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From: Frank
Remote Name: 12.65.36.16
Date: 03/09/2004
Time: 05:12:04 AM
Bacchus was the Roman god of wine and intoxication, equated with the Greek Dionysus. Bacchanalia, orgies in honor of Dionysus, were introduced in Rome around 200 BC. These infamous celebrations, notorious for their sexual and criminal character, got so out of hand that they were forbidden by the Roman Senate in 186 BC.
Because Bacchus was a God, he doesn't really have a "face", i.e., his image is whatever some artist wants it to be. I have personally seen him depicted as youthful and trim in some renderings and older and more degenerate looking in others.
Mettlach's relief stein #809, entitled "Bacchus", shows him in drinking mode. There's no photo of that stein in the current Mettlach Book, but if you're a member of the Beer Stein Library (www.beerstein.net), you can find one there.