Averrun′cus Deus, a Roman god, who could divert people from evil doing.
Axe, see Dædalus.
Ba′al, a god of the Phœnicians.
Ba′al-Pe′or, a Moabitish god, associated with licentiousness and obscenity. The modern name is Belphegor.
Babes, see Rumina Dea.
Bac′chantes. The priestesses of Bacchus.
Bac′chus, the god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and Semele. He is said to have married Ariadne, daughter of Minos, King of Crete, after she was deserted by Theseus. The most distinguished of his children is Hymen, the god of marriage. Bacchus is sometimes referred to under the names of Dionysius, Biformis, Brisœus, Iacchus, Lenæus, Lyceus, Liber, and Liber Pater, the symbol of liberty. The god of wine is usually represented as crowned with vine and ivy leaves. In his left hand is a thyrsus, a kind of javelin, having a fir cone for the head, and being encircled with ivy or vine. His chariot is drawn by lions, tigers, or panthers.
“Jolly Bacchus, god of pleasure,
Charmed the world with drink and dances.”
T. Parnell, 1700.