and in the other a drinking-cup with two handles, these being his
distinguishing attributes. He is often represented riding on a panther, or
seated in a chariot drawn by lions, tigers, panthers, or lynxes.

Being the god of wine, which is calculated to promote sociability, he
rarely appears alone, but is usually accompanied by Bacchantes, satyrs, and
mountain-nymphs.

The finest modern representation of Ariadne is that by Danneker, at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine. In this statue she {130} appears riding on a
panther; the beautiful upturned face inclines slightly over the left
shoulder; the features are regular and finely cut, and a wreath of
ivy-leaves encircles the well-shaped head. With her right hand she
gracefully clasps the folds of drapery which fall away negligently from her
rounded form, whilst the other rests lightly and caressingly on the head of
the animal.

Dionysus was regarded as the patron of the drama, and at the state festival
of the Dionysia, which was celebrated with great pomp in the city of
Athens, dramatic entertainments took place in his honour, for which all the
renowned Greek dramatists of antiquity composed their immortal tragedies
and comedies.

He was also a prophetic divinity, and possessed oracles, the principal of
which was that on Mount Rhodope in Thrace.

The tiger, lynx, panther, dolphin, serpent, and ass were sacred to this
god. His favourite plants were the vine, ivy, laurel, and asphodel. His
sacrifices consisted of goats, probably on account of their being
destructive to vineyards.

BACCHUS OR LIBER.

The Romans had a divinity called Liber who presided over vegetation, and
was, on this account, identified with the Greek Dionysus, and worshipped
under the name of Bacchus.

The festival of Liber, called the Liberalia, was celebrated on the 17th of
March.

AIDES (PLUTO).

Aides, Aidoneus, or Hades, was the son of Cronus and Rhea, and the youngest
brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was the ruler of that subterranean region
called Erebus, which was inhabited by the shades or spirits of the dead,
and also by those dethroned and exiled deities who had been vanquished by
Zeus and his allies. Aides, the grim and gloomy monarch of this lower
world, was the {131} successor of Erebus, that ancient primeval divinity
after whom these realms were called.

The early Greeks regarded Aides in the light of their greatest foe, and
Homer tells us that he was "of all the gods the most detested," be