Bacchus by Michelangelo (b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma) was one of his first commissions after moving to Rome at the age of 21. Bacchus or Dionysus is shown vulnerably staggering with the androgynous beauty of youth. A faun or young satyr plunders the grapes while Bacchus toast the moment holding the skin of a tiger in his left hand

Today Dionysus is most often explained as the dynamic opposite to Apollonian reason.  Our continued development as a civilization is still best understood as the tension between Apollo the sun-god, who represents light, clarity, and form in opposition to forms of the earthy deity Dionysus, whose enthusiasm and ecstasy break down the individual and connect them to a collective power. The festival arts of Carnaval and indeed most music and dance are the most Dionysian of the arts. Their appeal is not made to the reasoning mind but rather directly to humanity's instinctive, chaotic emotions. 

While the Saturnalia, (the winter solistice celebration) is best known and as the forerunner to Christmas and New Year's, is the most widely adopted Roman holiday. Our search for the roots of Carnaval points equally to two other Roman festivals which Bacchus was as likely to preside over as the Saturnalia. The  Floralia, a spring festival around May day as well as the much modified Roman version of the Dionysian rites from Greece known by the name Liberalia (and  Bacchanalia) a public version what had begun as the mystery cult of Dionysus.

Still Rome's tolerance towards religious matters and infatuation with the Greek pantheon of deities would aid the spread in popularity of Bacchus who eventually become a significant religious institution. In Imperial Rome it consisted both of a serious religion and a conglomerate of supporters' clubs, a variety of eating and drinking societies held under the auspices of the god. In the south of Italy, for a very long time Liberalia | this festival was a celebration for the Roman god Liber (who, appears similar to  the Greek god Dionysos and his Roman counterpart, Bacchus. In Rome, the Liberalia was an important holiday on Mar

Dionysus seems to mean Son of God from Dio—god, and Nyos—son or child. Dionysus was a god of the lower regions including the earth and the regions below. Thus he was in charge of the fate of men and of their souls and was considered an important god to stay on good terms with.

The Mysteries of Dionysus rivaled those of Demeter at Eleusis but were more active.

Creation Story: The most powerful stories are a culture's creation story or a  legend or belief that answers questions about the universe, such as the origin of the world, mankind and nature, man's place in the world, animals, life and death. The story of Dionysus, representing rebirth in the cycle of life, death and rebirth is also a creation story. "After dismembering him, the Titans first boiled the pieces in water and afterwards roasted them. Pallas [Athena] rescued the heart of the murdered god, and by this precaution Bacchus (Dionysos) was enabled to spring forth again in all his former glory. Jupiter, the Demiurgus, beholding the crime of the Titans, hurled his thunderbolts and slew them, burning their bodies to ashes with heavenly fire. Out of the ashes of the Titans - which also contained a portion of the flesh of Bacchus, whose body they had partly devoured - the human race was created. Thus the mundane life of every man was said to contain a portion of the Bacchic life."      - Manly P. Hall(wiki) , Masonic, Hermetic, Quabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy A mortal woman, Semele, took a love potion made from the heart and mated with Zeus. But she forced Zeus to reveal himself and shriveled up, as mortals who see the face of a god do. Her baby however was saved and, sewn into Zeus's thigh, was protected until he was reborn—another interpretation of the name Dionysus is "twice born". The god Dionysus then saved his mother from Hades and elevated her to Olympus. After he had arisen he said to mankind: It is I who guide you. It is I who protect you, and who save you. I am Alpha and Omega.

The earliest known depiction of Dionysos in Attic vase painting is on a black-figure dinos painted by Sophilos, around 580 BCE, in a depiction of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.

