"Where women are honored, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honored, no sacred rite yields rewards."
- Manava Dharma Shastra (Manu-Smriti), 3.56

Aphrodite
Tanagra Greece. 200 BCE.

Floor mosaic of triclinium in so-called Domus of Dionysus.
2nd century CE.

Dionysos of the deep earth, of the dark world,
of the unknown expanse beneath the black soil,
beneath solid stone, of mysteries you know much,
of death and of what lies beyond. God of secrets,
I praise and honor you, I thank you for your blessings.

Dionysos the inspiring, granter of words
of prose or poesy, words heard best by the drunken
and the mad, words forgotten with the passing
of night and delight. Bacchus, granter of rare transport,
I praise and honor you, I thank you for your blessings.

Dionysos, deep-hearted one who knows the souls
of men and women, whose hand is ever open,
ever within reach. Dionysos, god who runs
in the dark, who sees with eyes shut tight, who dances
to the heart’s strong beat, ever are you yourself,
ever constant, ever changing god of those
who are trapped, those who seek your truth and their own,
those who seek vision beyond seeing, those who seek
wisdom beyond knowledge, those who seek the self,
pure and sweet, those who seek clarity beyond
definition, who seek to embrace the uncertain,
to hold, but loosely, to what is true beyond trust.

Leighton Frederic - Bacchante

Roman fresco showing Bacchus (on the left) and serpent (Agathodaimon) from the Casa del Centenario in Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum (Naples)