Originating in Thrace, where he was revered as a god of wine, the cult of Dionysus spread gradually through Greece. Dionysus became, in turn, the god of vegetation and warm moisture, the god of pleasure, the god of civilization, and ultimately a kind of supreme god and a symbol of rebirth or everlasting life. In some instances he appeared as a Sun deity. (M 12808; M 19347) _ _.