Important Dionysian Terms

BACCHUS: an epithet of Dionysus, probably from the Greek word "to shout"

BACCHANT: an inspired female follower of Dionysus

BROMIUS: an epithet of Dionysus meaning "boisterious" or "loud-sounding"

ECSTASY: literally "the state of standing out", a state of being beyond all reason and self-control; mystic, prophetic of poetic trance.

ENTHUSIASM: literally "the state of a god in", the state of being possessed by a god.

MAENAD: another word for "bacchant".

OMOPHAGY: ritual eating of raw flesh, in honor of Dionysus.

ORGY: (adj. "orgiastic") exoteric religious ritual performed in honor of a god or a goddess, characterized by wild singing, dancing and drinking; later, wild, drunken, licentious revelry of festivity.

SPARAGMOS: ritual tearing apart of sacrificial animal (usually a goat) in honor of Dionysus.

THIASOS: A band or company marching through the streets with dance and song, of Dionysus.

THYRSUS: a staff carried in Dionysus honor, wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a pine-cone at the top.

This material was placed on the web by Professor Thomas J. Sienkewicz for his students at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois). If you have any questions, you can contact him at toms@monm.edu.

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