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Initiates worshipped him in the Dionysian Mysteries, which were comparable to and linked with the Orphic Mysteries, and may have influenced Gnosticism. Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus. [1] It is possible that water divination was an important aspect of worship within the cult. [2]
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.
The central religious cult of Dionysus is known as the Bacchic or Dionysian Mysteries. The exact origin of this religion is unknown, though Orpheus was said to have invented the mysteries of Dionysus. [ 130 ]
The Bacchanalia were Roman festivals of Bacchus, the Greco-Roman god of wine, freedom, intoxication and ecstasy. They were based on the Greek Dionysia and the Dionysian Mysteries, and probably arrived in Rome c. 200 BC via the Greek colonies in southern Italy, and from Etruria, Rome's northern neighbour.
The orgia of both Dionysian worship and the cult of Cybele aim at breaking down barriers between the celebrants and the divinity through a state of mystic exaltation: [6] Dionysian mask. Dionysian orgy allowed the Bacchant to emerge from the 'ego' to be united with the god in the ecstatic exaltation of omophagia, dancing and wine
Maenads are found in later references as priestesses of the Dionysian cult. In the third century BC, when the city of Magnesia wanted to establish a maenadic cult in honour of Dionysus, the Delphic Oracle bade them, "Go to the holy plain of Thebes to fetch maenads from the race of Cadmean Ino. They will bring you maenadic rites and noble ...
Researchers discovered a cult temple at the necropolis of Sasso Pinzuto in Tuscany, Italy, dating to the 7 th century. The temple had somehow remained undiscovered among 120 tombs carved into a ...
Cult of Trophonius – A Hellenistic cult surrounding a minor god/hero. A number of people went to his temples to receive an oracle. Dionysian Mysteries – This was a small cult with unknown origins. It is believed to have pre-dated Greece and possibly originated from Crete or North Africa.