Ch 13: Dionysus, Pan, Echo and Narcissus

Birth of Dionysus (Bacchus)

• Parents: Zeus (god) and Semele (mortal, daughter of Cadmus)

• Hera, jealous of the affair, disguised herself as an old woman

• Convinced Semele to ask Zeus to reveal his full divine form

• Zeus swore an oath and complied

• Semele was incinerated by Zeus’ lightning

• Zeus saved the unborn Dionysus from her ashes

• Sewed Dionysus into his thigh → born from Zeus later

Who were Dionysus early Caregivers?

• Hermes rescued the unborn child and brought him to safety

• Raised by the Nymphs of Nysa

• Also cared for by Ino (Semele’s sister) when he was an infant

• Dionysus’ upbringing was secret to hide him from Hera

Dionysus Origins and Role

• Worship traced to Thrace and Phrygia

• Mentioned in Linear B tablets → worship dates back to Mycenaean period

• Associated with ecstatic worship, wine, fertility, and madness

• As an adult, traveled widely to spread his cult

  • Brought joy and prosperity to those who accepted him

  • Brought madness and death to those who rejected him

Dionysus background and Motivation for Cult

• Dionysus = god of vegetation, wine, ecstasy. Also called Bacchus.

• Angry at Thebes for rejecting his divinity and mocking his mother, Semele.

• Semele's sisters (Ino, Agave, Autonoe) and Pentheus claimed she lied about Zeus being the father.

• Dionysus returns in human disguise to prove he is a god and punish the disbelievers.

Global Cult and Arrival in Thebes

• Has already spread Bacchic rites across Lydia, Phrygia, Persia, etc.

• Thebes is the first Greek city he targets for full recognition.

• Drives Theban women mad, forces them to worship him on Mt. Cithaeron.

Cadmus and Tiresias join the cult

• Tiresias urges Cadmus (Semele’s father) to worship Dionysus despite their old age.

• Cadmus agrees—wants to honor Dionysus and elevate Semele’s name.

• They dress in fawn skins and carry thyrsoi, preparing to join the Bacchic rites.

• They represent piety, tradition, and respect for the divine.

Pentheys rejects Dionysus

• Pentheus, king of Thebes (and Cadmus’s grandson), mocks Dionysus and the Bacchic rites.

• Accuses the women of lust and madness, believes the cult is dangerous and fake.

• Threatens to imprison Dionysus and his followers.

• Ridicules Cadmus and Tiresias for joining what he sees as foolishness.

Dionysus Revenge on Petheus

• Dionysus, disguised, manipulates Pentheus into spying on the Bacchae.

• Convinces him to dress as a woman—mocking his masculinity and pride.

• Pentheus, under Dionysus’ spell, believes he is wise and heroic.

• Dionysus lifts him into a pine tree to watch the Bacchae.

• Dionysus calls to the women—they see Pentheus as a wild beast.

• Agave (his mother) leads the frenzied Bacchae; they tear him apart limb by limb.

• Agave unknowingly carries his severed head on her thyrsus.

• Dionysus reveals his true form, declaring this is punishment for disbelief and disrespect.

Daughters of Proetus (Tiryns, Argos)

• Refused Dionysus’ cult → driven mad by him.

• Rushed through countryside, abandoned homes, killed their own children.

• Seer Melampus cured them with herbs and therapeutic dances.

• In return, he gained half the kingdom.

• One daughter, Iphinoë, died during the pursuit.

• Connected to the festival Agriania (ritual female pursuit by night, social order restored by day).

Daughters of Minyas (Orchomenus, Boeotia)

• Refused Bacchic rites, stayed indoors to weave.

• Dionysus (in disguise as a girl) warned them → they ignored him.

• Driven mad, one (Leucippe) sacrificed her son Hippasus, who was torn apart.

• Became winged creatures of the night—owls or bats—never returned to normal life.

King Lycurgus of Thrace

• Attacked Dionysus’ nurses with an ox goad.

• Dionysus fled into the sea, rescued by Thetis.

• Gods were furious—Zeus struck Lycurgus blind, and he died soon after.

• Another example of Dionysus punishing disbelief and disrespect.

Worship and Rituals for Dionysus

• Honored in triennial festivals (every 3 years) with hecatombs (animal sacrifice).

• Central to song & poetry—invoked at beginning & end of hymns.

• Worship includes:

  • Ecstatic dances, music, possession.

  • Omophagy: eating raw flesh believed to contain the god.

  • Sacred groups called thiasoi (led by male priests, sometimes in Dionysus’ guise).

