With a trick, the jealous Hera persuaded Semele to ask Zeus to show himself in all his light; the splendour of the father of the gods reduced the wretch to ashes, but before she died Zeus took from her belly the little one who was not yet completely formed and sewed it in his thigh. After a couple of months, Dionysus was born. For a long time nobody wanted to recognize his divine nature and moreover Hera persecuted him in every way. Having reached adult age, Dionysus entered the Underworld and took his mother Semele to Olympus. He was god of wine and drunkenness. He surrounded himself with Satyrs and Nymphs, who sang and danced, and he was followed by bands of women affected by drunkenness.
