Dictionary - Definition of Dionysia

Definition: Dionysia


Part of Speech	Definition
Noun	1. An orgiastic festival in ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus (= Bacchus).[Wordnet].
Source: WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.		Top

"Dionysia" is a common misspelling or typo for: DIONYSIAC, DIONYSIAN.

Date "Dionysia" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1838. (references)

Etymology:Dionysia \Di`o*ny"si*a\, plural noun. [Latin expression, from the Greek]. (references)

Specialty Definition: Dionysia

Domain	Definition
Antiquities	Dionysia (ta Dionusia). A celebration in honor of Dionysus (q.v.), which was held in Athens in a special series of festivals, namely: (1) The Oschophoria, supposed to have been instituted by Theseus on his return from Crete. This was celebrated in the month of Pyanepsion (October to November), when the grapes were ripe. It was so called from the shoots of vine (oschoi) with grapes on them, which were borne in a race from the temple of Dionysus in Limnae, a southern suburb of Athens, to the sanctuary of Athené Sciras, in the harbor town of Phalerum. The bearers and runners were twenty youths (ephêboi) of noble descent whose parents were still living, two being chosen from each of the ten tribes. The victor received a goblet containing a drink made of wine, cheese, meal, and honey, and an honorary place in the procession which followed the race. This procession, in which a chorus of singers was preceded by two youths in woman's clothing, marched from the temple of Athené to that of Dionysus. The festival was concluded by a sacrifice and a banquet. (2) The smaller (ta mikra), or rustic Dionysia. This feast was held in the month of Poseideon (December to January), at the first tasting of the new wine. It was celebrated, with much rude merriment, throughout the various country districts. The members of the different tribes first went in solemn processions to the altar of the god, on which a goat was offered in sacrifice. The sacrifice was followed by feasting and revelry, with abundance of jesting and mockery and dramatic improvisations. Out of these were developed the elements of the regular drama (see Drama), for in the more prosperous villages, pieces--in most cases the same as had been played at the urban Dionysia--were performed by itinerant troupes of actors. The festival lasted some days, one of its chief features being the Ascoliasmus, or bag-dance. The point of this was to dance on one leg, without falling, upon oiled bags of inflated leather. (See Ascolia.) The Halôia, Harvest-home (or Feast of Threshing-floors), was celebrated at Athens and in the country in the same month to Demeter and Persephoné in common. (3) The Lenaea (Lênaia), or Feast of Vats. This was held at Athens in the month of Gamelion (January to February), at the Lenaeun, the oldest and most venerable sanctuary of Dionysus in the city. After a great banquet, for which the meat was provided at the public expense, the citizens went in procession through the city, with the usual jesting and mockery, to attend the representation of the tragedies and comedies at the theatre. (4) The Anthesteria. Celebrated for three days in Anthesterion (February to March). On the first day (Pithoigia, or opening of casks) the casks were first opened, and masters and servants alike tasted the new wine. On the second (Choes, or Feast of Beakers), a public banquet was held, at which a beaker of new wine was set by each guest. This was drunk with enthusiasm, to the sound of trumpets. The most important ceremony, however, was the marriage of the Basilissa, or wife of the Archon Basileus, with Dionysus, the Basilissa being regarded as representing the country. The ceremony took place in the older of the two temples in the Lenaeun, which was never opened except on this occasion. The last day was called Chutroi, or the Feast of Pots, because on this day they made offerings of cooked pulse in pots to Hermes, as guide of the dead, and to the souls of the departed, especially those who had perished in the flood of Deucalion. (4) The great urban Dionysia (ta megala). This festival was held at Athens for six days in the month of Elaphebolion (March to April) with great splendor, and attended by multitudes from the surrounding country and other parts of Greece. A solemn procession was formed, representing a train of Dionysiac revelers. Choruses of boys sang dithyrambs, and an old wooden statue of Dionysus, worshipped as the liberator of the land from the bondage of winter, was borne from the Lenaeum to a small temple in the neighborhood of the Acropolis and back again. The glory of this festival was the performance of the new tragedies, comedies, and satyric dramas, which took place, with lavish expenditure, on three consecutive days. In consequence of the immense number of citizens and strangers assembled, it was found convenient to take one of these six days for conferring public distinctions on meritorious persons, as in the case of the presentation of the golden crown to Demosthenes. The Dionysia were celebrated at Rome under the name of Bacchanalia. The circumstances of their introduction are given in detail by Livy, (xxxix. 