BOEOTIA, Thebes. Circa 425-395 BC. AR Stater (22mm, 12.16 g). Early style. Boeotian shield / Bearded head of Dionysos right, wearing ivy wreath; all within square incuse. BCD Boiotia 437-8. Good VF, unusual minor surface porosity. Attractive portrait of Dionysos.
Though many traditions regarding his birth or parents exist, Dionysos was commonly believed to be the son of Zeus and Semele. Wishing him to appear to her in the glory and majesty in which he appeared to his wife Hera, Zeus assumed the form of one of his attributes, thunder and lightning. This presence frightened Semele so much however, that she gave birth prematurely to a son whom Zeus sewed in his his thigh until he had reached boyhood. Wishing to hide him from Hera, the boy was taken into seclusion and raised by the nymphs at Mt. Nysa, from which he received his name.
Upon his maturation, he was thrown into a state of madness by Hera and left to wander throughout the ancient world. Among his followers were Pans, Satyrs, and Bacchic women, who joined him in introducing the cultivation of the vine. From this, he became known as the god of wine, the giver of joy, and the disperser of grief and sarrow.
