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{{short description|Syncretism of the Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek god Dionysus}}
[[File:Osiris-Dionysus-Aeon marble statuette, 2nd cent. AD, Acropolis Museum 03.jpg|thumb|A statuette depicting Osiris-Dionysus as lord of time, late 2nd-century AD, [[Acropolis Museum]] Greece.]]
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
{{Ancient Greek religion}}
'''Dionysus-Osiris''', alternatively '''Osiris-Dionysus''', is a deity arising from the [[syncretism]] of the Egyptian god [[Osiris]] and the Greek god [[Dionysus]].

== Syncretism ==
The two deities had been identified with each other as early as the 5th century BC, as recounted in the ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' of [[Herodotus]]:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herodotus |title=Histories |publisher=George Rawlinson Translation |at=Book 2 }}</ref>
{{quote|For no gods are worshipped by all Egyptians in common except [[Isis (goddess)|Isis]] and Osiris, who they say is Dionysus; these are worshipped by all alike. [...]  Osiris is, in the Greek language, Dionysus.}} Other syncretic deities arose from these [[Egyptian Greeks|Egyptian-Greek]] conflations, including [[Serapis]] and [[Hermanubis]]. 

Dionysus-Osiris was particularly popular in [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], as the Ptolemies claimed descent from Dionysus, and as [[pharaoh|pharaohs]] claimed the lineage of Osiris.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kampakoglou |first1=Alexandros v |title=Danaus βουγενής: Greco-Egyptian Mythology and Ptolemaic Kingship |date=2016 |publisher=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |pages=119–122 }}</ref> This association was most notable during a deification ceremony where [[Mark Antony]] became Dionysus-Osiris, alongside [[Cleopatra]] as Isis-Aphrodite.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Kenneth |title=Octavian's Propaganda and Antony's De Sua Ebrietate |date=1929 |publisher=Classical Philology |pages=133–141|edition=24th}}</ref>

In the controversial book ''[[The Jesus Mysteries]]'', Osiris-Dionysus is claimed to be the basis of [[Jesus]] as a syncretic [[dying-and-rising god]], with [[early Christianity]] beginning as a [[Greco-Roman mysteries|Greco-Roman mystery]].<ref>[[Maurice Casey]] ''Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths?'' T&T Clark 2014 FREKE, N.T. and GANDY, L.P. p.17</ref> The book and its "Jesus Mysteries thesis" have not been accepted by mainstream scholarship, with [[Bart Ehrman]] stating that the work is unscholarly.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D.|date=2012|title=Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hf5Rj8EtsPkC&q=Bart+Ehrman+Did+Jesus+Exist%3F+The+Jesus+Mysteries|location=New York City, New York|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-220644-2|pages=25–30}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Religion|Ancient Greece|Ancient Egypt}}

* [[Dionysus in comparative mythology]]
* [[Mysteries of Osiris]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.50treasures.divinity.cam.ac.uk/treasure/19-2/ Antinous as Dionysus]

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer|collapsed}}

[[Category:Hellenistic Egyptian deities]]
[[Category:Life-death-rebirth gods]]
[[Category:Greco-Roman mysteries]]
[[Category:Dionysus]]
[[Category:Osiris]]


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