Staphylus (; ) is one of several personages of

ancient Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient ...

, almost always associated with

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

: * Staphylus, son of wine-god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

and

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

. * Staphylus, beloved of Dionysus, from the island of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...

. It is thanks to Dionysus' love for him that Thasian wine is distinguished. * Staphylus, in a reconstructed myth, the son of

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

and Erigone, where Bacchus assumed the form of a grape which Erigone ate. She immediately realized that she was with child and in time gave birth to a son whom she named Staphylus. * Staphylus, husband of Methe and father of Botrys. The family held court in their palace at

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

. They received Dionysus as guest and held a banquet in his honor. Staphylus died a sudden death the next morning after the feast; to console his wife and son, Dionysus named grape bunches after Staphylus, drunkenness after Methe, and grapes after Botrys. * Staphylus, son of

Oenomaus In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus (also Oenamaus; , ''Oinómaos'') of Pisa (Greece), Pisa, was the father of Hippodamia (daughter of Oenomaus), Hippodamia and the son of Ares. His name ''Oinomaos'' denotes a wine man. Family Oenomaeus' mother ...

, who fought on Dionysus' side against

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

in the conflict of the two gods concerning Beroe. * Staphylus, son of

Silenus In Greek mythology, Silenus (; , ) was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue ('' thiasos''), and sometimes considerably older, in which case he may be referred to as a Pa ...

, who introduced the practice of mixing wine with water. * Staphylus, goatherd of King

Oeneus In Greek mythology, Oeneus (; ) was a Calydonian king. He introduced wine-making to Aetolia, which he learned from Dionysus and the first who received a vine-plant from the same god.Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus), Apollodorus1.8.1/ref> Family ...

, who discovered wild grapes as he was pasturing the king's goats and saw one of them chewing on the plant. He presented it to Oeneus, who in his turn invented the way of making the grapes into a drink. When Dionysus visited Oeneus, the king served him the new drink. Dionysus suggested that the drink be named ''oinos'' (wine) after Oeneus, and the grapes ''staphyloi'' after the goatherd Staphylus.

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

'' 1.9

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Nonnus of Panopolis, ''

Dionysiaca The ''Dionysiaca'' (, ''Dionysiaká'') is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surviving poem from Greco-Roman antiquity at 20,426 lines, composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hex ...

'' translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Nonnus of Panopolis, ''Dionysiaca. 3 Vols.'' W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940–1942
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, '' The Natural History.'' John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia.'' Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

{{Greek mythology index Children of Dionysus Mythology of Dionysus

See also

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References