''Pseudanor'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

pseudo- The prefix pseudo- (from Greek ψευδής, ''pseudes'', "false") is used to mark something that superficially appears to be (or behaves like) one thing, but is something else. Subject to context, ''pseudo'' may connote coincidence, imitation, ...

+ anēr "false man", metaphorically an "effeminate man") was a Macedonian epithet applied to

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 Roma ...

. Other Macedonian appellations to the god were ''Agrios'' (Ἄγριος) "wild" (as god of the countryside) and ''Erikryptos'' (Ἐρίκρυπτος) "completely hidden" (as the god hidden from the frenzied women roaming the countryside by the

kourotrophos Kourotrophos ( el, κουροτρόφος, "child nurturer") is the name that was given in ancient Greece to gods and goddesses whose properties included their ability to protect young people. Numerous gods are referred to by the epithet such as ...

''Kala Thea'', the Beautiful Goddess, and raised as a girl: the transition to ''pseudanor''). All of the names of Dionysus above are attested in four inscriptions from

Beroea Beroea (or Berea) was an ancient city of the Hellenistic period and Roman Empire now known as Veria (or Veroia) in Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Northern Greece. It is a small city on the eastern side of the Vermio Mountains north of Mount Olympus ...

c. 248–264 AD. However, the history of ''Pseudanor'' was certainly much older. The Macedonian historian

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

relates an aetiological myth:

In the reign of Argaeus, the Illyrian
Taulantii Taulantii or Taulantians ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: , or , ; la, Taulantii) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers ...
under Galaurus invaded Macedonia. Argaeus, whose force was very small, directed the Macedonian virgins (parthenoi), as the enemy advanced, to show themselves from mount Ereboea ( Ἐρέβοια ). They accordingly did so; and in a numerous body they poured down , covered by wreaths, and brandishing their thyrsi instead of spears. Galaurus, intimidated by the numbers of those, whom instead of women he supposed to be men, sounded a retreat; whereupon the Taulantii, throwing away their weapons, and whatever else might retard their escape, abandoned themselves to a precipitate flight. Argaeus, having thus obtained a victory without the hazard of a battle, erected a temple to Dionysus Pseudanor; and ordered the priestesses of the god, who were before called ''Klοdones'' by the Macedonians, to ever afterwards be distinguished by the title of ''Mimallones''.

The ''Klodones'' and the ''Mimallones'' are also mentioned by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

in his biography of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, one of his '' Parallel Lives''. The aetiological myth in Polyaenus may have originated or been adapted in the '' Aitia'' ('Causes") of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

, but Polyaenus mentions both important points: Dionysus's ambivalent sexuality and the masculine qualities of the

Maenads 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 literally translates as "raving ones". Maenads were known as Bassarids, ...

. This female-male-female

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

ritual (it was only natural that Dionysus presided over it)Not uncommon in other parts of Greece: Sparta, Argos, Tegea etc. of the Klodones-Mimallones probably marked the transition of the Macedonian girls to adulthood.

References

Bibliography

* Dillon, Matthew
Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion
* Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B., "Macedonian Cults" (as "Cultes et rites de passage en Macédoine"), Athens & Paris, 1994 ** Devine, A. M.
"Review: Macedonian Cults"
''The Classical Review'', New Series, Vol. 46, No. 2 (1996), pp. 279–281, Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association * Macurdy, Grace Harriet
"Klodones, Mimallones and Dionysus Pseudanor"
''The Classical Review'', Vol. 27, No. 6 (Sep., 1913), pp. 191–192, Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association * Padilla, Mark William (editor)
"Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece: Literature, Religion, Society"

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering ...

Press, 1999. {{ISBN, 0-8387-5418-X *

Stratagem
Book 4.1
http://www.ipet.gr/veroia//show_rec.php?id=va2k00036 Greek Text] Epithets of Dionysus Mythology of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Religion in ancient Macedonia Sexuality in classical antiquity

See also

References

Bibliography