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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'.
Most of Semele's family refused to believe Dionysus was the son of Zeus, and the young god was spurned by his household. He traveled throughout Asia and other foreign lands, gathering a cult of female worshipers, the Maenads. At the start of the play, Dionysus returns to Thebes, disguised as a stranger, to take revenge on the house of Cadmus.
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".
Accordingly, Pentheus imprisoned Dionysus, thinking the man simply a follower, but his chains fell off and the jail doors opened for him. Pentheus torn apart by Ino and Agave, lekanis lid, ca. 450 BC, Louvre. Dionysus lured Pentheus, disguised as a woman, out to spy on the Bacchic rites, where Pentheus expected to see sexual activities.
In Euripides' play The Bacchae, Theban Maenads murdered King Pentheus after he banned the worship of Dionysus because he denied Dionysus' divinity.Dionysus, Pentheus' cousin, lured Pentheus to the woods—Pentheus wanted to see what he thought were the sexual activities of the women—where the Maenads tore him apart and his corpse was mutilated by his own mother, Agave.
The title refers to the groups of devoted female followers of the god, who serve as the chorus in the play, and would engage in ecstatic rituals to the point of euphoric delirium motivated by the god's association with wine, sexuality, celebration, and the theater. The play deals with the themes of religion, sexuality, sacrifice and devotion. [5]
An "unspoken" sparagmos may have been the central element underlying the very genre of Greek tragedy. [1] [2] Maenads and Pentheus, House of the VettiiSparagmos (Ancient Greek: σπαραγμός, from σπαράσσω sparasso, "tear, rend, pull to pieces") is an act of rending, tearing apart, or mangling, [3] usually in a Dionysian context.
One well-known manifestation of divine madness in ancient Greece was in the cult of the Maenads, the female followers of Dionysus. However, little is known about their rituals; the famous depiction of the cult in Euripides' play The Bacchae cannot be considered historically accurate. [13]