Dionysus

"My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoe Nightshade"

- Mr. D

Dionysus (Διόνυσος in Ancient Greek) is the god of wine and revelry, as well as the son of the mortal Semele and Zeus. He is also known as Mr. D, the camp director of Camp Half-Blood. Dionysus is not only the god of wine, but also the god of ritual madness, as well as the 'cult of souls' because he looked over the communication between the living and the dead and wine. He is never called Dionysus by the Romans. He is instead called Bacchus or Liber.

History
Dionysus was often called the 'twice born' because of some of the myths around his birth. The most common is that his mother was a mortal woman named Semele, who was a daughter of the King of Thebes, and his father was Zeus. This makes him the only Olympian to have a mortal parent, and according to some traditions the only one to have been born a mortal.

As with most of Zeus' acts of infidelity, Hera became jealous when she found out that Semele was pregnant with Zeus' child. She disguised herself as a nurse (or old crone in some stories) and made Semele begin to doubt that it was truly Zeus. While in disguise; Hera convinced Semele to ask Zeus to reveal his true form, to make sure that he would do it, and to swear on the River Styx, which is sacred to the Greek Gods and an unbreakable oath.

Zeus tried to get around the promise, but in the end swore on the River, and Semele asked to see his true form. Unable to go back on the promise, he did so, and she was burned to ash.

Zeus managed to save the infant, sewing him into his thigh until he was born a few months later as a full grown baby on Mount Pramnos in Ikaria. He was born a demigod, like Hercules and Perseus.

In his early life Zeus sent Dionysus off with Hermes. Again here, there are two versions of the story. In one version, Hermes took Dionysus to King Athamas and his wife Ino, who was Dionysus' Aunt. Hermes had them raise Dionysus as a girl to hide him from Hera's scorn. The second story is that the boy was taken to the rain nymphs of Nysa. They raised him through infancy and childhood, and in reward for their care, Zeus placed them as the Hyades in the stars.

When he grew up, he discovered the vine, and extracted the juice. He was struck with madness by Hera at this point, and ended up wandering various parts of the world. Rhea cured him, and taught him her religious rites, and he wandered through Asia teaching about cultivating the vine.

He was very handsome as a young man, eager for challenges. Dionysus later said he was good at nothing in his human life but cultivating wine. The people in his village mocked him, not knowing of his heritage, of his father, or knowing his future, and what he would one day become.

When Dionysus was invited late to the Mount Olympus, it was Hestia who graciously offered him her golden chair to prevent any conflict or embarrassment. Hestia was a goddess known for her warmth and kindness.

Dionysus then rescued his mother from Hades, and she became a goddess on Mount Olympus, with the new name Thyone, presiding over the frenzy inspired by her son Dionysus.

When Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, Dionysus found and married her. When she died, he went to the Underworld and rescued her, taking her up to Mount Olympus, where he made her immortal.

He was disguised as a mortal on the seashore once, and a few sailors spotted him. They thought he was a prince, and tried to kidnap him and hold him for ransom or to sell into slavery. They tried to tie him up, but no ropes would hold him. Some ideas are that the material they were made of then was similar to the vines, and would refuse to hold him. At this point Dionysus turned into a lion and let a bear loose on board. It killed those it came in contact with, and those who jumped off the ship were turned into dolphins as an act of mercy. The only one to survive was the helmsman Acoetes, who had recognized him as a god, and tried to stop his comrades from the beginning.

Camp Half-Blood
After chasing after an off-limits wood nymph twice, Zeus punished him by putting him in charge of Camp Half-Blood for 100 years. During this time, he is not allowed to drink wine or grow wine grapes, even though he did use his powers on other plants such as strawberries. It is hinted that the first time he did caused the Prohibition era. After The Last Olympian, Zeus decides to make Dionysus work at Camp Half-Blood for only fifty more years, as a reward. He appears to have the fewest demigod children out of all the gods, not including the Big Three or the virgin goddesses- only having two sons, his twins, Pollux & Castor- possibly due to his hatred of heroes or his strong dedication to his wife Ariadne on Olympus. He does care for his sons, as proven in The Battle of the Labyrinth & The Last Olympian when he is shown being depressed after the death of his son, Castor, and after becomes discreetly protective of his only child, Pollux.

The Lightning Thief
Dionysus is introduced as Mr. D and is called by this throughout the series by Percy. Dionysus is first seen playing pinochle with Chiron, described by him as one of the best games (along with Pac-man and gladiator fighting) invented by humans. He is not impressed by Percy upon meeting him, and upon his return to camp makes fun of him.

The Sea of Monsters
Dionysus, during The Sea of Monsters, does not play a large part. He is shown to dislike Tantalus, and is said to miss Chiron, saying there is no one to play pinochle with. He does nothing to prevent Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson from leaving camp to rescue Grover, though it may be because Hermes was shielding them from Dionysus' eyes.

The Titan's Curse
Dionysus is indifferent about Annabeth's supposed death, and Percy almost hits him, but is stopped by Chiron. Percy then confronts him about his lack of love for the Campers, and Dionysus says nothing. After that, Nico di Angelo meets Dionysus, calls him the "wine dude", and excitedly tells him that he is his favorite game card, but also annoys him with his chattering. Later, when Percy follows Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, and Grover, riding Blackjack, Dionysus stops him by binding him and Blackjack to a building with vines while they were flying through the air, as shown on the cover.

