Dionysus, or Bacchus, was the dying and rising god of Greek mythology. A fertility and vegetation god, he was associated with grapes and wine.
Often depicted as a beautiful young god, he was thronged by an entourage of ecstatic young men and women - and satyrs. And he was frequently accompanied by Priapus, the phallic fertility god with the grotesquely over-sized and perpetually erect penis.
Orgiastic processions in honor of Dionysus during the harvest festival usually sported a large phallus.
