"Wine and women and wonderful vices,
Welcome to the cult of Dionysus."
Welcome to the cult of Dionysus."
BACCHUS, n.: A convenient deity invented by the ancients as an excuse for getting drunk.
Alcohol is a major part of many cultures around the world, and it sometimes plays a part in religion as well. In real life polytheistic societies and in fantasy pantheons, there are even gods who in some way embody alcohol. Said deities can embody multiple aspects of alcohol, such as the harvesting of ingredients, drunkenness, the joy of enjoying a good drink, and more.
In terms of portrayal, these gods are usually very disorderly in personality, due to representing alcohol's tendency to lower inhibitions in various ways. They might be fun-loving Life of the Party types who use alcohol as a means of merriment. Others might embody the darker aspects of drunkenness, such as addiction, poor judgement, and violence. Still others can be a mix of two, being essentially unrestrained hedonists whose alcohol brings out their worst and best qualities.
In myths and stories, these gods are often associated with the creation of alcohol in some way. Sometimes they might be the inventor of alcohol, or at least specific beverages, and introduced it to mortals. Even if they aren't the inventor, they and their followers will often be master brewers whose booze is a high quality. Said followers will also be heavy drinkers and mainly be made of people involved in the production and distribution alcohol such as farmers, brewers, and bartenders. In addition, many of their rituals and sacraments will probably involve alcohol in some way, such as drinking to enter altered states of consciousness or using producing sacred alcoholic beverages.
Compare Food God. Also compare Anthropomorphic Vice. Often considered Odd Job Gods because their role is more societal than natural or authoritative.
Examples:
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Advertising
- Dundee's Honey Brown Lager beer foisted the "beer god" concept in their commercials. It's an ugly little stone figurine that purports to know which beer is the best. The beer god lasted only one summer.
Comic Books
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: In the graphic novel Warp Your Own Way, one of the antagonists is a version of Dionysus who is from the same group of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens as the Apollo who appeared in the TOS episode "Who Mourns For Adonais?".
- The Wicked + The Divine: The 455CE, 1923, and 2014 Pantheons all included incarnations of Dionysos. All three, while having different personalities, largely manifested the lighter sides of the Classical version.
Films — Animation
Literature
- Discworld:
- One of the minor deities is Bibulous, god of wine and things on sticks. He appears as a boisterous fat man with a fondness for parties and curiously-named cocktail drinks.
- Hogfather: The cosmic imbalance of the Hogfather's disappearance causes several new deities to form, including Bilious, the Oh-God of Hangovers. Given that he experiences all the bad side of booze, he hates drinking in general and Bibulous in particular.
- Small Gods mentions Tuvelpit, the Ephebian god of Wine, who threw an amphora of wine at the Omnian missionary who pushed over a statue of Tuvelpit in lieu of a Bolt of Divine Retribution.note
- In the Doctor Who New Adventures novel The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch, Benny complains that the Doctor and several of his other companions are Famed in Story, when's her turn?
The Doctor: Benny, I happen to know you are an object of veneration in at least two cultures.
Benny: Really? What kind of object?
The Doctor: Oh, a sort of female version of Bacchus.
Benny: I'm a god of wine?
The Doctor: Not just wine, all alcohol[,] really, sort of the goddess of indiscriminate drinking.
Benny: I'm overwhelmed.
The Doctor: And sarcasm, in your manifestation as the goddess of the morning after the night before.
Benny: Goddess of hangovers. I might have guessed. - Goblin Slayer: The Wine-Making God is a minor deity whose prominent trait is that the wine he produces is far superior to that of the wine produced at the temples dedicated to other deities.
- Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Soma is a descended deity whose sole interest is brewing a wine that, while he considers to be failures, is considered a Fantastic Drug with Instant Taste Addiction by the mortals, causing her familia to Descent into Addiction to the point that they don't worship Soma himself; they're addicted to Soma's wine.
- The Pandava Quintet: Varuni is the goddess of wine and prophecy, who appears to Aru holding a glass of red wine but changes her drink multiple times while speaking to her.
- Riordanverse:
- The Camp Half-Blood Series:
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Based on Classical Mythology, the director of Camp Half-Blood is "Mr. D", aka Dionysus, god of the grape-harvest, wine, orchards, fertility, madness, parties, religious ecstasy, and theater. He was forced to take the camp position for 100 years as punishment from his father Zeus for stalking a dryad who was out of bounds, and is unable to even drink his signature beverage (every time he tries, it turns into Diet Coke), which makes him extra grumpy towards the demigod campers and Chiron.
- The Heroes of Olympus: Mr. D's Roman counterpart is Bacchus, who is more warlike and drinks Diet Pepsi instead of Diet Coke, but is otherwise much like his Greek counterpart.
