Dionysia
（
τὰ Διονύσια). A celebration in honour of
Dionysus (q.v.), which was held in Athens in a special
series of festivals, namely:
1.
The
Oschophoria, supposed to have been
instituted by Theseus on his return from Crete. This was celebrated in the month of
Pyanepsion (October to November), when the grapes were ripe. It was so called from the shoots
of vine (
ὄσχοι) with grapes on them, which were borne in a
race from the temple of Dionysus in Limnae, a southern suburb of Athens, to the sanctuary of
Athené Sciras , in the harbour town of Phalerum. The bearers and runners were
twenty youths (
ἔφηβοι) of noble descent whose parents were
still living, two being chosen from each of the ten tribes. The victor received a goblet
containing a drink made of wine, cheese, meal, and honey, and an honorary place in the
procession which followed the race. This procession, in which a chorus of singers was
preceded by two youths in woman's clothing, marched from the temple of Athené to
that of Dionysus. The festival was concluded by a sacrifice and a banquet.
2.
The smaller (
τὰ μικρά), or rustic Dionysia. This feast was held in the month of Poseideon
(December to January), at the first tasting of the new wine. It was celebrated, with much
rude merriment, throughout the various country districts. The members of the different tribes
first went in solemn processions to the altar of the god, on which a goat was offered in
sacrifice. The sacrifice was followed by feasting and revelry, with abundance of jesting and
mockery and dramatic improvisations. Out of these were developed the elements of the regular
drama (see
Drama), for in the more prosperous
villages, pieces—in most cases the same as had been played at the urban
Dionysia—were performed by itinerant troupes of actors. The festival lasted some
days, one of its chief features being the Ascoliasmus, or bag-dance. The point of this was to
dance on one leg, without falling, upon oiled bags of inflated leather. (See
Ascolia.) The
Ἁλῷα,
Harvest-home (or Feast of Threshing-floors), was celebrated at Athens and in the country in
the same month to Demeter and Persephoné in common.
3.
The
Lenaea (
Λήναια), or Feast of Vats. This was held at Athens in the month of Gamelion
(January to February), at the Lenaeun, the oldest and most venerable sanctuary of Dionysus in
the city. After a great banquet, for which the meat was provided at the public expense, the
citizens went in procession through the city, with the usual jesting and mockery, to attend
the representation of the tragedies and comedies at the theatre.
4.
The
Anthesteria. Celebrated for three days in
Anthesterion (February to March). On the first day (
Πιθοιγία, or opening of casks) the casks were first opened, and masters and
servants alike tasted the new wine. On the second (
Χόες, or
Feast of Beakers), a public banquet was held, at which a beaker of new wine was set by each
guest. This was drunk with enthusiasm, to the sound of trumpets. The most important ceremony,
however, was the marriage of the Basilissa, or wife of the Archon Basileus, with Dionysus,
the Basilissa being regarded as representing the country. The ceremony
took place in the older of the two temples in the Lenaeun, which was never opened except on
this occasion. The last day was called
Χύτροι, or the Feast
of Pots, because on this day they made offerings of cooked pulse in pots to Hermes, as guide
of the dead, and to the souls of the departed, especially those who had perished in the flood
of Deucalion.
5.
The great urban Dionysia (
τὰ
μέγαλα). This festival was held at Athens for six days in the month of
Elaphebolion (March to April) with great splendour, and attended by multitudes from the
surrounding country and other parts of Greece. A solemn procession was formed, representing a
train of Dionysiac revellers. Choruses of boys sang dithyrambs, and an old wooden statue of
Dionysus, worshipped as the liberator of the land from the bondage of winter, was borne from
the Lenaeum to a small temple in the neighbourhood of the Acropolis and back again. The glory
of this festival was the performance of the new tragedies, comedies, and satyric dramas,
which took place, with lavish expenditure, on three consecutive days. In consequence of the
immense number of citizens and strangers assembled, it was found convenient to take one of
these six days for conferring public distinctions on meritorious persons, as in the case of
the presentation of the golden crown to Demosthenes.
The Dionysia were celebrated at Rome under the name of
Bacchanalia. The circumstances of their introduction are given in detail
by Livy , (xxxix. 8-19). According to his account, a Greek priest brought into Etruria the
secret nightly celebration of this worship. It was not only accompanied by all manner of
licentious excesses, but was also made the occasion for planning the most revolting
crimes—perjury, forgery, false accusations, poisoning, and assassination. From
Etruria the contagion spread to Rome. According to Livy , at first the rites were
comparatively innocent. Women only were initiated, and that by day, three times in the year,
and the priesthood was held by matrons in turn. It is quite possible that in this statement
Livy has in view the worship of Stimula or Simila, an early Italian deity, afterwards
identified with Semelé, whence Ovid (
Fast. vi. 503-515) regards her rites as of a Bacchanalian character.
