Agrionia ( lat. Agrionia , other Greek Άγριώνια , letters. " Incitement to savagery") - the ancient Greeks of the festival in honor of Dionysus (Vakhka, lat. Bacchus), called because of them "Agriion" ( lat. Agrionius , Dr. Greek Ἀγριώνιος ); were performed in Orkhomen in Boeotia at night, with the participation of some women (“destroyers”) and priests of Bacchus. Husbands remained at home in the role of “mourners”.
Content
- 1 History
- 1.1 Occurrence
- 1.2 Description of the festival
- 2 Literature
- 3 References
History
Appearance
The custom of holding a night festival was born after the case of the frenzy of the three sisters, the daughters of Minius : they allegedly refrained from bacchic frenzy for a long time, but finally fell into it and, maddened, burned with an irresistible passion for human meat . Hippasus, the son of one of those daughters, Leucippe, when the lot fell on him, was slaughtered and eaten by them. Hence the name of the virgins - “destroyers” (όλοαι, oloai), and husbands - “mourners” (ψολόεις, psoloeis).
Festival Description
He began his search for the disappeared Dionysus : the girls from the Miniya clan gathered in front of the temple of Bacchus and rushed from that place to run; one of the priests caught up with them with a sword in his hand and could have overtaken them, which happened during the time of Plutarch . But in the era of Pausanias, murders were avoided because one priest for the murder was forever expelled from the priesthood.
After the general exclamations that Dionysus took refuge with Muses , the search was stopped and a feast was held, then they usually asked each other riddles. For this reason, congregations of riddles, charades, etc., were called " agriions ."
Literature
- Agronomy // Encyclopedic dictionary compiled by Russian scientists and writers. St. Petersburg, 1861.
Links
- Agrionium // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.