The Thracian Dionysus, Lord of the Mountain Frenzy
Thracian · deity · Thracian ecstatic cult of the mountains; known to Greeks from the Archaic period onward · deity
The native Thracian ecstatic god the Greeks identified as Dionysus, distinct in his mountain-oracle and fox-skin (Bassareus) cult. Classified 'deity'. He overlaps with Sabazios (Sabos) but is registered separately to capture the Bessian oracle of Dionysus (Hdt. 7.111) and the Bassareus cult-title. The Greek theonym leads because the native Thracian name is unrecorded apart from the epithets.
Domains
- wine and ecstasy
- prophecy and oracles
Powers
- sends the ecstatic Bacchic frenzy upon the mountains
- delivers oracles from the high sanctuary
Epithets
- Βασσαρεύς
- Σάβος
Relations
- descendant of: Zemele, the Thraco-Phrygian Earth-Mother
- companion: Orpheus, the Thracian Singer and Founder of the Mysteries
- companion: Rhesus, the Hero-Daemon of Mount Pangaion
- interpretatio: Dionysus