Ptolemy IV

Ptolemaic dynastic cult

Ptolemy IV also strongly emphasised the cult of Dionysus and linked the god closely to the dynastic cult. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and was closely associated with the royal ideal of opulence and luxury, known in Greek as tryphe, which Ptolemy IV wished to cultivate. Several new festivals of Dionysus were inaugurated, in which Ptolemy IV himself led the processions, beating on a tympanon. He renamed several areas of Alexandria in honour of Dionysus and his attributes. Sometime before 217 BC, Ptolemy IV ordered all priests of Dionysus to come to Alexandria to be registered and to submit their holy books and mystery rites to government inspection. This demonstrates a desire to assert his total control of Dionysus worship within his realm. Ptolemy IV himself was referred to as the Neos Dionysos (New Dionysus) and depicted with attributes of the god in images. Equations with other deities were also made in royal imagery: one notable set of gold octodrachms depicts the king with the rayed crown of Apollo or Helios, the trident of Poseidon, and the aegis of Athena, Zeus, and Alexander.