Emerging from the shadows of antiquity, the Mycenaean Linear B script serves as the oldest deciphered form of Greek, dating back to approximately 1450 BCE. Its origins trace back to the enigmatic Linear A of the Minoan civilization, but unlike its predecessor, Linear B’s code was cracked in the mid-20th century by the indefatigable efforts of British architect and cryptographer Michael Ventris. Primarily an administrative tool, Linear B was used for managing transactions and inventory, offering an illuminating lens into the economic, societal, and religious aspects of the Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age.
The first half of the 20th century saw the "orthodoxy" of the belief that Dionysus was a superfluous non-Greek god placed "very recently" (about 750 BC) into the Greek pantheon due to Erwin Rohde's book Psyche. This "orthodoxy" was somewhat contested by a number of fascinating archaeological finds made between the 1920s and 1970s. The first was the reaction to the word "Di-wo-nu-so" on three Linear B tablets with Pylos dates (about 1300 BC).
John L. Caskey uncovered a significant archaeological discovery at the shrine of St. Irene of Kea, which demonstrates continued religious activity extending back to the 13th century BC. The earliest known dedication to this shrine names Dionysus as the worshipped deity. Another Linear B inscription (KH Gq 5) discovered during the Agia Aikaterini square excavation on Chania's Kastelli hill is a noteworthy illustration of Late Minoan III B1 Zeus and Dionysus worship. It describes the sacrifice of honey to the gods Zeus and Dionysus as well as the existence of a Zeus sanctuary at Kydonia.
These findings showed that Dionysus was not a new god when the Iliad was composed around 750 BC, and that the practice of Dionysian worship was probably previously known to the Greek-speaking population of the Mycenaean Period. Even so, it seems as though he was familiar with the Greek-speaking populations, despite our insistence that he wasn't Greek.
Etymology
Throughout antiquity, Zeus (genitive Dios) has been associated with the dio- prefix in Ancient Greek, and the name's variations appear to refer to an initial *Dios-nysos.
The origin of the second element, -nūsos, is unknown. Although Pherecydes of Syros had proposed nũsa as an archaic term meaning "tree" by the sixth century BC, it is possibly connected to Mount Nysa, the birthplace of the deity in Greek mythology, where he was nursed by nymphs (the Nysiads). The Nysiads are given their names on a vase made by Sophilos (nusae). According to Kretschmer, the word "nusē" (daughter in law or bride, I-E *snusós, Sanskr. snus) is a Thracian word with the same meaning as "nýmphē," a word related to "nuos" (daughter in law or bride). He proposed that Dionysus is the "son of Zeus" because the male form is (nūsos). Dionysus, according to Jane Ellen Harrison, means "little Zeus." The name's pre-Greek origin has been proposed by Robert S. P. Beekes since all efforts to determine its Indo-European origins have been met with skepticism.
Detail View of Sophilos Dinos Depicting Dionysus, this is the oldest known image of the God. (around 570 BC)
Recent research suggests that Dionysus was one of the first gods to be named in mainland Greek culture. Nothing is known about the particular religion that Dionysus may have practiced at the time, and the majority of available material focuses only on his name. In addition to the connotations of Zeus and oxen, the names Eleuther and Eleutheros have etymological ties to the Latin term Liber Pater, suggesting that this may have been another name for Dionysus. According to Károly Kerényi, these cues suggest that the main worship of Dionysus and important stories persisted even in the thirteenth century BC.
At Knossos in Minoan Crete, men were regularly given the name "Pentheus," which refers to a figure from later Dionysian myth and also means "suffering." Kerényi asserted that giving a child such a name suggests a profound religious connection—possibly as an epithet of Dionysus himself, whose mythology represents a god who must experience suffering before conquering it. Pentheus suffers at the hands of Dionysus' followers in later stories, and according to Kerényi, this suggests a deep religious connection. According to Kerényi, the expression "man who suffers" presumably first applied to the god and then, as the story progressed, just to certain individuals. Sophilos, an Attic potter, uncovered the earliest known image of Dionysus and his name in about 570 BC.
Dionysus was already regarded as more than merely a wine-related god, as evidenced by the iconography found on ceramics from the seventh century. He was associated with marriage, death, sacrifice, and sexuality, and he had a well-established retinue of dancers and satyrs. A frequent motif in these early portrayals was the transformation of the god's worshipers into hybrid creatures, generally represented by both domesticated and wild satyrs, representing the end of civilizational life and the return to nature.
The Sophilos Dinos, British Museum.
