The Greek Dionysos

A silver tetradrachm of Maroneia showing the head of Dionysos and Dionysos with two narthex wands. It is 30mm across and weighs 16.4 grammes.

Dionysos was the Greek god of wine, of ritual madness and ecstatic behaviour. He belonged to the main Greek pantheon, and lived on Mount Olympus. He was said to be the son of Zeus, and the daughter of either Semele or Persephone, depending which version of the legend you look at. He was associated with mystery cults, and had a strong connection with the fertility rites of Demeter and Persephone which took place at Eleusis, near Athens. He appeared on quite a few coins, and perhaps the nicest of them is shown on the right.

This is a chunky silver tetradrachm from Maroneia in Thrace, around the mid second century BCE. The obverse shows the head of the god, youthful and beautiful, with a complex and elegant hairstyle. He is wearing a wreath of ivy leaves, with two clusters of ivy berries at the front. Ivy and the grape-vine were both sacred to him. The reverse shows him standing, a bunch of grapes in his right hand, and two narthex canes in his left. These were stems of the giant fennel plant, traditionally used to make the thyrsus which he nearly always carried.

A silver obol of Lamia showing the head of Dionysos and a volute krater. It is 7mm across and weighs 0.8 grammes.

The legend on the reverse of this tetradrachm is ΔIONYΣOΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ MAPΩNITΩN, meaning "Dionysos, the saviour of Maroneia."

A much earlier, and much smaller, coin showing Dionysos is in the left. This is a silver obol from Lamia in Thessaly, between 400 and 334 BCE. The obverse shows the same youthful god wearing his ivy wreath, but with a rather grimmer expression.

A silver triobol of Amphipolis showing the head of a Maenad. It is 13mm across and weighs 1.6 grammes.

On the reverse is a vessel that is often described incorrectly as an amphora. It is actually a volute krater, a large container for mixing wine and water ready to drink, with the same sort of purpose as a modern punch bowl. The ivy leaf over its mouth, sacred to the god of wine, indicates its purpose and contents.

The smaller vessel on that coin is a prochous, designed for pouring; though normally, wine was scooped from the krater and drunk from either a large-handled drinking cup known as a kantharos or a shallow cup called a kylix.

Dionysos had a retinue of followers called the Thiasos. These were a wild and ecstatic group, in keeping with the god's chief attribute, the release of inhibitions. The most significant of these were Maenads, his female followers. These were dangerous creatures, said to sometimes hunt down animals or men and tear them to pieces in their frenzy.

The coin on the right, a silver triobol from Amphipolis in Macedonia, around the start of the second century BCE, shows the head of a Maenad, with clusters of grapes in her wild hair.

A bronze coin of Nicaea showing the infant Dionysos. It is 16mm across and weighs 2.9 grammes.

The Baby Dionysos

This small provincial coin of the emperor Septimius Severus shows a version of Dionysos that may predate his function as a god of divine madness. It shows the infant Dionysus in a winnowing fan, with his thyrsos behind him to indicate who he is. A winnowing fan was used after grain was threshed, to throw it into the air so that the wind would separate the grains from the chaff. If this does not sound like a fan as we know it, well, this is actually the origin of the word "fan." Sometimes it was something like a large wooden shovel, but other versions were as shown on this coin, a shallow plaited basket. It was called a liknon in Greek, so this depiction of the god is known as Dionysos Liknites.

This is an early version of the god as a grain and fertility deity, connecting him again with the mystery religions of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and her daughter Persephone or Kore, a fertility goddess. In Rome, these deities were equated with Ceres, the mother, and Proserpina or Libera, the daughter.

The liknon was used in the Eleusinian mysteries as part of a ceremony of rebirth. This plump baby in his cradle has obvious echoes in other religions; Moses in the bulrushes, the baby Jesus.

Dionysos, Bacchus and Liber

A bronze AE26 of Volusian showing Dionysos on the back of a lion. It is 26mm across and weighs 15.4 grammes.

A bronze assarion of Septimius Severus showing Dionysos with a thyrsos and a bunch of grapes. It is 17mm across and weighs 3.5 grammes.

During the time of the Roman Empire, Dionysos appeared on many coins of the eastern provinces. The coin on the near right, an assarion of the emperor Septimius Severus from Nikopolis ad Istrum in Lower Moesia, shows him standing, holding his thyrsos in his left hand and a bunch of grapes in his right.

On the far right is a thick and heavy coin of Volusian from Ceasarea Maritima in Samaria. It shows Dionysos reclining at ease on the back of a lion, which sometimes appeared in place of his normal panther, with his thyrsos in the crook of his left arm, though it is hard to make out on this specimen.

A bronze assarion of Elagabalus showing a bunch of grapes. It is 16mm across and weighs 2.9 grammes.

Some coins, like the small assarion of Elagabalus on the left, this one from Markianopolis in Lower Moesia, showed just a bunch of grapes. This was probably meant to indicate an association with the god.

When Dionysos became known in Italy, he was immediately equated with an Italian deity called Liber, or Father Liber. Like Dionysos, Liber was a god of agriculture and fertility. He was the husband of Ceres, the main goddess of agriculture, and the father of Libera. A Roman temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera was established as early as 496 BCE, roughly equivalent to the Greek cult of Demeter, Dionysos and Persephone which was linked to the secretive Eleusinian mystery rites.

In later antiquity, Dionysos came to be called Bacchus, and his wild festivals became the Bacchanaliae. The images associated with Bacchus were so strong that once some equivalence with Liber was established, Liber was always shown with one or more of the Bacchic attributes: ivy wreath, panther, thyrsus and cantharus (I am now using the Roman spelling). But there was still a clear difference, as can be seen by the problem posed by the Bacchanaliae. These were notorious festivals at which much damage could be done, as the followers imitated Bacchus' wild panther and ran riot. But also, the cult was made up of plebeians, and many of its important positions were held by women.