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Aegir is the Norse god of alcohol, along with sea, storms, and banquets, who spends his time brewing mead. Notably, he exists in the same continuity as both Mr. D and Bacchus from the The Camp Half-Blood Series, but each has their own boundaries.
- The Camp Half-Blood Series:
Live-Action TV
- Discussed on Game of Thrones. Tyrion is disappointed by the lack of such a god in this world:
Varys: They say [Stannis Baratheon] burns his enemies alive to honor the Lord of Light.Tyrion: The Lord of Light wants his enemies burned; the Drowned God wants them drowned. Why are all the gods such vicious cunts? Where's the god of tits and wine?
- Discussed on Stargate SG-1:
Daniel: Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of fertility, inebriety, and music.Jack: Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll?Daniel: In a manner of speaking.
Mythology & Religion
- Aztec Mythology:
- Mayahuel is the goddess of the maguey plant, which the Aztecs would use to make the alcoholic beverage known as pulque.
- Patecatl is a god of healing and fertility who is also described as the "lord of the root of pulque".
- Min Kyawzwa is a Burmese deity inspired by multiple historical people, said to be an alcoholic who died from drinking.
- Celtic Mythology:
- The Irish god Goibhniu is not only the god of smith craft, but he is also the god of brewing and alcohol. He was known for making a magical beverage called "Goibhniu's Drink", often described as an ale or mead, which was said to restore health, vitality, and youth to those who drank it.
- Sucellus is a god of wine amongst the Gauls, who picked up in popularity after the Roman conquests, as the Gallo-Roman god of wine. His cult even spread onto Britain.
- Chinese Mythology: Du Kang is a legendary figure who is credited with the invention of alcoholic beverages, and later became the deified patron of winemakers in both China and Japan.
- Christianity:
- Saint Arnulf of Metz, Augustine of Hippo, and Saint Luke the Evangelist are patron saints of brewers.
- Saint Trifon Zarezan is patron of wine-growers in Bulgaria.
- Saint Morand is the patron of wine-growers in parts of France.
- Saint Vincent of Saragossa is patron saint of winemakers.
- Classical Mythology:
- Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, fruits, fertility, celebration, insanity, ritual madness, and theater. He is rather different than the modern day popular image makes of him, that of a harmless drunk or partying fool, as Dionysus is also a god of mysteries and therefore a secretive god. He is associated with changing one's nature, which is why Dionysian mysteries involve psychoactive substances and trances, and liberation for the marginalized such as slaves and outlaws. Fitting for his changing nature, he was also the god of resurrection, said to be the only Greek god who died and then came back to life, but who also could go to Hades and bring people back. (In some stories he was born as Zagreus, and is therefore the son of Hades before he was resurrected as Dionysus.) Like all Greek gods, Dionysus was not a god to be trifled with, fitting as he's the god of madness and the one who gave Midas his cursed golden touch.
- Liber was the Roman god of viticulture.
- Fufluns was the Etruscan god of wine. He was adopted by the Romans who merged a lot of his details with Dionysus to create Bacchus. Some of his traditions were also applied to Liber.
- Bacchus, of course, is the Roman equivalent of Dionysus.
- Acratopotes is a minor Greek god or hero of "undiluted wine" and a divine companion of Dionysus.
- Silenus is a satyr and a son of Hermes said to be Dionysus' foster father and teacher and is associated with wine.
- Egyptian Mythology: Shezmu is the Egyptian god of wines. He's also the god of blood. It's thought the Egyptians might've used red wine to symbolize blood which is why he's god of both liquids.
- In various European Folk traditions, Gambrinus is held as the patron saint of beer and beer brewing and joviality. He's not an actual Saint. The character appears in various folk tales in Germany and England and remains a sort of popular icon to this day.
- Hindu Mythology: Varuni is the goddess of wine, liquor, and intoxication.
- Japanese Mythology: Inari is the god of sake as an extension as his role as a god of rice, being that sake literally means "rice-wine." Sake is a common offering to him by worshippers.
- Mesopotamian Mythology: Ninkasi is the goddess of beer and brewing.
- Norse Mythology: Downplayed with Ægir, the jotunn personification of the sea whose name is Old Norse for "ale-smith" and is associated with brewing ale.
Tabletop Games
- Dungeons & Dragons:
- Greyhawk: Olidammara is the god of wine, taverns, revelry, music, rogues, and tricks.
- Forgotten Realms: Hanseath is the dwarven god of brewery, carousing, and singing, who represents the more festive side of dwarven culture, with his prayers being simple drinking songs, and his shrines doubling as festhalls where his followers worship by feasting and drinking in his name.
