(urth) Dionysus

[Andrew Mason]

>
> So...we agree that he's is the god of the "vine", not just grape vines.
> I do not believe specific species of vines mattered to Wolfe for this
> association one little bit.

I find that most improbable. The title 'god of the vine' is a
translation of Greek and Latin phrases which referred to the grape
vine. Dionysus was the god of wine and of grapes and so of the plant
from which they come, the vine, in the historic sense of that term. He
is not the god of climbing plants generally. (There seems to be a
difference between British and American usage here. To me, 'vine'
primarily means grape vine, and can by extension mean other plants
that resemble it. I get the sense that to Americans it just means
climbing plant, without grapes having any special precedence.
According to the OED the wider sense is first attested in 1563, but
doesn't become widespread until the 18th century, and is then
distinctively American. )

He is also associated with ivy. I wouldn't say he was the god of ivy -
that would be like calling Hermes the god of winged sandals - but it
is one of his symbols. So an imaginative writer might use climbing
plants more generally as a symbol of him. But I don't see that as a
foregone conclusion, just because of the word 'vine'.