DIONYSUS – MYSTERIES / POMPEII

 

Dionysus:  The god of wine

 

Greek: Dionys… (Διόνυσ…)  /  Roman: Bacch… (Βακχ…)

 

Name refers to “orgy” (Greek: orgia [οργια])

 

(More On This Subject)

 

 

A Greek-English Lexicon (unabridged), Liddell & Scott, Oxford, 1871, p. 281, “Βακχ…”:

P. 1118, “όργια”:

 

A Greek-English Lexicon with a Revised Supplement (unabridged), Liddell & Scott, Oxford, 1996 (first edition 1843), p. 1246, “οργι-α (orgy)”:

 

A Greek-English Lexicon (unabridged), Liddell & Scott, Oxford, 1871, p. 1762, “φιλ-οργής | -όργιος”:

A Greek-English Lexicon (unabridged), Liddell & Scott, Oxford, 1996, p. 1939, “φιλ-οργής | -όργιος”:

 

ΑΡΙΣΤΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΟΑΓΓΛΙΚΟΝ ΛΕΞΙΚΟΝ (Most Excellent Greek-English Dictionary), Michigan Press, 1969, Vol. A, p. 135, “βακχ… (bacch…)”:

 

Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Classical World, Yon’ah / Shatzman, Jerusalem Publish House, 1975, p. 93:

 

The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization, 1998, p. 109:

 

Classics Illustrated Dictionary, Fuchs, 1974, p. 32:

 

http://www2.una.edu/dburton/MysteryRel.htm, Ancient Mystery Religions:

IV) Dionysus (Bacchus)  

    A) Story of Dionysus

    B) Maenads (Bacchantes).

    C) The Dionysiac (=Bacchic) Mysteries.

        1) Dionysiac "Orgy".

        2) A symbol of Dionysus.

        3) Roman's outlaw certain forms.

 

http://victorian.fortunecity.com/palette/187/greece.html, Temple of the Sacred Spiral: Session A: Religion of Ancient Greece, “Mystery Rites”:

In general the Eleusinian rites were orgiastic with riotously overt devotionalism and of a sacrificial nature. In particular, not only was the Demeter/Persephone legend important but so was the resurrection theme from the story of Dionysius,

http://www.pinn.net/~swampy/demeter.html, Demeter, “Festivals”:

Late at night orgies were held at which mysterious ceremonies were held with all types of other amusements.

 

Cliffs Notes on Mythology, 1973, p. 44, “Greek Mythology | The Olympian Gods”:

 

Sexualia: From Prehistory to Cyberspace, Bishop / Osthelder, 2001, p. 225, “The Classical World | Mystery Cults”:

 

http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe?bacchanalia (Latin-English translator), “bacchanalia”:

bacchanal.ia         N      3 4 NOM P N                 
bacchanal.ia         N      3 4 VOC P N                 
bacchanal.ia         N      3 4 ACC P N                 
Bacchanal, Bacchanalis  N (3rd) N   [XEXCO]  
festival/rites (pl.) of Bacchus; Bacchanalian orgy;
shrine/site where the rites of Bacchus were celebrated;
bacchanal.ia         ADJ    3 2 NOM P N POS             
bacchanal.ia         ADJ    3 2 VOC P N POS             
bacchanal.ia         ADJ    3 2 ACC P N POS             
Bacchanalis, Bacchanalis, Bacchanale  ADJ   [XEXDO]    lesser
relating to Bacchus; Bacchanalian;
bacchanali.a         N      2 2 NOM P N                 
bacchanali.a         N      2 2 VOC P N                 
bacchanali.a         N      2 2 ACC P N                 
Bacchanalium, Bacchanalii  N (2nd) N   [XEXCO]  
festival/rites (pl.) of Bacchus; Bacchanalian orgy;

 

http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe?orgia (Latin-English translator), “orgia”:

orgi.a               N      2 4 NOM P N                 
orgi.a               N      2 4 VOC P N                 
orgi.a               N      2 4 ACC P N                 
orgium, orgi(i)  N (2nd) N   [XXXDX]    lesser
secret rites (of Bacchus) (pl.), mysteries; orgies;

 

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php, Online Dictionary Search Results, Latin to English Dictionary, “orgia”:

Latin

English

orgia

a festival of mysteries, orgy

 

http://catholic.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=orgia&ending= (University of Notre Dame), Latin Word Lookup, “orgia”:

orgia -orum n. pl. [a secret festival; mysteries; orgies].

