MY´SIA
MY´SIA (
μύσια), a
festival celebrated by the inhabitants of Pellene in Achaia, in honour of
Demeter Mysia. The worship of this goddess was introduced at Pellene from a
place called Mysia in the neighbourhood of Argos. (
Paus. 2.18.3.) The festival of the Mysia near Pellene lasted for
seven days, and the religious solemnities took place in a temple, called
τὸ μύσαιον, surrounded by a grove. The
first two days men and women took part in the celebration together; on the
third day the men left the sanctuary, and the women remaining in it
performed during the night certain mysterious rites, during which not even
male dogs were allowed to remain within the sacred precincts. On the fourth
day the men returned to the temple, and men and women now received each
other with shouts of laughter and assailed each other with various
railleries. (
Paus. 7.27.9; Cornutus,
de
Nat. Deor. 28.)
[
L.S]
