God · Greek
Dionysus
Dionysus, a god of the Greek world, and the gods ancient sources said were the same.
Tradition: greek
Documented identifications
| Link | Who said so | Note |
|---|---|---|
| identified as Osiris | Herodotus, Histories 2.42 and 2.144, c. 430 BCE | Osiris, the one god worshipped across all Egypt with Isis, is "in the Greek language Dionysus". |
| identified as Dushara (Orotalt) | Herodotus, Histories 3.8, c. 430 BCE | The Arabians call Dionysus Orotalt; the later Nabataean god Dushara was likewise linked with Dionysus and Zeus. |
| identified as Yahweh | Plutarch, Table Talk 4.6; Tacitus, Varro, John the Lydian | Several Greek and Roman writers took the god of the Jews for Bacchus-Dionysus, from the vine imagery and the cries heard at Jewish festivals. |
| identified as Sabazius | Diodorus Siculus, 1st c. BCE | Greeks also read Sabazios as Dionysus, and Diodorus made him the secret second Dionysus. |
| identified as Shiva | Greek writers from Alexander's campaign, late 4th c. BCE | Greek texts of Alexander's time call Shiva the "Indian Dionysus". |
| adopted as Bacchus | Rome, formal identification by 205 BCE | The Romans took Dionysus over as Bacchus and identified him with their own Liber Pater. |
| identified as Fufluns | Etruscan religion, Archaic period | The Etruscan god of growth and wine, Fufluns, is related to Dionysus. |