Painting by Bologna artist Guido Reni “Young Bacchus”. The size of the painting is 87 x 70 cm, oil on canvas. Bacchus or Bacchus, in mythology sometimes called the Greeks Dionysus, and the Romans Liber, was originally a Thracian or Phrygian god, whose cult was adopted by the Greeks very early.
Due to the widespread winemaking in Greece, this cult is firmly rooted, especially between the rural population. According to the assumption of some researchers, Bacchus is a Greek god, in myths about which and in the worship ceremonies alien elements crept in with the passage of time, mainly of the Phrygian and Thracian religions. It is the god of heaven and earthly moisture and the living force of nature caused by it and the sun’s warmth, and also the god of wine and its exciting action on man.
Most of the folk festivals dedicated to Bacchus are directly related to the classes in winemaking and viticulture. For example, the consumption of new, fresh wine after the end of the grape harvest and its marc, was accompanied by a special celebration for the residents of Attica – Dionysias; the beginning of the casting of the already outdated wine had its own festival in Athens – Anthesteria, the festival of flowers.
