Dionysus

Dionysus was born to Zeus and Selena but was given to the nymphs to be raised because Hera (Zeus’s wife) got jealous. Dionysus was the god of wine, intoxication and many other things. Dionysus was raised in Asia and was thought to be insane. He perfected the art of winemaking when he was a young man and when he got older he gathered an army of satyrs and nymphs and went to Mount Olympus to try to become an immortal. He was the only major god to have a mortal parent. When he became a god he replaced Hades and Demeter as one of the major gods. The Greeks had a festival for him once a year because they valued wine and grapes. One major part of Dionysus’ worship was human sacrifice, even though most other gods opposed murder and cannibalism. Dionysus would drive people whom he was not happy with into madness. One good example of this is the legend of Pentheus. Pentheus angered Dionysus so he drove Pentheus’ mother and the other woman of Thebes into madness and forced them to live in the mountains forever. Pentheus did not know of Dionysus’ evil deed and when Dionysus told him to go to the mountains and find his mother. Pentheus did so and when he came upon his mother and the other women, they tore him to pieces and scattered them across the mountainside.
One of the most famous stories of cannibalism in Greek mythology is that of Tantalus, who cut up his child and served him to the gods at a banquet. The gods got very angry with Tantalus so they damned him to a tiny island in the middle of the River Styx. He was to stay there for 1000 years with no food or water. Another story of cannibalism tells of the daughters of Minyas. They refused to dance during the festival to worship Dionysus so he drove them mad. They developed a craving for human flesh, so they drew a lot to see who they would devour. Eventually they were driven away and Hermes turned them into owls and bats.
People might have prayed to him before they’re parties so that they’re guests would have fun....