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Gerarai
''Gerarai'' ( grc-gre, Γεραραί), also known by the latinized form ''Gerarae'', were priestesses (Hiereiai) of Dionysus in ancient Greek religion. They presided over sacrifices and participated in the festivals of Theoinia and Iobaccheia that took place during the month of Anthesteria, among other duties. Fourteen in all, they were either sworn in by the Athenian '' basilinna'' or her husband, the ''archon basileus''. One of their primary duties during the Anthesteria was to assist in performing the sacred marriage rites of the queen to Dionysus, and thus held to secrecy. According to a folk etymology, they were called ''Gerarai'', from the Greek word γηράσκω, ''gerasko'', "I grow old". Older women were chosen for the role. See also * Anthesteria (Choes) *Bacchae *Dionysia *Maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; grc, μαινάδες ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name lite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthesteria
The Anthesteria (; grc, Ἀνθεστήρια ) was one of the four Athenian festivals in honor of Dionysus. It was held each year from the 11th to the 13th of the month of Anthesterion, around the time of the January or February full moon. The three days of the feast were called Pithoigia, Choës, and Chytroi. It celebrated the beginning of spring, particularly the maturing of the wine stored at the previous vintage, whose ''pithoi'' were now ceremoniously opened. During the feast, social order was interrupted or inverted, the slaves being allowed to participate, uniting the household in ancient fashion. The Anthesteria also had aspects of a festival of the dead: either the Keres () or the Carians () were entertained, freely roaming the city until they were expelled after the festival. A Greek proverb, employed of those who pestered for continued favors, ran "Out of doors, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria". Name The name is usually connected with (), the combining form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basilinna
The ''Basilinna'' ( grc-gre, Βασιλίννα) or ''Basilissa'' (), both titles meaning "queen", was a ceremonial position in the religion of ancient Athens, held by the wife of the ''archon basileus''. The role dated to the time when Athens was ruled by kings, and their wives acted as priestesses (Hiereiai). The duties of the basilinna are described in the pseudo-Demosthenic speech ''Against Neaira'', which is the main source of evidence about the position. The laws which set out the qualifications for a basilinna were inscribed on a stele which stood in the sanctuary of Dionysus at Limnai. She was expected to be of Athenian birth and not previously married, though Noel Robertson argues that these requirements may have been ignored as inconvenient. The most important duty of the basilinna appears to have been taking part in a sacred ritual marriage to the god Dionysus as part of the Anthesteria. This ceremony seems to have taken place at the Boukoleion, near the Prytaneion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latinization Of Names
Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of rendering a ''non''-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script (e.g. Cyrillic). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence through declension. In a scientific context, the main purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Latinisation may be carried out by: * transforming the name into Latin sounds (e.g. for ), or * adding Latinate suffixes to the end of a name (e.g. for '' Meibom),'' or * translating a name with a specific meaning into Latin (e.g. for Italian ; both mean 'hunter'), or * choosing a new name based on some attribut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiereiai
Hiereiai (singular: ''hiereia'') was the title of the female priesthood or priestesses in ancient Greek religion, being the equivalent of the male title '' Hierei''. Ancient Greece had a number of different offices in charge of worship of gods and goddesses, and both women and men functioned as priests. While there were local variations depending on cult, the Hiereiai had many similarities across ancient Greece. Normally, their office related only to a specific sanctuary or Greek temple. Requirements Local variations of cults made different requirements. The most common rule was that goddesses had priestesses, and male gods had male priests. The virgin goddess Artemis was, for example, served by young virgins, while Hera, goddess of marriage, was served by adult married women. However, it was far from uncommon for there to be a staff of several different "temple servants" in each temple which included both men and women in different positions. Appointment There were mainl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans called him Bacchus ( or ; grc, Βάκχος ) for a frenzy he is said to induce called ''bakkheia''. As Dionysus Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His ''thyrsus'', a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In Orphic religion, he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic period (), and the Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regarded as a separate historical stage, although its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek. There were several regional dialects of Ancient Greek, of which Attic Greek developed into Koine. Dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archon Basileus
''Archon basileus'' ( grc, ἄρχων βασιλεύς ') was a Greek title, meaning "king magistrate": the term is derived from the words ''archon'' "magistrate" and '' basileus'' "king" or " sovereign". Most modern scholars claim that in Classical Athens, the ''archon basileus'' was the last remnant of monarchy. Although much of his powers, they say, had been filtered away to other institutions such as the Areopagus and later the Boule and Ecclesia, he still nominally held a high position in Athenian society, alongside the ''archon eponymos'' and the ''polemarchos''. The ''archon basileus'' was charged with overseeing the organisation of religious rites and with presiding over trials for homicide. There is a tradition that originally the ''archon basileus'' was elected from the Athenian aristocracy every ten years. After 683 BC, the office was only held for a year, and after Solon's reforms, he was elected from the wealthiest Athenians, the '' Pentakosiomedimnoi'' (Πεντακ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hierogamy
''Hieros gamos'', hieros (ἱερός) meaning "holy" or "sacred" and gamos (γάμος) meaning marriage, or Hierogamy (Greek , "holy marriage"), is a sacred marriage that plays out between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. The notion of ''hieros gamos'' does not always presuppose literal sexual intercourse in ritual, but is also used in purely symbolic or mythological context, notably in alchemy and hence in Jungian psychology. ''Hieros gamos'' is described as the prototype of fertility rituals. Ancient Near East Sacred sexual intercourse is thought to have been common in the Ancient Near East as a form of "Sacred Marriage" or hieros gamos between the kings of a Sumerian city-state and the High Priestesses of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility and warfare. Along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers there were many shrines and temples dedicated to Inanna. The temple of Eanna, meaning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchae
''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included ''Iphigeneia at Aulis'' and ''Alcmaeon in Corinth'', and which Euripides' son or nephew is assumed to have directed. It won first prize in the City Dionysia festival competition. The tragedy is based on the Greek myth of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agave, and their punishment by the god Dionysus (who is Pentheus's cousin). The god Dionysus appears at the beginning of the play and proclaims that he has arrived in Thebes to avenge the slander, which has been repeated by his aunts, that he is not the son of Zeus. In response, he intends to introduce Dionysian rites into the city, and he intends to demonstrate to the king, Penth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia actually consisted of two related festivals, the Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts of the year. They were also an essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries. Rural Dionysia The Dionysia was originally a rural festival in Eleutherae, Attica ( – ''Dionysia ta kat' agrous''), probably celebrating the cultivation of vines. It was probably a very ancient festival, perhaps not originally associated with Dionysus. This "rural Dionysia" was held during the winter, in the month of Poseideon (the month straddling the winter solstice, i.e., Dec.-Jan.). The central event was the ''pompe'' (πομπή), the procession, in which ''phalloi'' (φαλ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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