Is Dionysus (a.k.a. Bacchus) like Jesus?
Article author: Jay Zeke Malakai
Article editor: Jay Zeke Malakai
Introduction
Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, is another pagan god that allegedly inspired the Christian gospel. According to the claim, Dionysus has a miraculous birth, is the son of a god with a mortal mother, died, resurrected and also turned water into wine at a wedding. In this article, we will examine Dionysus and refute the claim that his legend had any influence on Christianity.
Who was Dionysus?
Dionysus is the Greek god of grape harvest and wine. It is believed he was worshipped as early as 1,500 B.C., and religions centred around him vary greatly. The issue of his ancestry alone is full of discrepancies between sources. Some sources claim Dionysus' mother was a Greek godess of agriculture. Another variant says she was the queen of the underworld. In The Bacchae, Dionysus is said to have returned to the village where his mortal mother died, seeking to avenge her honor. Obviously, claims that his mother was a godess do nothing for copycat theorists, so we will not cover them in detail here. His father, on the other hand, is usually claimed to be Zeus.
Who was Dionysus' mother?
The mortal mother of Dionysus is a woman named Semele. Semele, however, is actually not his mother. As the story goes, Dionysus is the first born son of Zeus and a godess; either Persephone, queen of the underworld, or Demeter, a Greek godess of agriculture.
It is then said that Dionysus was born, but was torn to pieces by titans as a young child. His remains were then transferred into Semele's womb. In this case, Dionysus had obviously not been concieved by a virgin woman, as he had already been concieved, and even born once.
But things get worse for copycat theorists. In a variant of the Dionysus legends, Semele never even gives birth to Dionysus. First century poet, Ovid, wrote in Metamorphoses, Book 3, that Semele requested a meeting with the god who impregnated her. The god appeared as a storm, but although he tried to restrain himself, he tore her to pieces. Dionysus (Bacchus, in this work) was torn from Semele's womb, unfinished, and was instead attatched to his father's thigh to complete his formation.
But even in variants that claim Semele did give birth to Dionysus, there is another critical difference between her and Mary. Semele is, herself, descended from the gods of Mount Olympus. According to many sources, like the afore mentioned Bacchae, Semele's great grandfather is none other than Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, also known as Neptune. To complicate matters even more, Semele's own mother is a godess, called Harmonia, who is the daughter of Aphrodite (also known as Venus). Given that Christianity continues Judaism's long history of monotheism, one doesn't really need much of an education to realise the flaws in this. While Semele was supposed to be mortal, she most certainly was not human. Mary, on the other hand, is. This makes claims that they are similar dishonest, at best.
The water to wine miracle
John 2:1-12 describes a miracle in which Jesus transforms water into wine at a wedding. In his romance novel, Leucippe and Cleitophon, a writer called Achilles Tatius, said the same thing about Dionysus (hardly surprising that the god of grape harvest and wine would have some sort of wine related power). Traditionally, it is at Dionysus' own wedding to Ariadne that he turned water into wine.
Now, on the surface, Dionysus' miracle does seem quite similar to Jesus' miracle. And I suppose, if this account was readily available in a pre-Christian era, it would be at least slightly reasonable to believe it could have influenced stories about Jesus doing the same thing. There are, however, two problems. The first is that Jesus is a historically verified being. If you believe in any historical person before the 15th century, you must believe in the historical Jesus. Attached to his indisputeable existence is the fact that he performed miracles, which his detractors labeled as cheap magic tricks, sorcery or even demonic influence. Even if you reject his divinity, it is almost certain that he at least made it appear that he turned water into wine.
But by far a more fatal problem is that Tatius' novel did not exist before John's gospel was written. It is disputed as to exactly when Tatius lived. Estimates range from the first century A.D. to the sixth. One of the first people to write about Tatius is ninth century Christian scholar, Photius. Photius believed that Tatius lived during the fifth or sixth century A.D., and drew this conclusion based on his belief that Tatius might have been influenced by another writer, named Heliodorus. Photius believed Heliodorus lived in the fifth century A.D., but the modern consensus is that he actually lived in the third century. Either way, if Photius' belief was correct, Tatius was too late to have any influence on the New Testament.
Interestingly, another writer, named Suidas, believed Tatius may have been influenced by the New Testament himself. In fact, in his work "The Suda", Suidas wrote that Tatius "became, at last, a Christian bishop." Now, I know most religions like to exagerate their age, but Christianity is not one of them. Christianity is fiercely historical, so you will not find a single educated Christian that will claim Christian bishops could ever have existed before Christ. This makes it impossible for Tatius to have written Leucippe and Cleitophon before John wrote his gospel. In other words, Jesus performed his water to wine miracle first, and thus it is not him copying Dionysus, but really Dionysus copying him.
Dionysus' crucifixion
One evidence copycat theorists use for the Jesus-Dionysus connection is a picture of an amulet. The amulet, depicted right, is not unlike many modern day depictions of Jesus on the cross. The difference is that the lower part of the amulet has the name of Bacchus inscribed onto it.
To the uninformed, or to someone who just wants to remain in ignorance, this may seem like pretty solid proof that Christianity simply borrowed the crucifixion from other sources. However, a closer inspection reveals several problems with this "proof" against the validity of the Bible.
The first problem is that the picture is not actually of the amulet. The real amulet is said to have been lost, or even destroyed, during World War 2. The picture you can see there is actuall an artist's rendition of the amulet, which itself is not based on the actual amulet. Instead, it is based on a line drawing.
The second problem, which is by far more glaring, is that it is also late to the party, so to speak. It is believed that the amulet was created more than 2 centuries after Jesus' crucifixion. Maybe more. If this is accurate, it is impossible for it to have influenced Christianity.
The third, and perhaps most devastating fact, is that various scholars, including Otto Kern, believe the amulet is "almost certainly fake".
One of the first scholars to estimate a date for the amulet is Robert Eisler, a noteably anti-Christian scholar. He believed the amulet's origins could be found in the third or fourth century. Not only that, but he also concluded that the amulet actually depicted Jesus, not Dionysus.
Whether it is real, fake, or a crucified Jesus, one thing is for certain: it provides no evidence that Christians copied pagans, but that pagans copied Christianity.
Conclusion
Despite claims of major similarities between Jesus and Dionysus, this article has shown that Jesus and Dionysus are far from similar. Dionysus' second mother is mortal, yes, but she is not human. On the other hand, Jesus was not born to a godess, torn apart by titans, then implanted in a mortal's womb. Instead, he is miraculously concieved by a human woman by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is little to no evidence that Dionysus ever died by crucifixion. His only death is at the hands of titans, who tear him apart and devour him, leaving only his heart. While it's true that Dionysus turns water into wine, this is a much later addition to his legends, which post-dates Christianity by as many as 6 centuries. Ultimately, Jesus is not influenced by Dionysus, but rather Dionysus is given legendary attributes by Christianity.