- Pathfinder:
- Cayden Cailean is a Deity of Human Origin who represents alcohol, bravery, and freedom. He's a somewhat nuanced portrayal in that he mainly represents the positive aspects of alcohol such as relaxation and merriment, and he and his church actually frown on alcoholism and violent drunks, seeing it as a corruption of Cayden's domains. In addition, although most of his followers are heavy drinkers, there are also a number of teetotalers among his faithful who focus on his domains of freedom and bravery.
- Dammar is a psychopomp usher of liquor and medicine, though in a twist he's actually a Healer God who emphasizes the medicinal uses of alcohol. He's also the inventor of hangovers and actually has experiencing hangovers as one of his edicts.
- Warhammer Fantasy:
- Valaya, ancestor goddess of the hearth, brewing, and healing, is one of the three Top Gods in the dwarf pantheon — unsurprisingly, given dwarfs and beer.
- Vylmar is the god of decadence, drinking, and debauchery whose religion is banned in the Empire due to his similarities with the Chaos God Slaanesh, though not without good cause, as they are both similar gods, plus Slaanesh's followers will sometimes masquerade as Vylmar's in order to win over converts.
Theatre
- The Lightning Thief: Based on Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Mr. D/Dionysus is the cantankerous director of Camp Half Blood, who mentions his status as the god of wine and the god of alcohol in "Another Terrible Day".
Mr. D: Another terrible day
At Camp Half-Blood
Where everything's the worst
Just another terrible day
I'm the god of wine
And I'm dying of thirst
Toys
- Transformers: Alchemist Prime is a transformer Demigod known as the Prime of the Elements. But he's also known under his "mortal" alias of Maccadam, owner, bartender, and namesake of Maccadam's Old Oil House, one of Cybertron's most well known drinking establishments. He is most prominently seen in Transformers: Cyberverse, though Word of God is that Maccadam's founder being one of the 13 Primes was a long gestating idea across the various medias.
Video Games
- Age of Mythology:
- Dionysus is the Heroic Age Greek god of wine and celebrations. His focus is in giving units regeneration and durability. Presumably referencing Alcohol's numbing effect or that Dionysus is one of the few Greek gods to have resurrected himself in Greek myths. His Upgrade "Thracian Horses" which lets cavalry regenerate in battle is based on a myth where Dionysus drove a king mad, making him think his son was a vine, and the king chopped his son to pieces, only for his people to bind him and feed him to man-eating horses. He also has the upgrade Dyonisia (Bacchanalia in the original game) which slightly increases the hit points of all units, describing it as how in his celebrations, people would often succumb to their violent urges.
"You have advanced to the Heroic Age through the Drunken Revelry of Dionysus."- Patecatl is the Classical Age Aztec god of medicine and pulque, a fermented drink made from the maguey plant. His upgrades include "Ocpatli Infusions", which increases human unit hitpoints and grants them regenerating health, and "Maguey Cultivation", which increases Settler farming rate and reimburses part of the cost of Farms when built.
- The Elder Scrolls: Sanguine is a downplayed example — since he is the Daedric Prince of hedonism, revelry and indulgence, drunkenness and alcohol are often considered part of his spheres of influence by default. He has a particular fondness for Cyrodiilic brandy, and offering a bottle of it to one of his shrines is a common method of requesting an audience with him. In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, his Daedric quest features him getting the Dragonborn into a ton of trouble by having an unwinnable Drinking Contest with them, leading to them waking up in the Temple of Dibella in Markarth with the past few days being a complete blur.
- Genshin Impact: Part of why Mondstadt is known for their wine production and lots of alcoholics is because their Archon, Barbatos, is an avid drinker himself.
- Hades: True to Classical Mythology, Dionysus is the god of wine and attacks enhanced by his blessings inflict Hangover on enemies, which is the game's equivalent of the Standard Status Effect of poison, causing stackable damage over time to enemies. He's also the Life of the Party and even sits the conflict in the second game out, not providing his boons to the player but instead hosting a party with friends and foes alike.
- Honkai: Star Rail: In Amphoreus, Phagousa the Ocean Titan is also associated with baths, wine and brewery. In the city-state of Styxia, there exists a ritual for granting Phagousa's blessing onto beverages (including non-alcoholic ones).
- RuneScape: Marimbo, the gorilla goddess of "having a good time." It's stated that she ascended to godhood after winning a drinking contest against an older, unnamed example of this trope, who died during the attempt and transferred his divine energy to her; and it's heavily implied that she used to use the Elder Horn, an Artifact of Power and one of the primordial tools used in the creation of the universe, as a drinking horn.
Webcomics
- The Gods of Arr-Kelaan: Ronson, having been a brewer when he was mortal, is the God of Alcohol and Apathy, as well as the new Arr-Kelaan pantheon's reluctant leader.