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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'.
According to legend, she was raped by Sextus, the son of Etruscan King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and after revealing this to her husband, she killed herself with a dagger. The incident led to the insurrection led by Brutus. The story is the subject of William Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece. [6] 4 Ceres and Dionysus: Joachim Günther
Articles relating to the Maenads, the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Their name literally translates as "raving ones".
The scene depicts Pentheus, the legendary King of Thebes, being killed by the female followers of Dionysus. When Dionysus returned to Thebes, Pentheus refused to believe Dionysus divinity as a god and imprisoned him, banning his worship. Dionysus escaped and enchanted Pentheus to go to Mt. Cithairon, disguised as a maenad. There he observed the ...
In the Iliad, when King Lycurgus of Thrace heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned Dionysus' followers, the Maenads. Dionysus fled and took refuge with Thetis, and sent a drought which stirred the people to revolt. The god then drove King Lycurgus insane and had him slice his own son into pieces with an axe in the belief that he ...
Examples of sparagmos appear in Euripides's play The Bacchae. In one scene guards sent to control the Maenads witness them pulling a live bull to pieces with their hands. Later, after King Pentheus has banned the worship of Dionysus, the god lures him into a forest, to be torn limb from limb by Maenads, including his own mother Agave.
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In Oppian's version, Dionysus's female followers ask the god to transform them into leopards, and he grants their request, while simultaneously changing Pentheus into a bull. The leopards then attack and tear apart the bull, killing Pentheus, as Oppian presents the metaphors and illusions from The Bacchae as literal.