A silver denarius of L. Cassius Q. f. Longinus showing Liber and Libera. It is 20mm across and weighs 4 grammes.

In fact, originally, the festivals were only attended by women. In Rome, the state religions were controlled by Patricians, mostly men. The Bacchic cult would have represented a threat to their authority and control. Probably for this reason as much as any problems caused by the festivals themselves, Bacchanaliae were formally banned in 186 BCE (though it seems that they did not actually completely come to an end for some while).

But the festival of Liber, the Liberalia, held at the same time of year, was officially encouraged. Liberaliae were much less wild, and centred around coming-of-age ceremonies for young men, so served a useful social purpose. As well as Liber, they honoured Libera, this time as his consort rather than his daughter. There were several versions of this family tree. The coin on the left is a Roman Republican denarius from 78 BCE showing Liber, his thyrsus over his shoulder and his ivy wreath complete with clusters of berries, and Libera, wearing a wreath of vine leaves.

A silver Roman Republican denarius showing the head of Liber and Ceres in a biga of snakes. It is 18mm across and weighs 3.9 grammes.

The coin on the right was struck in the same year. It shows the familiar head of Liber, and on the reverse is Ceres, in a rather unrealistic carriage drawn by two very large snakes, and holding a torch in each hand. This is a mixture of symbology. The snakes denote the welfare of the state, as also seen on coins showing Asklepios, Hygeia and Salus. The torches come from the legend of Persephone and Demeter. The lovely little owl is a control symbol used by the mint, and does not figure in this story.

Persephone was taken by Hades, brother of Zeus and god of the underworld. Her mother Demeter searched for her in the darkness; hence the torches. While Demeter was distraught, the world was cold and barren. When her daughter was rescued, spring returned. But because she had bitten into a pomegranate while in the underworld, Persephone had to live with Hades for half the year ever after. Hence, the yearly cycle of the seasons. Ceres is the Roman equivalent of Demeter.

The Thyrsos

Detail of the same pentassarion showing Dionysos' thyrsos wrapped with a ribbon and tied with an ornamental bow.

A bronze pentassarion of Septimius Severus showing Dionysos. It is 26mm across and weighs 11.2 grammes.

The thyrsos was a rod or stick, traditionally a stem of the giant fennel, wrapped with vine or ivy leaves or perhaps sometimes ribbons, tipped with grapes or with a pine cone. The pine was associated with Dionysos because its resin was used in making wine – some may be familiar with its taste in the modern Greek wine retsina.

A bronze coin of Gordian III showing Dionysos holding his thyrsos. It is 21mm across and weighs 7.0 grammes.

The coin on the right is a pentassarion of Macrinus from Nikopolis ad Istrum. On it, Dionysos is pouring wine from an oinochoe (wine jug) and holding his thyrsos behind him. You can see the pine cone at its tip.

The diagonal markings on the staff are a clear indication of its ribboned wrapping, and the way the ribbon is tied in a big ornamental bow is a typical feature.

A silver Roman Republican denarius showing the thyrsus of Bacchus. It is 22mm across and weighs 3.6 grammes.

The pine cone sounds fairly harmless, but some legends say that Dionysos hid a metal point at the tip of his thyrsos, and with this spear was able to conquer the whole of India. And sometimes the thyrsos is actually referred to as a spear.

On the left is another provincial coin, this time from Berytos in Phoenicia. It is rather worn, but you can see the tall thyrsos, decorated and with a big pine cone at its tip.

Dionysos is also holding a drinking horn of the type called a rhyton, and at his feet is his panther, looking up towards him.

The thyrsus as a symbol appeared on a number of coins, for example the Roman Republican denarius of Mn Fonteius C. F. on the right, where it appears horizontally at the bottom of the coin. You can see long trailers of ribbon hanging from the bow to the left, as though the staff were vertical.

Septimius Severus' Father Liber

A silver denarius of Septimius Severus showing Father Liber with a wine jug and a panther. It is 19mm across and weighs 3.0 grammes.

A silver denarius of Septimius Severus showing Father Liber with a panther. It is 27mm across and weighs 2.0 grammes.

The emperor Septimius Severus was born in North Africa in a town called Lepcis Magna. He naturally wished to honour his birthplace, so he issued coins showing the patron deities of the town, who were Hercules and Father Liber. Here are two of the coins showing Liber Pater, struck in Rome at the start of his reign, with the legend LIBERO PATRI, Dedicated to Father Liber.

A billon antoninianus of Gallienus showing Father Liber's panther. It is 20mm across and weighs 3.0 grammes.

These both have exactly the same attributes as the Greek Dionysos. On the near right, you can see the ribbons draped from his thyrsus.

On both coins, you can see something which also appears on the coin of Berytos just above; his panther, facing to the left and with its head tilted upwards. On the right, you can see that the panther is catching the wine that Liber is pouring from his jug.

The panther also crops up later on the coin on the left, looking quite lithe and dangerous. This is a billon antoninianus of Gallienus, struck 70 years later than Septimius Severus' silver denarii. Gallienus had many troubles, and at one point he struck a whole range of coins showing various creatures and invoking the aid of the deities to whom they were sacred. This one has the legend LIBERO P CONS AVG, meaning Dedicated to Father Liber, Protector of the Emperor.

Dionysos or Dionysus? Kantharos or Cantharus? Thyrsos or Thyrsus? On this page I have used the Greek spelling in the context of Greece and the Greek-speaking eastern provinces of Rome, and the Roman spelling in the context of Rome. I am not sure how well this works!