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In Greek mythology, maenads (/ ˈ m iː n æ d z /; Ancient Greek: μαινάδες) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the thiasus. Their name, which comes from μαίνομαι ( maínomai , “to rave, to be mad; to rage, to be angry”), [ 1 ] literally translates as 'raving ones'.
The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds a fennel staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or "man-womanish". [302]
In addition, Dionysus is known as Lyaeus ("he who unties") as a god of relaxation and freedom from worry and as Oeneus, he is the god of the wine press. In the Greek pantheon, Dionysus (along with Zeus) absorbs the role of Sabazios, a Phrygian deity. In the Roman pantheon, Sabazius became an alternate name for Bacchus. [14]
The Derveni krater, height: 90.5 cm (35 ½ in.), 4th century BC. The Dionysian Mysteries of mainland Greece and the Roman Empire are thought to have evolved from a more primitive initiatory cult of unknown origin (perhaps Thracian or Phrygian) which had spread throughout the Mediterranean region by the start of the Classical Greek period.
Unnamed man: None An unnamed man was turned into stone out of fright when he saw Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the Underworld. [37] Wolf of Psamathe: Thetis or Psamathe After Peleus killed his half-brother Phocus, who was Psamathe's son, out of jealousy, Psamathe sent a wolf to devour Peleus' herd for revenge. After the wolf had ...
Antinous holding the thyrsus while posed as Dionysus (Museo Pio-Clementino). In Ancient Greece a thyrsus (/ ˈ θ ɜː r s ə s /) or thyrsos (/ ˈ θ ɜːr s ɒ s /; Ancient Greek: θύρσος) was a wand or staff of giant fennel (Ferula communis) covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and topped with a pine cone, artichoke, fennel, or by a bunch of vine-leaves and ...
Dionysus in a mosaic from the House of Poseidon, Zeugma Mosaic Museum In Orphic literature, the Titans play an important role in what is often considered to be the central myth of Orphism , the sparagmos , that is the dismemberment of Dionysus , who in this context is often given the title Zagreus . [ 112 ]
In Greek mythology Python was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented in the vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Various myths represented Python as being either male or female (a drakaina). Python was the chthonic enemy of Apollo, who slew it and remade its former home his own oracle, the most famous in Greece.