Liber

Liber landed on Naxos and found Ariadne, daughter of Minos, asleep on a rock. Theseus had abandoned her on the lonely shore. Sorrow and weeping had exhausted her. Liber watched her, and when she opened her eyes, he revealed his name and dignity. He spoke gently and tried to drive away her grief. She had believed herself forsaken and friendless, but his kindness restored her calm. She accepted his request and agreed to become his wife.

Liber married Ariadne without delay. He placed Thetis's crown on her head, and Ariadne bore him many children. Thoas and Oenopion were sometimes called Theseus's sons. In one telling, Theseus had abandoned Ariadne because he wanted another woman, Aegle, daughter of Panopeus. In another, he had feared the scandal that her arrival in Athens would cause, or Liber had appeared to him in a dream and demanded Ariadne for himself.

Liber later placed Ariadne's crown among the stars, where it became the constellation Corona Borealis. Hephaestus had made the crown from fiery gold and red Indian gems, and he had set the gems in the shape of roses. In another telling, Ariadne slept in a sanctuary of Liber, and Artemis shot her there. The marriage and the birth of her children therefore did not occur in every telling.

The daughters of Minyas kept working at their looms when Liber’s festival began. Alcithoe, the eldest, refused to honour the new god and denied that Bacchus was the son of Jove. Her sisters followed her refusal. The priest ordered every woman, young and old, to stop her ordinary work for the holiday. They had to wear buckskin, loosen their hair, place garlands on their heads, and carry leafy thyrsi. He warned that the god would punish anyone who disobeyed. The other women obeyed, but the daughters of Minyas stayed at home and continued weaving.

As they worked, their tale changed. The thread sprang into branches and young shoots bearing clustered grapes. The distaffs became vines, and the cloth took on a dark purple colour. The grapes showed the same colour as the cloth. The sisters continued their weaving until the hour that stood between day and night. Then the house suddenly seemed to shake. Burning lamps and glittering fires flashed around them. Shapes like ugly beasts appeared and made dreadful noises. The sisters hid in smoky corners, each trying to escape the shining light.

While they ran blindly, a fine film formed over their small limbs. Their arms shortened and became enclosed by slender fins instead of hands. The darkness hid the full change from them, but their human shapes disappeared. The three sisters became bats. They slept by day and flew by night, and their broad wings darkened the moon when they flew low. They travelled from place to place and watched kings, slaves, heroes, cowards, lovers, killers, and ordinary people. They later alighted beside the River Castelos, where they hoped to catch suckling pigs for the winter. Liber then left the land with his own company and went to Mount Tmolus and the River Pactolus.

Dionysus wandered through woods and forests with nymphs, satyrs, and shepherds. During one ramble, he found a wild fruit that tasted refreshing and cooling. It grew on the vine. He learned to draw its juice from the fruit and discovered that it made an exhilarating drink.

His companions drank freely. A pleasurable excitement spread through them, and they shouted, sang, and danced. Others soon gathered to taste the drink. Dionysus saw how strongly it affected his followers, so he decided to give the discovery to mortals. He taught them how to cultivate grapes and how to make wine from their juice. He also understood that wine, when people used it in moderation, gave them enjoyment.

Dionysus then travelled east. After crossing the Euphrates on a bridge made from ivy and vine, he reached India despite strong opposition. He conquered the country and taught its people the art of cultivating vines. He also gave them laws and founded great cities. In this way, the knowledge of the grapevine and wine spread among mortals.

In another telling, Oineus first received a vine plant from Dionysus. Dionysus had fallen in love with Oineus’s wife, Althaia, after Oineus pretended that he needed to perform rites and left them alone. Dionysus fathered Deianeira with Althaia, then gave the vine to Oineus. He named its product oinos, meaning wine, after him.