bacchus was the child of jupiter and semélé, a human whom juno had tricked into asking to see jupiter as he really was. since she was a mortal, she was burned up by the sight of jupiter in his divine form. so jupiter sewed the infant bacchus into his thigh, and gave birth to him nine months later. as a child, bacchus was tutored by silenus, who was a great lover of wine and often had to be carried on the back of a donkey. before he took his place at olympus, bacchus wandered the world for many years, going as far as india to teach people how to grow vines.