The responses to my commentary on this post about the Greek gods are completely fucking exceptional:
Dionysus is pansexual, actually, and has a very loose grasp on gender. He’s arguably genderfluid and often presents as male, though he was born as a female and is often described as feminine in terms of figure.
I looked this up and there seems to be some debate about it- canonically it seems that Dionysus was disguised as a girl after his (second) birth (from Zeus’ thigh, what) to protect him from jealous victim-of-eternal-domestic-abuse Hera, who is actually very sympathetic when you consider that redirecting her rage and pain towards others is probably really her only outlet. In some accounts, Dionysus has a beard and a “masculine” figure, too (not that that really means anything, re: gender).
But there’s also a lot of commentary on Dionysus’ face and figure being considered “effiminate,” which is really interesting, because dressing as a girl as a child would have literally no effect on his development as an adult, meaning any perceived feminine physiological characteristics are innate. There’s an argument that could be made for Dionysus not only being (probably non-binary) transgender, but potentially even intersex.
yes and in Euripedes’s Bacchae, the Maenads they go crazy and form a cult and the leading woman’s son is all pissed off bc his mum isn’t at home cooking and being miserable. it’s my fave classical tragedy.
So in any case, Dionysus is the god of wine, sex, ancient feminism and gender play.
Dionysus is the trans feminist party god.
Hell, the general assumption that the gods were either bisexual or pansexual, with those such as Artemis and Athena being exceptions to the rule.Generally, Zeus and his kids/siblings (such as Apollo) boned practically anyone, and often in other forms aside from humanoid ones (Zeus being particularly infamous for his shapeshifting)! Unless it said otherwise, it was safe to assume a god was Bi or Pan.
Not to mention Orpheus got his head torn off by the Maenads after pissing them off, if I remember correctly. Dude didn’t listen to Hades and didn’t believe him when he said “Yo bro, you wanna break the natural order of things, alright, you made Persephone, my boss ass queen of the seasons (love you so much bae), feel really touched because of your music. Just don’t look back till you’re on the surface and your wife’s soul will have followed you.” And what does he do, when the most honorable god of the bunch gives him a favor? Fucking doesn’t listen.
Moral of the story, don’t piss off the Maenids or not listen to Hades. He appreciates good music for his wife though.
When you consider that it’s repeatedly established in mythological canon that Hades is a huge stickler for the rules, this really drives home how much he loves Persephone- he let this guy go against the natural order because his music made her happy.
Also, Dionysus is, according to a lot of accounts, one of the only people to successfully retrieve at least one soul from Hades. (One was his mortal mother, Semele, and he possibly also retrieved the soul of his deceased wife, Ariadne. There are inconsistencies.)
Dionysus, son of Zeus and a mortal Theban princess, is the only god whose parents were not both divine. Zeus was madly in love with a mortal, Semele, and he promised her that he would do anything for her. She asked to see him in all his glory as the King of Heaven, and although Zeus knew that it would kill her to see him this way, he held to his word. As Semele died, Zeus took her almost-born child and brought him to be raised by nymphs in a particularly lush, verdant land. Dionysus, the wine-god, thus grows up among rain and foliage, and by the time he is an adult he has rescued his mother from the Underworld and brought her to Olympus, where she has been allowed to reside because she gave birth to a god.
Dionysus, meanwhile, builds a following of mortals known for wearing ivy leaves, running through the forest, and drinking wine. These followers, mostly women, travel with Dionysus to Thebes, the city where Semele lived when she was alive. Penthus, who rules Thebes, becomes quite disturbed by the loud, wine-drinking women and by Dionysus himself. He insults Dionysus, jails him, and refuses to believe that he is dealing with a deity. Dionysus responds by sending Penthus to the hills to meet his clan of female followers. Then, Dionysus shows his cruel power: he makes his followers mad. All the women mistake Penthus for a mountain beast and rush to destroy him. They tear him apart, limb by limb, and Penthus finally understands that he has insulted a god and must pay for that mistake with his life. Once Penthus has been sufficiently torn apart, Dionysus returns his followers to their senses.
“[Penthus] becomes quite disturbed by the loud, wine-drinking women and by Dionysus himself.”
Penthus: HOW DARE THESE WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF SLIGHTLY LESS CLEAR GENDER PARTY AND HAVE FUN?? ENJOYMENT IS FOR MEN ONLY!! TEN THOUSAND YEARS DUNGEON FOR YOU, BEAUTIFUL PERSON WHO PROBABLY MAKES ME QUESTION MY SEXUALITY IN A WAY I AM UNCOMFORTABLE WITH
Dionysus: haha WOW go fuck yourself
A lot of Dionysus’ attitude towards the Maenads also seems to boil down to:
Maenads: [fucking some guy up]
Some Guy: [getting fucked up] OH GOD PLEASE STOP THEM
Dionysus: nah man I don’t tell them what to do
Dionysus: this is the church of doing whatever the fuck you like
Dionysus: this wouldn’t even be happening to you if you didn’t feel entitled to control women who just want to have a good time
Dionysus: cultivate some fucking chill if you survive
Also, Dionysus is responsible for the golden hand of King Midas, which essentially went like:
Dionysus: thanks for doing me a solid, what can I do for you (down w/ favours btw)
Midas: GIVE ME A HAND THAT TURNS EVERYTHING I TOUCH TO GOLD
Dionysus: uhhh are you sure
Midas: OH GOD THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA PLEASE HELP ME DIONYSUS
Dionysus: no worries bro just wash your hands in the river Pactolus
Dionysus: BAM golden river and no golden hand #aesthetic
Dionysus: oh and sorry about your daughter I guess
Basically, Dionysus is officially my favourite Greek god.
He can essentially be interpreted as the god of treating yourself, not particularly giving a fuck about gender, and incorruptable feminist spaces.