Bacchus on the Boat by Bullfinch

Now the attendants returned whom he had dispatched to seize Bacchus. They had been driven away by the Bacchanals, but had succeeded in taking one of them prisoner, whom, with his hands tied behind him, they brought before the king.  Pentheus, beholding him with wrathful countenance, said "Fellow! you shall speedily be put to death, that your fate may be a warning to others; but though I grudge the delay of your punishment, speak, tell us who you are, and what are these new rites you presume to celebrate." TThe prisoner, unterrified, responded, "My name is Acetes; my country is Maeonia; my parents were poor people, who had no fields or flocks to leave me, but they left me their fishing rods and nets and their fisherman's trade. This I followed for some time, till growing weary of remaining in one place, I learned the pilot's art and how to guide my course by the stars. It happened as I was sailing for Delos we touched at the island of Dia and went ashore. Next morning I sent the men for fresh water, and myself mounted the hill to observe the wind; when my men returned bringing with them a prize, as they thought, a boy of delicate appearance, whom they had found asleep. They judged he was a noble youth, perhaps a king's son, and they might get a liberal ransom for him. I observed his dress, his walk, his face, There was something in them which I felt sure was more than mortal. I said to my men, 'What god there is concealed in that form I know not, but some one there certainly is. Pardon us, gentle deity, for the violence we have done you, and give success to our undertakings.' Dictys, one of my best hands for climbing the mast and coming down by the ropes, and Melanthus, my steersman, and Epopeus, the leader of the sailor's cry, one and all exclaimed, 'Spare your prayers for us.' So blind is the lust of gain! When they proceeded to put him on board I resisted them. 'This ship shall not be profaned by such impiety,' said I. 'I have a greater share in her than any of you.' But Lycabas, a turbulent fellow, seized me by the throat and attempted to throw my overboard, and I scarcely saved myself by clinging to the ropes. The rest approved the deed. "Then Bacchus (for it was indeed he), as if shaking off his drowsiness, exclaimed, 'What are you doing with me? What is this fighting about? Who brought me here? Where are you going to carry me?' One of them replied, 'Fear nothing; tell us where you wish to go and we will take you there.' 'Naxos is my home,' said Bacchus; 'take me there and you shall be well rewarded.' They promised so to do, and told me to pilot the ship to Naxos. Naxos lay to the right, and I was trimming the sails to carry us there, when some by signs and others by whispers signified to me their will that I should sail in the opposite direction, and take the boy to Egypt to sell him for a slave, I was confounded and said, 'Let some one else pilot the ship;' withdrawing myself from any further agency in their wickedness. They cursed me, and one of them, exclaiming, 'Don't flatter yourself that we depend on you for our safety,' took my place as pilot, and bore away from Naxos. "Then the god, pretending that he had just become aware of their treachery, looked out over the sea and said in a voice of weeping, 'Sailors, these are not the shores you promised to take me to; yonder island is not my home. What have I done that you should treat me so? It is small glory you will gain by cheating a poor boy.' I wept to hear him, but the crew laughed at both of us, and sped the vessel fast over the sea. All at once- strange as it may seem, it is true,- the vessel stopped, in the mid sea, as fast as if it was fixed on the ground. The men, astonished, pulled at their oars, and spread more sail, trying to make progress by the aid of both, but all in vain. Ivy twined round the oars and hindered their motion, and clung to the sails, with heavy clusters of berries. A vine, laden with grapes, ran up the mast, and along the sides of the vessel. The sound of flutes was heard and the odour of fragrant wine spread all around. The god himself had a chaplet of vine leaves, and bore in his hand a spear wreathed with ivy. Tigers crouched at his feet, and forms of lynxes and spotted panthers played around him. The men were seized with terror or madness; some leaped overboard; others preparing to do the same beheld their companions in the water undergoing a change, their bodies becoming flattened and ending in a crooked tail. One exclaimed, 'What miracle is this!' and as he spoke his mouth widened, his nostrils expanded, and scales covered all his body. Another, endeavouring to pull the oar, felt his hands shrink up and presently to be no longer hands but fins; another, trying to raise his arms to a rope, found he had no arms, and curving his mutilated body jumped into the sea. What had been his legs became the two ends of a crescent-shaped tail. The whole crew became dolphins and swam about the ship, now upon the surface, now under it, scattering the spray, and spouting the water from their broad nostrils. Of twenty men I alone was left. Trembling with fear, the god cheered me. 'Fear not,' said he; 'steer towards Naxos.' I obeyed, and when we arrived there, I kindled the altars and celebrated the sacred rites of Bacchus."

Cured of Madness by Cybele Dionysos roams the world seeking followers