Bacchus

Attributes

The Patère, the Canthare, the vine and the bunch of Grape. Other attributes were borrowed from Dionysos, as the thyrse that it carries sometimes.

To be able

It is the god of the vine, the festival and the wine. It is the father of the theater and the tragedy. Its symbols are ivy, the vine and the panther. He always holds in his hands a thyrse, surrounded by vine and ivy and is surmounted by a pine cone. The thyrse can make spout out the vine or ivy.

Family ties

Bacchus is the son of Jupiter and sole, by translation of the myth of Dionysos.

Caption

The Romans copied it on the myth of Dionysos. Sole was a young princess mortal, loved of Jupiter. This last misled Junon and made a child with Sémélé.

By revenge, Junon encourages Sémélé to require of Jupiter (which promised to achieve the wish of the future mother) to show itself in its glory. Sole requires of him; Jupiter cannot retract and is carried out, but while appearing in its real form, it strikes down it. However it collects the fetus and sews it in its thigh, hiding it for a time of the vindication of Junon.

The latter does not disarm: once born Bacchus, it delegates the Titans to finish some with him. They cut out it of pieces and make it boil in a cauldron. Then Mercure transforms the child into a kid and entrusts it to the Nymphs of Nysa. A vine dissimulates their cave and the young god nourishes himself some.

Another version

Others tell that the Nymphs withdrew it medium of maternal ashes, and gave the responsability themselves to raise it. At all events, Bacchus passed all his childhood far from Olympe and of the malevolent glances of Junon, in the campaigns of Nysa, fabulous city of Arabia Heureuse or perhaps of the Indies. There, his/her aunt Ino, by Jupiter order, took care of her first education with the help of Hyades, the Hours and the Nymphs, until it was in age to be informed by the Muses and Silène.

Conti, Mythology . V, 13: “ Bacchus raised an army of people of lowland and women, with whom it passed until the Indies and more intimate parts of Asia. Then having subjugated the Indians who nazardoient it, and all the other Eastern nations, it made draw up two pillars on the shore of the sea Océane are mountains of Indie emprès the river of Gange. ”

Rabelais, Fifth book , chapter 44: “Bacchus, which was of India winner”  

With the result

Become large, it made the conquest of the Indies with a troop of men and women carrying, instead of weapons, of the thyrses and the drums. Its return was a triumphal walk of day and night (topic pointing out the forwarding of Alexandre Large the, and frequently represented).

Then, it passed to Egypt, where it taught agriculture and art to extract honey; it planted the vine, and was adored as being the god of the wine.

Representations

Silene, its feeder father and at the same time his tutor, were wire of Mercury or Side and a nymph. One usually represents it with a head bald person, horns, a large rolled up nose, a small size and a fleshy stoutness, generally assembled on an ass, and, as it is in a state of intoxication, it to be hardly held on his mounting. If it is with foot, it goes of a staggering step, supported on a stick or a thyrse, kind of long javelin. One easily recognizes it with his crown of ivy, with the cup which it holds, with its jovial air and even a little goguenard.

In spite of its portrait if not very flattering, Silène, when it was not drunk, was large wise, able to give to its divine pupil lessons of philosophy.

In an eclogue of Virgile, the vapors of the wine do not prevent this strange old man from exposing his doctrines on the formation of the world.

Bacchus is represented usually with horns, symbols of the force and power, is crowned vine branch, of ivy or fig tree, under the features of a laughing and enjoué young man. With a hand, it holds a bunch of grapes or a horn in form of cut; other, a thyrse surrounded by foliage and strips. It has the black eyes, and, on its shoulders in braids ondoyantes its long blond hair goes down to the reflections from gold. It is generally beardless, its youth being eternal like that of Apollo. It is vêtu of a coat of crimson.

He sometimes sat on a barrel, sometimes assembled on a tank trailed by tigers or panthers, sometimes by centaurs of which the ones play of the quadrant, the others of the double flute. On the oldest monuments, it is represented with a head of bull; on some medals, one represents it upright, bearded, with a triumphal dress which fall until on its feet. The museum of Louvre has several statues of Bacchus, inter alia that of Bacchus at rest. A representation also on the site of Volubilis with Meknès in MOROCCO marks the passage of the Romans.

Its social relations

It severely punishes all those which wanted to be opposed to the establishment of its worship. At Thèbes, Penthée, successor of Cadmus, were put in parts by Bacchantes; Ménéides or girls of Minyas was changed into bats. They were three, Iris, Clymène, Alcithoé. Supporting that Bacchus was not Jupiter wire, they continued to work during its festivals, and refused to attend the celebration of the Orgies.

