8. Don’t Tick Off the Greek God of Booze
King Lycurgus was a mythical monarch who ruled over the Edoni people in southern Thrace. In Ancient Greek mythology, he had a beef with the god Dionysus, the deity in charge of grapes and wine. According to legend, Lycurgus got drunk on wine one time, and tried to rape his own mother. When he sobered up and realized what he had almost done, he swore off the drink, became a teetotaler, and enacted a Bronze Age version of Prohibition in his kingdom.
Lycurgus banned wine and ordered the destruction of all grape vines throughout the realm. He also banned the religious cult of Dionysus, whom he refused to acknowledge as divine, and prohibited the worship of the grape god in his kingdom. Dionysus, being a god, was not about to heed the dictates of a mortal, not even a mortal king. In hindsight, considering what happened to him and the kind of vengeance that fell upon his head, Lycurgus might have regretted his decision to take on a god.
