see how Ampleos rode on the murderous marauding bull. She sent him a cattlechasing gadfly; and the bull, pricked continually all over by the sharp sting, galloped away like a horse through pathless tracts. [It threw the boy and gorged him to death.]"</ref>