 

http://www.answers.com/maenad, maenad:

(Greek mythology) a woman participant in the orgiastic rites of Dionysus … In Greek mythology, Maenads [MEE-nads] were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication. The word literally translates as "raving ones". They were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with. The mysteries of Dionysus inspired the women to ecstatic frenzy; they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sex and self-intoxication and mutilation. They were usually pictured as crowned with vine leaves, clothed in fawnskins and carrying the thyrsus, and dancing with the wild abandonment of complete union with primeval nature.  The Maenads were also known as Bassarids (or Bacchae or Bacchantes) in Roman mythology, after the penchant for the equivalent Roman god, Bacchus, to wear a fox-skin, a bassaris.

 

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/5775/gods.html, Gods in Greek Mythology, “Bacchus”:

In Greek and Roman mythology, Bacchus was identified with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, and Liber, the Roman god of wine. The son of Zeus, Bacchus is usually characterized in two ways. One characterization is that he was the god of vegetation, specifically of the fruit of the trees, who is often represented on Attic vases with a drinking horn and vine branches. As he came to be the popular national Greek god of wine and cheer, wine miracles were reputedly performed at certain of his festivals. The second characterization of the god, that of a deity whose mysteries inspired ecstatic, orgiastic worship, is exemplified by the Maenads, or Bacchantes. This group of female devotees left their homes to roam the wilderness in ecstatic devotion to the god. They wore fawn skins and were believed to possess occult powers.  

The name Bacchus came into use in ancient Greece during the 5th century BC. It refers to the loud cries with which he was worshiped at the Bacchanalia, frenetic celebrations in his honor. These events, which supposedly originated in spring nature festivals, became occasions for licentiousness and intoxication, at which the celebrants danced, drank, and generally debauched themselves. The Bacchanalia became more and more extreme and were prohibited by the Roman Senate in 186 BC. In the first century AD, however, the Dionysiac mysteries were still popular, as evidenced by representations of them found on Greek sarcophagi.

 

“Secret” (MORE):

 

The Oxford Latin Minidictionary, Morwood, 1995, p. 181 (Latin-English), “orgia” (orgies):

 

Langenscheidt’s Pocket Latin Dictionary, Handford / Herberg, 1966, p. 223 (Latin-English), “orgia”:

 

The American Heritage College Dictionary, 1997, p. 962, “orgy”:

 

The New Century Dictionary of the English Language, Emery / Brewster, 1952, vol. 1, p. 1199, “orgy”:

 

An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1856, p. 778, “ORGIES”:

 

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1997, p. 83, “Bacch…”:

P. 820, “orgy”:

 

The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, 1988, p. 736, “orgy”:

 

The American Pronouncing Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Colby, 1950, p. 254:

 

A Concise Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, Earnest Weekley, 1924, p. 584:

 

http://www.morewords.com/word/orgy/, orgy:

Definitions of orgy
n. - A wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity 3
n. - Secret rite in the cults of ancient Greek or Roman deities involving singing and dancing and drinking and sexual activity 3

 

Pompeii:

 

http://it.encarta.msn.com/media_81582463_761556319_-1_1/Affreschi_della_Villa_dei_Misteri_Pompei_Baccanti.html, Affreschi della Villa dei Misteri, Pompei: Baccanti [Italian], (Fresco of the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii: Bacchante):

 

http://classics.furman.edu/~rprior/imgs/RCU4/4-097.jpg (via http://classics.furman.edu/~rprior/courses/RA/RAU4.html) (Furman University), Roman Archaeology: Roman Art, Roman Painting:

Details from the Dionysiac frieze in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii:

 

CONTINUE TO NEXT PHASE

Home (Index)