Possibly Vergil is thinking of the same when (
Aen. vii. 385) he speaks of the Bacchic rites as existing in Italy in
the time of Aeneas. In any case it is hardly conceivable that the corrupt Etruscan cult
should have so much changed its character in passing into Rome as Livy 's account would
require us to believe. He goes on to tell how a certain Pacullia Annia, a Campanian
priestess, claiming to be acting under the inspiration of the gods, changed the whole
character of the worship. She was the first to admit men, by initiating her own sons; she
altered the time of celebration from the day to the night, and held initiations five times
every month instead of three times a year. The promiscuous admission of men and women and the
license of night opened the way to all manner of debauchery and crime. The most horrible
immoralities were practised, the wildest frenzy indulged in. Men flung themselves about as if
possessed, and uttered frantic prophecies; women dressed as Bacchanals, with dishevelled
locks, ran down to the Tiber and plunged into the water torches which, composed of a
mixture of sulphur and lime, were not extinguished in the waves. The initiated were a vast
number, including many of high birth, both men and women. To secure the complete subjugation
of the votaries a rule was made that none should be admitted who were not under twenty years
of age, a time at which the judgment is weak and the passions strong. For some time, although
the existence of these rites was generally known, not only by report, but also by the
clanging of cymbals and the howlings of the devotees by night, their real nature was not
suspected. But in B.C. 186, the lewd and criminal character of the meetings was brought to
the knowledge of the consuls. P. Aebutius, the orphan of a Roman knight, had been left by the
death of his guardians to the charge of his mother Duronia and his stepfather Sempronius
Rutilus. The latter had embezzled his property, and in order to escape punishment desired
either to make away with the youth or to get him wholly into his power. Duronia, who was
entirely devoted to her husband, determined to avail herself of the Bacchanalia for the
corruption or destruction of her son. She informed him that at a time when he was ill she had
vowed that he should be initiated into the Bacchic rites if he recovered, and that now was
the time to discharge the vow. Aebutius, taking the matter lightly, mentioned it to a freed
woman, Hispala Fecenia, with whom he had a
liaison; but she, in the
utmost terror and distress, warned him of the dangers that he was incurring—she,
when still a slave, had accompanied her mistress to the orgies, and had seen the vile
practices of the votaries. Aebutius, returning to his mother, refused to be initiated,
without disclosing his reasons. She, in a fury, drove him from the house. He took refuge with
his father's sister, and at her advice laid the whole facts of the case before the consuls.
Hispala was induced by them to confess all that she knew. The Senate was consulted and full
powers given to the consuls to investigate the matter. Prompt measures were taken to secure
evidence and to prevent the escape of the guilty. The inquiry led to the belief that more
than 7000 men and women were implicated in the affair. Those who were merely initiated, and
had taken the oath binding them to every kind of crime and lewdness, were punished with
imprisonment; those against whom actual guilt was found—and these, we are told,
were the majority—received capital punishment. The women for the most part were
handed over to their relations, or to those who were responsible for them, for private
execution; the rest were put to death in public.
One of the most ancient and precious records of the old Latin language preserved to us is
the bronze tablet, commonly called the
Senātus Consultum de Bacchanalĭbus, containing the
letter in which the consuls communicated to the magistrates
in agro Teurano
(Tirioli, in the country of the Bruttii) part (as Mommsen thinks) of the decree of the Senate
passed on this occasion (cf. Mommsen,
C. I. L. i. 196; Ritschl,
P. L.
M. E. tab. xviii.; Allen's
Early Latin, pp. 28-31 [Boston, 1880]; and
Cortese,
Latini Sermonis Vetustioris Exempla, p. 9 [Turin, 1892]). Doubtless
it is only a specimen of many which
mutatis mutandis were sent
throughout Italy. The Bacchanalia are rigidly prohibited: if any one, Roman, Latin, or ally,
considers himself under a religious obligation
bacanal
habere, he can only do so by obtaining permission from the
praetor
urbanus, confirmed by a vote of the Senate in which not less than one hundred have
taken part. No priest, president, or common purse is allowed, nor any kind of common vow. Not
more than two men or three women (five in all) may celebrate the rites, except by special
permission. These regulations were carried out with unflinching rigour, apparently not
without the use of military force (
De Leg. ii. 15, 37); but it was some years
before the Bacchanalian rites were completely extinguished in southern Italy (
Liv.xxxix. 41, xl. 19). The
Liberalia (q.v.) were of an entirely different character. The bronze tablet mentioned
above is now preserved at Vienna.
