The tradition of Dionysos’ birth at Thebes was very ancient, attested by both Homer (II. 14.323-25) and Hesiod (Theog. 940-42). There the god was called Dionysos Kadmeios because his sanctuary was located on the akropolis (Kadmeia) near that of Demeter. It included the part of the old palace where Kadmos’ daughter Semele, the lover of Zeus, was destroyed by a thunderbolt. In keeping with Greek custom regarding places hit by lightning, the shrine/ tomb (sekos) was delimited by a wall and declared off limits for human feet. Euripides (Bacch. 7-8) describes it as “smoldering with the still-living flame of Zeus,” perhaps an eternal flame of some sort, yet overgrown with lush vines. Centuries later, Pausanias (9.12.3) viewed the same spot, now called the bridechamber (thalamos) of Semele, and was told that the ancient image of Dionysos Kadmeios consisted of a log that fell from heaven with the thunderbolt.
Considering the importance of Thebes in the history of Dionysiac cult, we know surprisingly few specifics about the rituals performed there. The existence of a mainadic ritual conducted on Mt. Kithairon, probably the Agrionia, can be deduced from the myth of Pentheus’ pursuit of the mainads as told in Euripides’ Bacchae. As we have seen, the authority of Thebes in Dionysiac matters was supported by the Delphic oracle, and certain Theban cults were imitated by other cities. For example, the Pythia instructed the Korinthians to obtain the tree from which Pentheus was dragged and to “worship it just like the god.” Two images made of pinewood from Thebes were called Dionysos Lysios (Liberator) and Bakcheios. Sikyon too had a statue of Dionysos Lysios, brought from Thebes at the behest of the oracle, and paired with a Bakcheios. The sanctuary in Sikyon was located beside the theater, and one night each year the citizens escorted the god’s two images to this Dionysion while carrying torches and singing hymns.33 The Athenians practiced a similar ritual with respect to Dionysos Eleuthereus, originally a Boiotian god, who was installed beside the theater. The cult pattern can be traced ultimately to the sanctuary of Dionysos Lysios near the theater at Thebes.
Semele’s cult was observed at both the major Theban sanctuaries of Dionysos, on the Kadmeia and at the theater. Euripides (Phoen. 1755-56) mentions Theban women’s dances in the mountains for Semele. The cult spread to Attica, for Pindar (fr. 75.19 Snell-Maehler) speaks of Athenian “choruses for Semele with her circlet wreath” in a dithyramb composed for the City Dionysia, and the deme Erchia sponsored sacrifices for Dionysos and Semele during the same festival. Scholars often call Semele a “faded” earth goddess because she is shown on Greek vases, like Persephone/Kore and Ge, rising from the earth. The Greeks, however, always thought of her as a heroine who both suffered and transcended mortality. Hesiod notes her special character as a mortal who birthed a god, and narratives about her focus almost exclusively on her death and Dionysos’ descent to the underworld to retrieve her. Every eight years the Delphic Thyiads conducted the Herois, a festival of Semele that included both public rites and secrets kept hidden from men. From what he was able to observe, Plutarch (Mor. 293b-c) concluded that the Herois celebrated the anagcige (bringing up) of Semele from the underworld.34
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