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Dionysus   Bacchus    

Did someone just call me the wine dude? It's Bacchus, please. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus.

–Bacchus on his name in The Mark of Athena.

Bacchus is Dionysus' Roman counterpart (split half). As Bacchus, he becomes more warlike, yet between Greek and Roman forms, he doesn't change much. Greek descendants see him as Dionysus.

History

First Giant War

Born to Jupiter and the mortal princess Semele, Bacchus was originally a demigod who was called upon by the gods (alongside his half-brother Hercules) to fight in the First Giant War as the Gigantes could only be killed by the combined efforts of a god and a demigod. He fought the Alodai twins, Ephialtes and Otis, and ultimately defeated them with the possible aid of the goddess Diana.

The Heroes of Olympus

The Son of Neptune

While not seen, Dakota is mentioned to be a child of Bacchus. Dakota has a hyperactive personality and addiction like his father, but instead of wine, he drinks red Kool-Aid with four times the normal amount of sugar.

The Mark of Athena

Bacchus is waiting for Ceres in Topeka, Kansas at the mile marker 32. Bacchus talks to Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, and Piper McLean at the mile marker when they arrive. He does not recognize Percy as Bacchus. He relates that he fought in the first Giant War (as Dionysus) as a demigod. Whenever Percy mentions Dionysus he changes his form for a split second into his Greek form, Dionysus. He states that every time people think about him in his other form it gives him a headache, something that is also happening to all the other gods. Piper then asks him if he has a silver goblet and instead he pops a Diet Pepsi into his hand, which Percy finds strange due to the fact that as Dionysus he drinks Diet Coke. Piper states that he has to help them defeat the Giants. Irritated by her words, he tells her that he has to do nothing. He then quickly leaves after having realized that it was a trap set up by Gaea and that Ceres was not going to show up.

En route to Rome, Percy offers Chrysaor's ship, its millions of dollars worth of gold treasure, and a good deal of Diet Coke as a tribute to Bacchus, and it sinks into the Mediterranean Sea. Later, in Rome, Bacchus appears while Percy and Jason are fighting Ephialtes and Otis. He refuses to fight until he has seen a good show. After the two demigods continue to battle the giants in the Colosseum, Bacchus is sufficiently impressed by their abilities to join the fight and banishes both giants to Tartarus by tapping them with his Thyrsus rod. Bacchus tells Percy where to go to rescue Annabeth and makes comments that possibly indicate Percy and Annabeth's ordeal in Tartarus.

The Trials of Apollo

The Tyrant's Tomb

Bacchus is mentioned by Apollo when he sees Dakota at the Senate House.

Appearance

He is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy face, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and bears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled with ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at others by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of Fauns, Bacchae, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst Silenus, his preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his burden.