Followers of Dionysus

• Maenads/Bacchae

• Satyrs

• Sileni

• Nymphs on Mt. Nysa

Maends/Bacchae

mortal women overtaken by Dionysus’ madness (almost like nymphs).

Satyrs

half-human, half-animal (goat or horse), male nature spirits:

• Love wine, dancing, sex, and music.

Sileni

older satyrs (esp. Silenus, Dionysus’ wise tutor).

• Some are wise and old, others (papposileni) are more lecherous.

Dionysus as Zagreus

• Zagreus = alternate, more spiritual name for Dionysus (linked to Orphic Mysteries).

• Zeus mated with Persephone → she gave birth to Zagreus.

• Hera, jealous, sent Titans to kill the child:

  • They lured him with a mirror

  • Then dismembered him.

• Athena saved his heart → gave it to Zeus

• Zeus swallowed the heart, and Dionysus was reborn.

• Zeus destroyed the Titans with lightning.

Icarisus and Erigone

• Attica, in the days of King Pandion, a man named Icarius was most hospitable to the god, and as a reward he was given the gift of wine

  • when the people first felt the effects of this blessing, they thought they had been poisoned, and they turned upon Icarius and killed him

  • ERIGONE his daughter and her dog Maira looked for him and killed herself when she found him

  • Suffering and plague ensued for the people until, upon Apollo’s advice, they initiated a festival in honor of Icarius and Erigone.

Dionysus gift to Midas

• Silenus was captured and brought to King Midas

  • MIDAS KNEW the satyr was a follower of Dionysus and returned him

  • He was happy so he gave the king the right to choose any gift he would like for himself.

• Midas asked that whatever he touched might be turned into gold

  • At first, Midas was delighted with his new power

  • the blessing quickly became a curse, for he could no longer eat or drink

• Midas’ greed turned to loathing; in some accounts, even his beloved daughter was transformed.

• Dionysus took pity and ordered the king to cleanse himself of the remaining traces of his guilt in the source of the river Pactolus, near Sardis. 

  • Midas obeyed, and the power of transforming things into gold passed from his person into the stream, whose sands forevermore were sands of gold.

Dionysus is Captured by Pirates

• Dionysus appears as a beautiful youth in a purple cloak, long dark hair.

• Foreign pirates mistake him for a royal mortal → capture and bind him on their ship.

• Magical sign: his bonds fall off effortlessly; he remains calm and smiling.

• The helmsman realizes he must be a god (maybe Zeus, Apollo, or Poseidon) and warns the crew.

• Pirates ignore the helmsman’s warning.

Dionysus Punishment to Pirates

• Miracles occur on the ship:

  • Wine flows, ivy and grapevines grow on sails and oars.

  • Garlands and flowers bloom magically.

• Dionysus transforms into a roaring lion and summons a bear.

• Pirates panic and jump into the sea → turned into dolphins.

• The helmsman is spared for showing reverence.

• Ends in praise of Dionysus: a god of awe, transformation, and sacred song.

Identity of Pan

• Half-man, half-goat: goat legs, ears, horns.

• Wild, lustful, musical—linked to satyrs and sileni.

• Parentage: Hermes (usually) + a nymph (e.g., Dryope).

• God of shepherds, flocks, rustic nature, and wild places (Arcadia).

• Associated with panic (irrational fear), especially in groups.

• Dionysus named him pan (all)

The Panpipe and the Nymph Syrinx

• Pan is the Inventor of syrinx (panpipe).

• Chased the nymph Syrinx, who was transformed into reeds.

• Pan heard wind in the reeds and made the first panpipe from them.

Echo and Her Love for Narcissus

• Echo: punished by Hera to only repeat others’ last words.

• Falls in love with Narcissus, follows him silently.

• Narcissus cruelly rejects her, saying he’d rather die than love her.

• Echo wastes away, leaving only her voice behind.

• Her fate: eternal repetition of sounds—origin of the “echo.”

Narcissus and Divine Punishment

• Parents: Cephisus (river god) + Liriope (nymph raped by him).

• Prophecy by Tiresias: will live long if he never knows himself.

• Narcissus rejects all suitors—prideful and cold.

• Falls in love with his own reflection in a pool.

• Obsessed and unable to leave it, he withers away.

• A narcissus flower grows where he died.

• Echo mourns, repeating his final words ("farewell").

Pan and Echo

• Pan fell in love with Echo, captivated by her beauty and voice.

• Echo rejected him, preferring solitude or possibly still mourning Narcissus (in some versions).

• Enraged by rejection, Pan drove local shepherds mad.

• In their frenzy, the shepherds tore Echo apart, limb by limb.

• Only her voice remained, echoing in hills and caves.