While both the Greeks and the Romans worshiped him, an interesting fact about Dionysus is that there’s evidence that he was worshiped before Greek and Roman society was established. It’s not clear where the cult of Dionysus started, but most accounts have him as a foreign god.

In Greek mythology, Dionysus was “born” twice. Once when his mortal mother was tricked by Hera, and she was blasted apart by Zeus’s raw presence, and twice after Zeus sewed him up in his thigh until he was fully developed.

Because he was able to create and control ecstasy, he also played an important part in art and literature.