#ampelus

1. Chiron

“Dionysus was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations.”- Ptolemaios Chennos' New History (C2nd A.D, Roman?) quoted by Photius' Myriobiblon

2. Ampelus

“The origin of that constellation also can be briefly told. 'Tis said that the unshorn Ampelus, son of a nymph and a satyr, was loved by Bacchus on the Ismarian hills. Upon him the god bestowed a vine that trailed from an elm's leafy boughs, and still the vine takes from the boy its name. While he rashly culled the gaudy grapes upon a branch, he tumbled down; Liber bore the lost youth to the stars.”- Ovid, Fasti (8 A.D, Roman)

“My sweet Ampelos never knew the joys of marriage, never prepared my chariot for his journey to the bridal chamber. No, he died leaving only grief, insurmountable grief, for Dionysus the ungrieving. You are dead, but there is still persuasion on your tongue, my dearest, it hangs there upon your breathless lips. Your cheeks are still flushed, your eyes are bright with mirth, your arms and hands are fair, still fair as snow. O, even your curls move in the whistling wind. Death holds you gently; every loveliness remains . . . But love is lost to me!”- Nonnus, Dionysiaca (C5th, Greek)

3. Prosymnus

"Dionysus was anxious to go down into Hades but did not know the way. A certain man named Prosymnus promised to tell him this, but not without payment. The payment was an evil thing, though Dionysus liked it well. It was a sexual favour, this reward that Dionysus was asked to pay. The god was willing, and he promised to grant the request if he should return, sealing his promise with an oath. He learned the way, set out, and returned, but he did not find Prosymnus, who had died in the meantime. In order to fulfill the oath to his lover, Dionysus hastened to the tomb, experiencing a desire to be penetrated. He cut off a branch from a fig tree that happened to be there, gave it the shape of a man’s part, and then sat on the branch, fulfilling his promise to the dead man. As a mystic memorial of this passion, phalluses are set up in the cities. ‘For if they were not holding processions and singing the phallus-songs for Dionysus, what they do would be most shameful,’ says Heraclitus, ‘and Hades is the same as Dionysus, the god for whom they go mad and celebrate the Lenaea.’"- Clement, Exhortation to the Greeks (C4th A.D, Greek?)

4. Staphylus

"Staphylos, the beloved of Dionysos, lived on Thasos; and because of this Thasian wine is distinctive."- Suidas s.v. Enekheis (quoting Aristophanes, Plutus 1020) (C10th, Byzantine)

This figure is more commonly identified as Dionysus’ son.

5. Hymenaios

“Whenever a missile came close, Dionysus stretched out his hand to act as a shield. And when Hymenaeus excelled, the god shouted: "My love, the way you shoot puts Ares to shame! You conquered me, the giant slayer, with your beauty.”- Nonnus, Dionysiaca (C5th, Greek)

6. Adonis

“Now Adonis is supposed to be the same with Dionysos; and there are a great many rites in both their sacrifices which confirm this opinion. Others will have Adonis to be Dionysos's paramour; and Phanocles an amorous love-poet writes thus, Dionysos on hills the fair Adonis saw, And ravished him, and reaped a wondrous joy.”- Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales (C1st A.D) quoting Phanocles (probably 3rd century B.C)

“And Plato, in his Adonis, saying that an oracle was given to Cinyras concerning his son Adonis, reports it in these words — O Cinyras, king of hairy Cyprians, Your son is far the fairest of all men, And the most admirable: but two deities Lay hands upon him; one is driven on By secret courses, and the other drives. He means Venus and Dionysos; for both of them loved Adonis.”- Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae (~200 A.D, Greek)

7, 8, 9. Laonis?, Hermaphroditus, Achilles

“For instance, Jupiter himself was in love with Ganymede; […] Dionysus with Laonis, Ampelus, Hymenaeus, Hermaphrodites, Achilles; Asclepius with Hippolytus, and Hephaestus with Peleus […]”- Clement, Homilies 5.15 (C2nd, Greek)

Quick doodle. I love him