Dionysus is the most popular deity Greek mythology. There are various myths concerning his birth. Many places were claiming the honor of Dionysus birth under their sky.

But the most widespread myth goes as follows: "Semell, the exquiste daughter of king Cadmus lived in Thebes. Her divine caught the attention of Zeus, the King of gods. She became his in Cadmus place. After Era was informed of all particulars, she swore to kill Semell. Taking the form of her nanny, Era appeared in front of Semell and persuaded her to ask Zeus to present himself in front of her with all his divine greatness.

Indeed, Semell asked Zeus to swear that he really loved her he would fulfill all of her wishes. Zeus willingly swore, but as soon as he heard her wish, he tried to change her mind. She stubllomly insisted. Zeus, tied down to his oath, appears in front of her on his chariot within thunder and lighting. Seeing this spectacle, the poor girl dies. She carries inside her the fruit of her love with the King of gods. Zeus takes the child, whose gestation was not completed, and sews it into his thigh. As soon as the right time arrived, he took it out of his thigh. That is how Dionysus was born."
Dionysus owes his great popularity to the fact that he took the credit not only for the discovery of vineyards, but also for the production of wines. Greece and Cyprus have been cultivating vineyards and producing excellent wines since ancient years.

Here's how the myth goes on the introduction of the vineyards cultivation in Attica: "Icarius was the king of Attica at that time. When Dionysus visited him, he greeted him with such great honors that Dionysus was so pleased and decided to teach him the viticulture methods and the craft of wine production. He warned him, though, to be mindful of his wine or else he and his family would meet a lot of misfortunes. Unfortunately, Icarius forgot god's advice and while he was talking the first produced wine home, he offered some of the valuable drink to a few passing shepherds. They got drunk and, since they thought that Icarius had poisoned them, they rushed at him and killed him. This was certainly a tragic end for the first human wine producer."

One of the most mosaics of "Dionysus house" in Paphos, know as : "Dionysus, Acme and Icarius", was inspired by this myth. The scene ilustrated in the mosaic is the moment before the tragedy. In the center, Icarius is holding the reins of the ox carrying a cart loaded with the skinbags which are full of wine. On the right we can see two man, who are named by an inscription as "The first men who drank wine". One of them, is already drunk, is lying down on the ground leaning on a skinbag. The one is still standing and drinking wine from a cup.

On the left side of the picture, Dionysus, the wine god himself, is sitting on a stool holding a cluster of grapes with both of his hands. He seems to offer it to nymph Acme, who is sitting opposite him and drinking wine from a bowl. Both figures are crowned with vineyard leaves and grapes.

Dionysus, the god so loved by the greeks, was also the god who brought the revival of nature, of feasts and entertainment. In his honor great festivals were held that were called "Dionysia". Similar festivals are held in our country nowadays, among which the "Wine Festival" in Lemesos (Limassol), seems to be the most popular.
Thousands of years ago, Cyprus was known for her sweet wine, Commandaria as we call it nowadays, which used to be - and still is - produced only in Cyprus.

In ancient years, Commandaria used to be called the "Cyprus Wine". Around 735 B.C. Hesiodus, describes how the "Cyprus Wine" was produced by grapes that were exposed in the sun.