For eons there had only been 11 Olympian gods reigning on Mount Olympus. Never a twelfth, never an heir. But when Zeus, King of the Gods, names a son to ascend to his throne, his wife Hera will do anything to stop it and remain in control. The Dionysiaca details the journey of Dionysus, thrice-born, as he attempts to ascend to Mount Olympus, and take his rightful spot as the 12th Olympian. Volume one contains chapters 1-12 detailing Dionysus' three births, from three different people, with each rebirth leading him closer and closer to his birthright. The Dionysiaca was originally written in Greek in the 5th century A.D by Nonnus of Panopolis, the archaic language utilized dactylic hexameters to form a daunting 20,426 line poem. In the 1900’s The Dionysiaca was translated to that of a British dialect in the form of poetic prose. This newly Illustrated edition updates The Dionysiaca to a form more reminiscent of a novel, with line numbers and stanza’s removed. Utilizing Rouse’s translation as a base the people, places, and verbiage have been updated to that of modern American English, while mostly remaining faithful to Rouse's use of colloquialisms, outdated archaic English wording has been changed. In addition, this illustrated edition provides artwork for each chapter. Mythological scenes never depicted before are now brought to life with 12 new original illustrations and 8 additional works of art from famous painters of the past. A sneak peak of Volume Two is included, along with a sample illustration for the upcoming volume.