CALDERÓN SÁNCHEZ, M. (2023): “Las ἱέρειαι (sacerdotisas) del dios Dioniso: una aproximación”, Cuadernos de Filología Clásica: estudios griegos e indoeuropeos 33, pp. 237-253. (original) (raw)
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In this article I aim to investigate the role of two ancient Greek priestesses from the region of Boeotia. In doing so, I further asses the relationship of these women not only with the goddesses they honoured, but also with Dionysus, a versatile and agglutinating divinity who played a leading role in that region. The following lines are intended as part of a broader study of priestesses of Dionysus (or priestesses of other divinities related to this god) in ancient Greece, a subject that has been little studied. It should be noted that the study examines the Greek term ἱέρεια and a derivative (the generic name of “priestess” in ancient Greece given to women who exercised the priesthood in civic cults) found in epigraphic texts. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of epigraphic sources because they provide data on real figures or historically verifiable personages who took part in the cult of the divinities, as opposed to literary sources, which often focus on anecdotal aspects.
The sacrificial calendar of the Attic deme of Thorikos (SEG 33:147 = NGSL 1) offers valuable information on the religious manifestations of Attica in the 4th c. BC. However, the sacrifice to Dionysos in lines 45-46 has not been yet explained. This cult does not fit into the space - time framework of any of the Dionysiac festivals of Attica. Instead, it fits well with the cults that precede it, which are meant to worship Demeter and Zeus in the agrarian rite of the Antheia, the corn blooming festival. Dionysos could have a prominent role in the Antheia. This interpretation is based on: a) the characteristics of the victim given to Dionysos, b) evidences of a cult of Dionysos Anthios in some places of Attica, c) the fact that Dionysos as god of flowering is suitable for this festival and d) the testimony of parallel cases in other sacrificial calendars.
In the study of inscriptions on Dionysus in the Boeotia area, one engraving stands out. The inscription in question appears in the Inscriptiones Graecae, IG VII-1787, and was found in Thespis, quoting the following epigraph θεοῦ Ταύρου. The possible link between this motto (and others, as we shall discuss) and the god Dionysus is not strange, although his facet as the Bull deity is not well known. Various sources and myths support this hypothesis insofar as Antiquity perceived the bull as a symbol of fertility and proliferation, but also of fury and danger. However, the engraving has raised some controversy for some researchers because it has also been linked with Statilius Taurus family, an influential Roman family that was active in Thespis. We try to determine the truth in both hypotheses.
References to Dionysus in the Archaic Greek Epic, analysis of the relevant textes.
PROMETHEUS. Rivista di studi classici, 2023
This paper discusses a paradigmatic example of the Dionysian maenadic thiasos: the DelphicThyiades. From their names and the rites in which they participate, the history and relevance of the thiasos are reconstructed, trying to show how the boundaries between myth and rite and between civic cult and maenadism are blurred. KEYWORDS: Thyiades, Dionysus, maenadism, thiasos, Delphi.
In Pompeii traces of worship of three triads have been found: one of them relates to Hercules, Bacchus and Venus. Devotion for represent the Dionysiac is visible through the gardens of the Pompeian domus, the most representative environment associated with Dionysus, because the naturalism and growth are elements, among others, that related to Pompeian people with the God; sometimes, the correspondence between the room and the divinity was achieved by masks and garlands that decorated columns and stucco and, even, statuettes of animals. The garden represented a place of rest, refuge and salvation in the Antiquity; it was a room into the domus that stimulated the connection between the religious conception and primitive naturalism. For example, the House of the Vettii (VI.15.1) summarises very well what was explained above. However, mural painting of interior of the houses is exactly the best way to convey the Dionysian taste: the union of Dionysus and Ariadne, their history and myth were widely covered in the walls of the Pompeian domus (as is known, the abandonment of the the girl by Theseus and the subsequent discovery of the youth by the God). There is also an abundance of iconography of the couple with their respective attributes. Of course, representations of Dionysus like sovereign and triumphant God are evident, as it can be seen in the famous mosaic of Dionysus child on beast found in the House of the Faun (VI.12.2). It is common to find frescos with his entourage and his faithful companions: for instance, in the houses of Lucrezio Frontone (V.4a) and Gavius Rufus (VII.2.16-17). The lararios were also appropriate places to recreate the Dionysian atmosphere, because Lar was introduced in the cortege of the God, as it can be seen in the Caupona of Lucius Vetutius Placidus (I.8.9) or in the House of the Centenary (IX.8.3). The oscilla, given their propitiatory intentions for festivals or planting and harvest time, were a sculptural way by which the divinity also represented; like pinakes of marble, that represented theatrical masks and Dionysus himself, subtle indicators that the festive mood inherent divinity was present in the daily lives of Pompeian people. Even in the temple of the goddess Isis (VIII.7.28), the guarantee testimony of oriental cult in Pompeii, there was also Dionysian presence, which should not be surprising, on the other hand, because there is an identification of Dionysus with the Egyptian God Osiris. Without any doubt, the two clearest manifestations of the Dionysism was developed in Pompeii are the temple of the deity, was built around the third century BC, outside the city walls, and the famous frescos from the Villa of the Mysteries, some paintings that appear to narrate the initiation of one (or two) women in the Bacchic Mysteries. However, if Bacchanalia were forbidden in Rome and Campania in 168 BC and the frescs of the Mysteries have been dated around 60-50 BC, are fully accepted the Consult Senate de Bacchanalibus? Was, therefore, the cult of Dionysus settled and forgotten?
2023
Mythology is a discipline that groups together a set of tales and stories that are part of a particular culture and religion. However, to study the religious life of Antiquity as closely as possible to reality, myths cannot be taken as the only true and unique source. Unlike literary works, which do not always provide reliable information, epigraphic documents offer general and also very specific data on the religious life that took place in past historical periods. In this paper, I will focus on the information provided by ancient Greek inscriptions about female officiants of the cult of the god Dionysus. Since there is no monograph or specific works to study the male and female priesthood of this divinity, the present paper aims to be a first step and an attempt to reconstruct the female priestly figure of this god. After analysing various epigraphic texts, I will provide an overview of the relevant and attractive role played by these women, information that we would never have known if these inscriptions had not existed.