For many of us, the holiday season starts in the fall, the time of harvest celebrations. For Dionysus, the Greek god of parties, every day is the perfect time to celebrate. Join us as we raise a glass (Diet Coke of course) to Camp Half-Blood’s surly, impetuous, yet ultimately lovable camp director, Mr. D. Share your own words using #ThanksMrD on @readriordan.
He’s one of the original demigods.
For someone who famously knows how to have a good time, Dionysus had a rough upbringing. The son of Zeus and a mortal woman, he’s the only Olympian demigod. Zeus’s wife Hera raged about her husband’s infidelity and made Mr. D’s early life a series of major bummers. The worst of it was when she cursed him with madness. (Don’t worry, he’s cured of it now. Or so we’re told.)
Mr. D’s abilities aren’t limited just to grapes. He can make all fruit-bearing plants thrive.
He’s the father of wine.
At a young age, Dionysus learned how to “cultivate the vine.” That’s just a fancy way of saying he had a knack for growing and fermenting grapes. Water wasn’t a reliable drinking source in ancient Greece, so when Dionysus created wine, it was one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 4500s (that’s BCE, of course). As director of Camp Half-Blood, he’s prohibited from even touching the stuff, which explains why he’s usually seen with a can of Diet Coke in his hands—a meager substitute, in his opinion.
He’s forever responsible for strawberry fields.
Mr. D’s abilities aren’t limited just to grapes. He can make all fruit-bearing plants thrive. That’s where the most succulent strawberries in Long Island come in. Delphi’s Strawberry Service is the name that Camp Half-Blood uses as it’s front, but it’s true that the fields are what keep the Camp afloat financially. Dionysus is a party kind of guy, but apparently he’s got his eye on the bottom line too!
He’s actually a pretty good camp director.
While it’s unlikely that he’s going to remember his camper’s names or bother to learn them in the first place, Mr. D has proven time and time again that he will come through when the going gets tough. Despite being generally grumpy and unpleasant at work, Dionysus has been known to protect his campers from monsters and cure them of curses, even if they are too young to drink and host awesome ragers.