Statue of Dionysus.
Dionysus, also known as the Horned God,[1] is the god of wine, viticulture, the grape vine, fruitfulness, vegetation, fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, frenzy, resurrection, prophecy, festivals and the arts in Greek Mythology. On the HBO original series True Blood, Dionysus is the deity worshiped by Maryann Forrester. He is the son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. Dionysus was born a Demigod that ascended to full Godhood and joined the twelve Olympians, taking the place of his aunt Hestia.
Background[]
As implied on the episode "New World in My View" in the series' second season, Dionysus is known by many names, each of which denotes different aspects of Dionysus. The alternate names that were shown for Dionysus and what they mean are as follows:
- Bacchus: the name for Dionysus used by the Romans.
- Bromios: being noisy or boisterous.
- Dendrities: meaning he of the trees.
- Eleutherios: meaning the liberator.
- Enorches: a name that denotes Dionysus as a fertility god.
It is implied by the Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq in the Season 2 episode "Frenzy" that gods, like Dionysus, are not nonexistent, they just "never show up". Also, Daphne Landry implies that Dionysus is in fact Satan himself (this would also tie in well with Maryann being identified as Lilith).