Liber

Liber was a god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome’s plebeians.

Parents: Ceres
Siblings: Libera
Consort: Libera
Festivals: Liberalia
Other Names: Liber Pater
Greek equivalent: Dionysus

Liber was closely, often interchangeably identified with Bacchus, Dionysus and their mythology but was not entirely subsumed by them. Liber, like his Aventine companions, carried various aspects of his older cults into official Roman religion. He protected various aspects of agriculture and fertility, including the vine and the “soft seed” of its grapes, wine and wine vessels, and male fertility and virility. As his divine power was incarnate in the vine, grape and wine, he was offered the first, sacred pressing of the grape-harvest, known as sacrima.

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