11. Appropriating persistently from the cult of Dionysus, the transformation of water into wine is just one of many stories found in the Gospel of John
The first miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, the transformation of water into wine during the marriage at Cana, remains among the most popular examples of Jesus’ divinity within the Christian canon. However, as with other notable portions of the Gospel of John, this aspect of the Christian narrative leans heavily upon the traditions of the cult of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, who, as one of the best-known deities of the Greek pantheon, was worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world including in Palestine. Containing close resemblances to the events at Cana, Dionysus was believed to sneak into temples and refill wine barrels overnight.
Bearing even closer parallels with the Christian story, the Greek novel Leucippe and Clitophon tells the story of a herdsman unsuspectingly inviting Dionysus into his home to dine. Unable to offer the deity anything to drink but water, Dionysus stuns the herdsman by transforming the water offered into wine. John’s appropriation from the cult of Dionysus is furthered still by the inclusion of a declaration by Jesus that he was the “True Vine”, a title attributed to Dionysus centuries earlier, in addition to the entire character arc of Jesus within the Gospel of John being heavily derivative of the 5th century BCE play The Bacchae which involves Dionysus as a central player.