Dionysus confronts Percy about leaving camp without permission, and Percy angrily demands the reason why Dionysus hates him so much. Dionysus then tells him he hates all heroes, because they are all the same. He then proceeds to tell him the story of Theseus, and Ariadne, and how he (Dionysus) later married Ariadne after Theseus abandoned her. He mentions that Zoe has a bad history with heroes. However, Dionysus lets Percy go, knowing that two demigods are doomed to die, and he is hopeful Percy will be one of them. If not, then Dionysus promises Percy that he will one day prove him right, by acting like all the heroes before him. This could also explain his lack of demigod children.

Later on in the book, Dionysus is sent an Iris message by Percy. He then says that they could say please to him and that he would save them from Dr Thorn. Percy prays for Dionysus' help and Dionysus turns Dr Thorn's guards to madness and wraps grapevines around Dr Thorn, killing him He also uses Percy's real name which Percy then points out and Dionysus denies.

Later at the winter solstice, Dionysus votes for both Percy and Thalia to be executed, and is seen at the party afterward with a very beautiful woman on his arm, Ariadne. It is mentioned that this was the first time Percy had ever seen Dionysus happy.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Dionysus is seen very briefly. He is mentioned early in the novel as being on a mission, checking up on all the minor gods and making sure they aren't going to join arms against Olympus. Later in the book, he enters Camp Half-Blood after the battle, looking very upset, saying that he just learned his son Castor is dead (this may be the only time when he's shown with sympathetic or sad emotions). He dissolves the committee, and later talks to Percy, saying Percy "always managed to annoy him". He tells Percy things are not looking good for Olympus, and that he supposed he should thank Percy and Annabeth for saving camp. He then shows Percy that Chris is now well, and that he had healed his mind. Percy is shocked by this, and asks why he did it. He proceeds to go on about how he is nice, even describing himself as "oozing with niceness". Chris deserved a second chance. Dionysus does not fail to see Clarisse's happiness at Chris' healing, and tells Percy that sometimes the little changes you can make in the end make the most difference.

The Last Olympian
During the final book, The Last Olympian, he is one of the gods fighting Typhon although he is knocked out in the Appalachian Mountains, and summons Percy to him, where he is at a party, and playing Pac-Man and cursing Blinky. Dionysus asks Percy to save Olympus and make sure that his son Pollux survives the battle, calling him by wrong names throughout the conversation.

He is later seen at the end when he comments that Percy might not be so bad after all but was still going to make life difficult for him. This statement amused Percy.

The Lost Hero
Dionysus has been recalled as the camp director due to the fact that Zeus has closed Olympus and forbidden the gods to have any contact with their children. He left many mementoes of himself at the big house though, including a living leopard head (Seymour), Pacman games and party masks with grape vines and grapes through them.

Physical Description
Dionysus has a chubby face, curly black hair, and usually bloodshot eyes from drinking. He is usually described as wearing tiger-striped Hawaiian shirts and purple running shoes. He is described by Percy as a cherub who had grown up in a trailer park. Anyone can tell he's no stranger to wine just by looking at him.

Bacchus
Dionysus can change his appearance and turn into his Roman counterpart, Bacchus. As Bacchus, he becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. He might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood in San Francisco. Since gods can appear at multiple places at once, Bacchus might be camp director over the Roman camp while Dionysus is over the Greek camp and he might be the exact opposite of Mr. D's persona there since the Roman camp is supposed to be more disciplined.

Personality
Dionysus enjoys calling people by incorrect names, especially Percy Jackson who he often calls "Peter Johnson" and "Perry Johanssen". He sometimes does this with campers who have been at camp for a long time, such as Annabeth Chase who he calls "Annie Bell", right after she was captured. His hatred for heroes stems back to how Theseus abandoned Ariadne, and thus is why he has the fewest shown demigod children among the major gods.

Dionysus lets it be known he cares nothing for the campers, and does not ever show any fondness towards them, though he dislikes Tantalus (who had been treating the campers badly), finds humor in his attempts to grab food, and is happy to send him back to the Fields of Punishment. He is no kinder to Chiron, but never threatens him like he threatens the campers and he likes a good party.

Powers
Dionysus's powers are based around plant growth with a strong focus on products of the vine. He can quickly summon multiple vines strong enough to ensnare, strangle, and even break his enemies into pieces or encourage more benevolent growth. It is unknown to what degree he can control the growth of plants not based on vines. He also is able to apparently transform anything into wine, as he stated at one point "The next person, or horse, who calls me the "wine dude" is going to end up in a bottle of Merlot." He can also induce or cure madness, as shown in the Titan's Curse and the Battle of the Labryrinth respectively.

As the god of madness, he can easily cure and ease madness. He also has the standard powers of a god, including levitation, teleportation, conjuring items and transforming people, as well as incinerating them.

Children
Demigods:

Immortal:
 * Pollux
 * Castor (deceased)


 * Thoas
 * Oenopion
 * Staphylus
 * Peparethus
 * Comus
 * Iacchus
 * Phthonus

Film
In the film, The Lightning Thief, Dionysus is played by Luke Camilleri. He does not have a major part and does not appear at camp, AT ALL. Instead, Chiron is the Camp Director. He is shown at the Olympian Council along with the rest of the gods, and appears to not be the recurring grounded son of Zues whom of which has to watch over Camp Half-Blood.