thegrapeandthefig

[thegrapeandthefig]

The November Fox by Shilenok

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littlelamb

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Eine Bacchantin by Henrietta Rae (Late 19th-Early 20th Century)

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And now, let’s stop what we’re doing and watch this Red Fox/räv eat an apple. Värmland, Sweden (May 17, 2024).

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Hey I've been looking into something and I figured you might be a good source (maybe adri can also add in if you make this a post).

Do you know anything about the difference between Maenads and Bassarids? I know the terms are used interchangeably, though Bassarids usually wore foxskins (possibly where the name comes from) and that they where common to Thrace. Idk if the terms actually are interchangable or if the Bassarids belonged to a specific place/practice/epithet of Dionysos so using them interchangeably is incorrect (and if they do idk what the difference exactly is but I'm curious). Anything you know could be helpful ^^

It’s one of those topics where I’m not sure I can provide a satisfactory answer, but I’ll try to be as succinct as possible:

1) The epithet Bassareus does exist for Dionysus. We know of one (1) dedication to him under this epithet dating back to the 3rd century BC, in Histria (modern day Romania), which is, in fact in Thrace.

2) We know the term is obviously older, since Aeschylus wrote a now lost play titled Bassarai. The play is unfortunately in a very fragmentary state so there's not much for us to speculate on there.

However, it is possible that perhaps, the term was interchangeable for the Athenians, assuming this epithet/title was foreign or marginal to them but might have been much more important in Thracian cultus.

3) This aside, the most important use of the term as a title, to my knowledge, comes from Torre Nova (Latium, Italy) in the Ist century AD. The document is an inscription listing participants/members of a local Dionysian association, which very possibly performed mysteries of some kind. And it is in this particular context that we find a distinction between the participants:

Some are archibassarai (2 males and 4 females), while others are called belt-wearing bacchants (15 males, 3 females), and then you also find "sacred bacchants" (over a 100 people) and others are simply called bacchants ( about 44 females). And those are not all the titles (there are 27!): I've left out the priests and priestesses, the torch bearers, the phallus bearers etc.

What is interesting in the case of the association of Torre Nova is that there is a hierarchy amongst participants, that might be linked to the level of initiation. However, the problem is that it is very likely that this organization is particular to this association (one of a wealthy roman family, might I add) and not a standardized way of doing things. Not to mention the geographical and chronological context, which is far from 5th century Athens or 3rd century Thrace. It should be noted also, that the term maenad isn’t used in the inscription at all. 

TL;DR To summarize, and coming back to your initial question: we know very little of the use of the term in Classical Greece, but, as you have mentioned, we have some traces of a Thracian use of the term in cultic context. Clear disctinction and use as a cult title is attested much later in Roman Italy. 

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Hamlet adaptation where Hamlet is a vlogger and all his soliloquies are breakdowns he uploads to YouTube

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beavers are one of those things you just accept without question as soon as adults tell you about it as a kid and then many years later in your adulthood you look up one day and go wait, what do you mean there exists a species of rodent hydrological engineer that knows how to build properly ventilated freestanding houses for itself, that doesn't make any sense

[thegrapeandthefig]

beavers are one of those things you just accept without question as soon as adults tell you about it as a kid and then many years later in your adulthood you look up one day and go wait, what do you mean there exists a species of rodent hydrological engineer that knows how to build properly ventilated freestanding houses for itself, that doesn't make any sense

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Canada Goose/kanadagås. Sätra in Stockholm, Sweden (August 25, 2013).

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Thinking about Aristophanes' lost Triphales play today

(found some colored pencils)

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Dionysus: Wine and Grape Braised Chicken

BY Alison Wiebe

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My Hermes statue/idol is done!! It took forever to make his staff, I’m so proud of it. I think Zeus will be next.

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what doesn't kill you makes you stay on tumblr for 13 years and counting

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Amos Cassioli (Italian, 1832-1891)

The Venus Sacrifice

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The thing they don't tell you about getting really into one specific historical period is that very quickly every conversation turns into an attempt to avoid sounding like the "horribly wet in wexford today but not as bad as in the 690s" tweet