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Bacchus (also known as Dionysus and Liber), the Roman and Greek god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and Semele. He represented not only the intoxicating power of wine, but its social and beneficent influences likewise; he was viewed as the promoter of civilization, and a lawgiver and lover of peace, as well as the patron deity of both agriculture and the theater.

More so in his Greek incarnation as Dionysus instead of Bacchus, the god was a god of mystery religious rites, such as those practiced at Eleusis. In the Thracian mysteries, he wore the "bassaris" or fox-skin, symbolizing new life. (See also Maenads)

Many scholars believe that Bacchus was a fusion of a local Greek nature deity and a more powerful god from Thrace or Phrygia.

Bacchus' had an unusual birth. His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his father Jupiter, the king of the gods. Jupiter's wife, Juno, a jealous and vain goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Juno befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Jupiter. Juno pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Jupiter that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Jupiter begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, can not look upon a god without dying, and she perished. Jupiter rescued the fetal Bacchus, however, by sewing him into his leg. A few months later, Bacchus was born. This leads to his being called "the twice-born".

In another version of the same story, Bacchus (often called Zagreus, the supreme god of Greek Orphism, in this account) was the son of Jupiter and Persephone, the queen of the underworld. A jealous Juno again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titans to rip Bacchus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. Though Jupiter drove the Titans away with his thunderbolts but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Minerva, Rhea, or Ceres. Jupiter used the heart to recreate Bacchus and implant him in the womb of Semele, hence he was again "the twice-born". Sometimes it was said that he gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her. The rebirth in both versions of the story is the primary reason he was worshipped in mystery religions, as his death and rebirth were events of mystical reverence.

The legend goes that Jupiter took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge to the Nysaean nymphs, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their care were rewarded by Jupiter by being placed, as the Hyades, among the stars. When Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Juno struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the goddess Rhea cured him and taught him her religious rites, and he set out on a progress through Asia teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. The most famous part of his wanderings is his expedition to India, which is said to have lasted several years. Returning in triumph he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but was opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduction on account of the disorders and madness it brought with it.

As a young man, Bacchus was exceptionally attractive. Once, while disguised as a mortal on a ship, the sailors attempted to kidnap him for their sexual pleasures. Bacchus mercifully turned them into dolphins but saved the captain, Acoetes, who recognized the god and tried to stop his sailors.

Acis, a Sicilian youth, was sometimes said to be Bacchus' son. A satyr named Ampelos was a good friend of Bacchus.

Callirhoe was a Calydonian woman who scorned a priest of Dionysus who threatened to inflict all the women of Calydon with insanity (see Bacchae). The priest was ordered to sacrifice Callirhoe but he killed himself instead. Callirhoe threw herself into a well which was later married after her.

As Dionysus was almost certainly a late addition to the pantheon of Greek mythology, there was some hostility to his worship. Homer mentions him only briefly and with much hostility. Euripedes also wrote a tale concerning the destructive nature of Dionysus in his play entitled "The Bacchae". Since Euripedes wrote this play while in the court of King Archelaus of Macedon, some scholars believe that the cult of Dionysus was malicious in Macedon but benign in Athens. In the play, Dionysus returns to his birthplace, Thebes, ruled by his cousin, Pentheus. Pentheus was angry at the women of Thebes, including his mother, Agave, for denying his divinity and worshipping Dionysus against his will. The worshippers of Dionysus were known as blood-thirsty, wild women called Maenads. The women tore Pentheus to shreds after he was lured to the woods by Dionysus. His body was mutilated by Agave.