Bacchus triumphed over all his enemies and all the dangers to which ceaseless persecutions of Junon exposed it. One day, reducing in front of the relentless goddess, it fell from tiredness and fell asleep. A snake with two heads attacked it, and the god, with his alarm clock, killed it out of a blow of vine shoot. Junon ends up striking it madness, and made it wander in a great part of the world. It was initially accommodated with benevolence by Protée, king d' Égypte, then it passed in Phrygie, where, having been allowed with the atonements, it was initiated with the mysteries of Cybèle. In the war of the giants, it was transformed into lion, and fought with rage. To animate it, Jupiter shouted to him unceasingly: “Évohé, courage, my son. ”

Come in the island from Naxos, it comforted and married ARIANE given up by Thésée, and the famous gold crown gave him, masterpiece of Vulcan. It is Bacchus, says one, who it first establishes a music school; it is in its honor that the first stage performances were given.

Festivals/religion

The processions of Bacchus was extremely numerous. Without counting Silène and the Bacchantes, one noticed there nymphs, satyrs, shepherds, shepherdesses, and even the god Pan. All carried the Thyrse intertwined foliage, stocks of Vigne, crowns of Lierre, cuts and bunches of Raisin. Bacchus opens walk, and all the procession follows it, by pushing cries and making resound noisy musical instruments.

Bacchantes or Ménades was originally the nymphs or the women that Bacchus had taken along with him to the conquest of the Indies. Later, one indicated of this name of the young girls who, simulating a bacchic transport, celebrated the Orgies or festivals of Bacchus by an attitude, cries and jumps disordered. They had the eyes hagards, the threatening voice: their hair floated scattered on their naked shoulders.

One immolait the Pie to him, because the wine unties the languages, and makes the drinkers indiscreet; the Goat and the Hare, because they eat the buds of the vine. Among the fabulous birds, the Phoenix was devoted to him; among the quadrupeds, the Panther; and among the trees, the vine, ivy, the Oak and the Fir tree.

This god had, in Arcadie, a temple where one cruelly whipped the young girls in front of his furnace bridges.

He is sometimes named Liber (Free), because the god of the wine delivers the spirit of any concern; Evan, because its priestesses, in their orgies, ran on all sides while shouting: Evohé; Bacchus, derived from a Greek word which means “to shout”, allusion to the cries of the bacchantes or the heavy drinkers. It still carries other nicknames borrowed from its country of origin or the effects of intoxication: Nysæus, of Nysa, Lyæus, which drive out sorrow, Bromius, noisy, etc

The orgies or orgies were celebrated originally by women, in wood, the mountains, in the middle of the rocks. They affected a mysterious character. Later, they admire people of the two sexes to their celebration. It often resulted from it from infamous disorders.

With Athens, the festivals of Bacchus, Dionysiaques, celebrated themselves officially with more pump than in all the remainder of Greece. It was the first archonte which chaired it. The principal ceremonies consisted of processions where thyrses were carried, vases filled with wine, crowns of Pampre, and principal attributes of Bacchus. Young girls, called canéphores, related to their heads of the gilded baskets, full of fruits from where escaped from the Serpent S tamed which terrified the spectators. In the procession also appeared of the men disguised as Silènes, Pans and Satyrs who made thousand odd gestures, thousand gambades, thus simulating the madnesses of intoxication. One distinguished the large ones and the small dionysiaques ones: these were celebrated about the month of February, those in Automne. At the time of the dionysiaques ones, one instituted not only races, fights, plays, but still of the contests of poetry and dramatic representations.

With Rome, one celebrated, in the honor of Bacchus or Liber, of the festivals known as Libérales. In these very licentious festivals, the Roman ladies did not redden to hold of the indecent remarks, and to crown the least honest representations of the god. Year 558 of the foundation of the city, the senate returned a decree to cure this license, ineffective remedy, the habits or manners being stronger than the laws.

Remarkable thing, one made him, like with Mercure, of the drinkings with cut water wine, while the drinkings were done to the other gods with pure wine.

The worship of Bacchus or Dionysos was introduced rather late into the Greek religion; it is at least quite posterior with that of the large gods themselves; it seems to be imported into Greece of High Asia or perhaps of the Egypt. In any case, if Bacchus appeared tardily, it did not have of them less admirers.

Bacchus nowadays is also the god of Faluchards (carriers of the faluche, the cap estudiante traditional Frenchwoman).

See too

Dionysos
Roman Religion
Baalbek

Bonds

Random links:

Jemelle | Montjay (the Essonne) | Weinheim Longhorns | Blue of Gex | Rusko Selo