page_title: Dionysus
section_title: Epithets
hierarchical_section_title: Dionysus / Epithets
caption_attribution_description: English: Drunken Dionysos and satyr. Marble, Roman copy from the 2nd century CE after an Hellenistic original. Marble; original elements: heads, torsos and thighs of Dionysos and satyr, right arm of Dionysos; restored elements: legs of Dionysos and satyr, arms of the satyr. Français&#160;: Dionysos ivre s'appuyant sur un satyre. Marbre, copie romaine du IIe siècle ap. J.-C. d'après un original hellénistique. Marbre, éléments originaux&#160;: têtes, torses et cuisses des deux personnages, bras droit de Dionysos&#160;; éléments restaurés&#160;: jambes des deux personnages, bras du satyre.
context_page_description: Dionysus or Dionysos is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and wine, of fertility, orchards and fruit, vegetation, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre in ancient Greek religion and myth.
  He is also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans; the frenzy he induces is bakkheia. Another name used by the Romans is Liber meaning “free”, due to his association with wine and the Bacchanalia and other rites, and the freedom associated with it. His thyrsus, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. As Eleutherios, his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.
  In his religion, identical with or closely related to Orphism, Dionysus was believed to have been born from the union of Zeus and Persephone, and to have himself represented a chthonic or underworld aspect of Zeus.
context_section_description: Dionysus was variably known with the following epithets:
  Acratophorus, Ακρατοφορος ("giver of unmixed wine"), at Phigaleia in Arcadia.
  Acroreites at Sicyon.
  Adoneus, a rare archaism in Roman literature, a Latinised form of Adonis, used as epithet for Bacchus.
  Aegobolus Αἰγοβόλος ("Goat-shooter") at Potniae, in Boeotia.
  Aesymnetes Αισυμνήτης (“ruler" or "lord") at Aroë and Patrae in Achaea.
  Agrios Ἄγριος (“wild"), in Macedonia.
  Androgynos Ανδρογυνος (androgynous in intercourse) referring to the god in sexual intercourse, doing both the active Male role and the passive Female one.
  Bassareus, βασσαρεύς a Thracian name for Dionysus, which derives from bassaris or "fox-skin", which item was worn by his cultists in their mysteries.
  Briseus Βρῑσεὐς ("he who prevails") in Smyrna.
  Bromios Βρομιος ("Roaring" as of the wind, primarily relating to the central death/resurrection element of the myth, but also the god's transformations into lion and bull, and the boisterousness of those who drink alcohol. Also cognate with the "roar of thunder", which refers to Dionysus' father, Zeus "the thunderer".)
  Choiropsalas χοιροψάλας ("pig-plucker": Greek χοῖρος = "pig," also used as a slang term for the female genitalia). A reference to Dionysus's role as a fertility deity.
  Chthonios Χθόνιος ("the subterranean")
  Cittophorus Κιστοφορος (“Basket-Bearer, Ivy-bearer”), Alludes To baskets being sacred to the god.
  Dimetor Διμητωρ (“Twice-Born”) Refers to Dionysus’s two births.
  Dendrites Δενδρίτης ("he of the trees"), as a fertility god.
  Dithyrambos, Διθύραμβος used at his festivals, referring to his premature birth.
  Eleutherios  Ελευθερευς (“the liberator"), an epithet shared with Eros.
  Endendros ("he in the tree").
  Enorches ("with balls," with reference to his fertility, or "in the testicles" in reference to Zeus' sewing the baby Dionysus "into his thigh", understood to mean his testicles). used in Samos and Lesbos.
  Eridromos ("good-running"), in Nonnus' Dionysiaca.
  Erikryptos Ἐρίκρυπτος ("completely hidden"), in Macedonia.
  Euius (Euios),  in Euripides' play, The Bacchae.
  Iacchus, Ιακχος a possible epithet of Dionysus, associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. In Eleusis, he is known as a son of Zeus and Demeter. The name "Iacchus" may come from the Ιακχος (Iakchos), a hymn sung in honor of Dionysus.
  Liknites ("he of the winnowing fan"), as a fertility god connected with mystery religions. A winnowing fan was used to separate the chaff from the grain.
  Lyaeus, or Lyaios (Λυαῖος, "deliverer", literally "loosener"), one who releases from care and anxiety.
  Melanaigis Μελαναιγις ("of the black goatskin") at the Apaturia festival.
  Morychus Μόρυχος, ("smeared") in Sicily, because his icon was smeared with wine lees at the vintage.
  Mystes Μυστης (“Of the Mysteries”)
  Nysian Nύσιος, according to Philostratus, he was called like this by the ancient Indians. Most probably, because according to legend he founded the city of Nysa.
  Oeneus, Οινοψ (“Wine-Dark”) as god of the wine press.
  Omadios (“Flesh-Eater”), Eusebius writes in Preparation for the Gospel that, Euelpis of Carystus states that, in Chios and Tenedos they did human sacrifice to Dionysus Omadios.
  Pseudanor ψευδάνωρ (literally "false man", referring to his feminine qualities), in Macedonia.
  Tauros Ταυρος (“A bull”), occurs as a surname of Dionysus.
  In the Greek pantheon, Dionysus (along with Zeus) absorbs the role of Sabazios, a Thracian/Phrygian deity. In the Roman pantheon, Sabazius became an alternative name for Bacchus.
caption: The over-life size second-century AD Ludovisi Dionysus, with panther, satyr and grapes on a vine, Palazzo Altemps, Rome
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