Trivia

  • Bacchus' favorite drink (besides wine) is Diet Pepsi, much like how his Greek aspect's favorite drink is Diet Coke.
  • Dionysus was originally named Bacchus by Zeus, on account of his screaming and yelling when he was born. As stated in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, the name Bacchus means “the noisy one”.
  • In antiquity the worshipers of Dionysus/Bacchus were collectively referred to as the Bakkhai.
  • Bacchus' name, spelled in Latin as BACCHVS, is the Latinized form of the Greek name Βάκχος (Bákkhos), which was a primary epithet of Dionysus.
    • Bacchus, a white wine grape, was named after him.
    • His Egyptian counterpart is Shezmu.
    • His Norse counterpart is Aegir.
The Heroes of Olympus
Core Series: The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena | The House of Hades | The Blood of Olympus
Main Characters: Jason Grace | Piper McLean | Leo Valdez | Percy Jackson | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Annabeth Chase | Iapetus/Bob | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Nico di Angelo | Gleeson Hedge
Secondary Characters: Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Dakota | Tyson | Ella | Octavian | Halcyon Green | Dr. Howard Claymore | Alabaster C. Torrington | Lamia
Minor Characters: Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Grover Underwood | Thalia Grace | Clarisse La Rue | Fleecy | Mrs. O'Leary | Kinzie | Arion | Calypso | Lou Ellen Blackstone | Chiron | Will Solace | Tristan McLean | Don | Julia | Jacob | Michael Varus | Burly Black | Medea | Midas | Lityerses | Phineas | Otrera | Echo | Narcissus | Sciron | Pasiphaë | Lycaon
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Ares | Demeter | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus
Minor Gods: Achelous | Aeolus | Asclepius | Boreas | Eurus | Hecate | Iris | Hypnos | Keto | Khione | Kymopoleia | Mithras | Nemesis | Nike | Notus | Phorcys | Serapis | Thanatos | Triptolemus | Zephyros
Roman Gods: Jupiter | Juno | Neptune | Pluto | Mars | Minerva | Ceres | Lupa | Bellona | Fortuna | Janus | Terminus | Vulcan | Mercury | Apollo (Roman) | Diana | Venus | Bacchus | Pomona | Aquilon | Hercules | Cupid | Auster | Favonius | Letus | Victoria
Giants: Enceladus | Porphyrion | Alcyoneus | Polybotes | Ephialtes | Otis | Damasen | Clytius | Mimas | Orion | Hippolytos | Thoon | Periboia
Undead: Gray | Zombie
Primordial Gods: Gaea | Tartarus | Ourae | Nyx | Chaos | Ouranos | Akhlys | Hemera | Elpis | Spes
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Cynocephali | Gorgon | Gryphon | Harpy | Basilisk | Lycanthrope | Gegeines | Cyclops | Katobleps | Unicorn | Giant Eagle | Ichthyocentaur | Satyr/Faun | Storm Spirit | Laistrygonian Giant | Lares
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Haley Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide | The Demigod Files | The Demigod Diaries | The Son of Sobek | The Singer of Apollo | The Staff of Serapis | Percy Jackson's Greek Gods | Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians | Demigods of Olympus | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection
The Trials of Apollo
Core Series: The Hidden Oracle | The Dark Prophecy | The Burning Maze | The Tyrant's Tomb | The Tower of Nero
Main Characters: Apollo/Lester Papadopolous | Meg McCaffrey | Percy Jackson | Peaches | Leo Valdez | Calypso | Grover Underwood | Piper McLean | Jason Grace | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Lavinia Asimov | Nico di Angelo | Will Solace | Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Secondary Characters: Chiron | Austin Lake | Kayla Knowles | Hemithea | Josephine | Georgina | Lityerses | Trophonius | Gleeson Hedge | Mellie | Chuck Hedge | Medea | Herophile | Crest | Don | Tyson | Ella | Tarquin | Luguselwa | Claudia | Janice | Blaise
Minor Characters: Sally Jackson | Thalia Grace | Mrs. O'Leary | Festus | Cade | Mikey | Harley | Connor Stoll | Miranda Gardiner | Cecil Markowitz | Ellis Wakefield | Sherman Yang | Damien White | Malcolm Pace | Paolo Montes | Valentina Diaz | Germani | Agamethus | Olujime | Phillip McCaffrey | Hunter Kowalski | Sssssarah | Prickly Pear | Aloe Vera | Joshua | Naevius Sutorius Macro | Incitatus | Tristan McLean | Bombilo | Aurum | Argentum | Julia | Jacob | Dakota | Poison Oak | Screech-Bling | Annabeth Chase | Elon | Mamurius Veturius | Mimi
Olympian Gods (Greek & Roman): Zeus/Jupiter | Hera/Juno | Poseidon/Neptune | Demeter/Ceres | Ares/Mars | Athena/Minerva | Apollo/Apollo (Roman) | Artemis/Diana | Hephaestus/Vulcan | Aphrodite/Venus | Hermes/Mercury | Dionysus/Bacchus | Hades/Pluto
Minor Gods: Nero | Commodus | Caligula | Iris | Britomartis | Styx | Terminus | Lupa | Terpsichore | Harpocrates | Cardea
Titans: Rhea | Leto | Mnemosyne | Helios
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Python | Nosoi | Karpos | Palikos | Myrmekes | Colossus Neronis | Blemmyae | Gryphon | Carthaginian Serpent | Scythian Dracaena | Cynocephali | Centaur | Cyclops | Yale | Satyr/Faun | Strix | Dryad | Dragon | Pandai | Eurynomos | Skeleton Warriors | Vrykolakai | Khromandae | Amphisbaena | Troglodyte | Tauri Sylvestres
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | The Heroes of Olympus | Demigods & Magicians | Camp Half-Blood Confidential | Camp Jupiter Classified: A Probatio's Journal | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection | Un Natale Mezzosangue | The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
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