Student No. 0935006

 

Bacchic Cults in Greece

 

 

When travelling to Greece I will be looking into the foundation of Bacchic cults in Ancient Greece and how they were practiced and worshipped at the different sites we plan to visit on our study tour. In art, Bacchic cults first appear in Corinthian vase painting, which could point to Corinth being the birthplace of the Dionysian cult. At this time a Corinthian aristocratic family were also claiming that they were a direct descendent from Dionysus. Burkert explains that after this family was overthrown, it was ‘Cleisthenes of Sikyon who developed the cult of Dionysus at the expense of a traditional cult of Adrastos’ (Burkert 1985: 290). I will be very interested to look at these vases housed in the museum at Ancient Corinth and how the Bacchic cults were portrayed at this early stage of the cult.

One of the oldest references to Bacchic cults is made by Herodotus in his Histories, ‘Since however it was fated that evil should happen to him, it happened by an occasion of this kind: he formed a desire to be initiated in the rites of Bacchus-Dionysos’ (Herodotus, Histories 4.79). Here, a Hellenistic king Skyles had a desire to join the cult, despite the gods sending him a sign warning him against it. Burkert believes Herodotus is directing ‘some scarcely concealed criticism against a cult he knows’ (Burkert 1985: 291). Seaford goes on to explain ‘Bacchae is, if properly understood, invaluable evidence of the subjective experience of the Dionysiac initiand (without of course reflecting it directly), at least at the end of the fifth century BC’ (Seaford 2006: 52). 

Euripides’ Bacchae is one of the most recognized literary references to Bacchic cults. Performed at the Great Dionysia Festival, it was clearly very popular as it won first prize when the play first premiered. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that Euripides’ portrayal of the Bacchic cult affected the actual rituals practiced by the real Greek counterpart. However it should also be noted that ‘the cult of Dionysus at Athens was significantly less sensational than its depiction by Euripides’ (Mills 2006: 22) and that we should not take Euripides’ description of this cult at face value. The Great Dionysia festival was a very important religious event that took place in the springtime in Athens and was founded in the 6^th Century BC. The Great Dionysia festival was hosted in the Theatre of Dionysus and this was where many great tragedies were performed, including Euripides’ Bacchae. It will be very interesting to see the theatre when we visit Greece as this will give me an idea of what it really felt like to take part in the Great Dionysia festival.

Dionysus became a synonym for drunken revelry and madness and the Great Dionysia gave the Athenians a chance to relax and enjoy the plays which often brought up ideas and concepts not voiced in everyday Athenian life. For example there was often the element of role reversal present in some of the comedies performed at this festival. Aristophanes’ Frogs used the concept of the slave making a fool of his master as a tool for comedy. It is interesting to note that the god Dionysus is the character of the master and is the source of a large majority of the comedy throughout the play reinforcing the idea that during this festival the customary social and religious norms were forgotten or reversed. 

By reading Euripides’ Bacchae we gain a certain dramatized idea of how the Dionysiac cult met and worshipped Dionysus in and around Athens. Another idea raised by Herodotus is that a Greek citizen had to be initiated into these cults if he or she was to be allowed to participate in their rituals. The bacchic cults were popular in Greece because they were believed to be able to cure suffering and afflictions through working a person into a manic frenzy as Burkert explains, ‘raving becomes divine revelation, a centre of meaning in the midst of a world that is increasingly profane and rational’ (Burkert 1985: 292).

The Anthesteria was another major religious festival for the Athenian people, which consisted of three days of drinking competitions, sacrifices made to the god Dionysus, and general merriment. This was quite an exceptional festival as the social order of Athens was pushed aside for these few days, as children and slaves were all allowed to participate in the festivities. Dionysus was considered to have some prophetic qualities and even seen as important in this field as Apollo, as the year was divided into two parts between the two: Apollonian and Dionysian.

The island of Delos which is situated to the south of mainland Greece, is well known to be the mythological birthplace of the Greek gods Apollo and Artemis, but this island is also acknowledged to have been a major centre for cults dedicated to Dionysus. The House of Dionysus, in Delos, has a famous mosaic on the floor of the building, which depicts the god outstretched surrounded by his famous ivy.

In my opinion the Dionysian cults and religious practices played a major part in Greek religion. There were major festivals which were obviously very popular with the Athenian people as it gave them a chance to unwind and for social norms to be reversed or relaxed for a few days of revelry and merriment. I will be very interested to travel to Greece and see if the research I have done is reinforced or altered by seeing the sights on which this interesting aspect of Greek religion was practiced.

 

Bibliography

 

Antonaccio, C. M. 1995. An archaeology of ancestors: tomb cult and hero cult in early Greece. London.

Burkert, W. 1987. Greek Religion. Oxford.

Euripides, Bacchae. Trans. D Franklin [Cambridge University Press] (Cambridge 2000)

Farnell, L.R. 1921. Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality. Oxford.

Mills, S. 2006. Euripides: ‘Bacchae’. London.

Polignac, F. 1995. Cults, Territory, and the Origins of the Greek city-state. London.

Seaford, R. 2006. Dionysos. London.

Taylor, L.R. 1985. The Cults of Ostia: Greek and Roman gods, imperial cults, Oriental gods. Chicago