8-19). According to his account, a Greek priest brought into Etruria the secret nightly celebration of this worship. It was not only accompanied by all manner of licentious excesses, but was also made the occasion for planning the most revolting crimes--perjury, forgery, false accusations, poisoning, and assassination. From Etruria the contagion spread to Rome. According to Livy, at first the rites were comparatively innocent. Women only were initiated, and that by day, three times in the year, and the priesthood was held by matrons in turn. It is quite possible that in this statement Livy has in view the worship of Stimula or Simila, an early Italian deity, afterwards identified with Semelé, whence Ovid (Fast. vi. 503-515) regards her rites as of a Bacchanalian character. Possibly Vergil is thinking of the same when (Aen. vii. 385) he speaks of the Bacchic rites as existing in Italy in the time of Aeneas. In any case it is hardly conceivable that the corrupt Etruscan cult should have so much changed its character in passing into Rome as Livy 's account would require us to believe. He goes on to tell how a certain Pacullia Annia, a Campanian priestess, claiming to be acting under the inspiration of the gods, changed the whole character of the worship. She was the first to admit men, by initiating her own sons; she altered the time of celebration from the day to the night, and held initiations five times every month instead of three times a year. The promiscuous admission of men and women and the license of night opened the way to all manner of debauchery and crime. The most horrible immoralities were practiced, the wildest frenzy indulged in. Men flung themselves about as if possessed, and uttered frantic prophecies; women dressed as Bacchanals, with disheveled locks, ran down to the Tiber and plunged into the water torches which, composed of a mixture of sulphur and lime, were not extinguished in the waves. The initiated were a vast number, including many of high birth, both men and women. To secure the complete subjugation of the votaries a rule was made that none should be admitted who were not under twenty years of age, a time at which the judgment is weak and the passions strong. For some time, although the existence of these rites was generally known, not only by report, but also by the clanging of cymbals and the howlings of the devotees by night, their real nature was not suspected. But in B.C. 186, the lewd and criminal character of the meetings was brought to the knowledge of the consuls. p. Aebutius, the orphan of a Roman knight, had been left by the death of his guardians to the charge of his mother Duronia and his stepfather Sempronius Rutilus. The latter had embezzled his property, and in order to escape punishment desired either to make away with the youth or to get him wholly into his power. Duronia, who was entirely devoted to her husband, determined to avail herself of the Bacchanalia for the corruption or destruction of her son. She informed him that at a time when he was ill she had vowed that he should be initiated into the Bacchic rites if he recovered, and that now was the time to discharge the vow. Aebutius, taking the matter lightly, mentioned it to a freed woman, Hispala Fecenia, with whom he had a liaison; but she, in the utmost terror and distress, warned him of the dangers that he was incurring--she, when still a slave, had accompanied her mistress to the orgies, and had seen the vile practices of the votaries. Aebutius, returning to his mother, refused to be initiated, without disclosing his reasons. She, in a fury, drove him from the house. He took refuge with his father's sister, and at her advice laid the whole facts of the case before the consuls. Hispala was induced by them to confess all that she knew. The Senate was consulted and full powers given to the consuls to investigate the matter. Prompt measures were taken to secure evidence and to prevent the escape of the guilty. The inquiry led to the belief that more than 7000 men and women were implicated in the affair. Those who were merely initiated, and had taken the oath binding them to every kind of crime and lewdness, were punished with imprisonment; those against whom actual guilt was found--and these, we are told, were the majority--received capital punishment. The women for the most part were handed over to their relations, or to those who were responsible for them, for private execution; the rest were put to death in public. One of the most ancient and precious records of the old Latin language preserved to us is the bronze tablet, commonly called the Senātus Consultum de Bacchanalĭbus, containing the letter in which the consuls communicated to the magistrates in agro Teurano (Tirioli, in the country of the Bruttii) part (as Mommsen thinks) of the decree of the Senate passed on this occasion (cf. Mommsen, C.I.L. i. 196; Ritschl, p. L.M.E. tab. xviii.; Allen's Early Latin, p. 28-31 [Boston, 1880]; and Cortese, Latini Sermonis Vetustioris Exempla [Turin, 1892]). Doubtless it is only a specimen of many which mutatis mutandis were sent throughout Italy. The Bacchanalia are rigidly prohibited: if any one, Roman, Latin, or ally, considers himself under a religious obligation bacanal habere, he can only do so by obtaining permission from the praetor urbanus, confirmed by a vote of the Senate in which not less than one hundred have taken part. No priest, president, or common purse is allowed, nor any kind of common vow. Not more than two men or three women (five in all) may celebrate the rites, except by special permission. These regulations were carried out with unflinching rigor, apparently not without the use of military force (De Leg. ii. 15, 37); but it was some years before the Bacchanalian rites were completely extinguished in southern Italy (Liv. xxxix. 41, xl. 19). The Liberalia (q.v.) were of an entirely different character. The bronze tablet mentioned above is now preserved at Vienna. (references)
Wikipedic	The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honour of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia was actually comprised 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. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.		Top

Extended Definition: Dionysia

Dionysia

The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and, since 487 BCE, comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia actually comprised 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 (roughly corresponding to December). The central event was the pompe, the procession, in which phalloi were carried by phallophoroi. Also participating in the pompe were kanephoroi (young girls carrying baskets), obeliaphoroi (who carried long loaves of bread), skaphephoroi (who carried other offerings), hydriaphoroi (who carried jars of water), and askophoroi (who carried jars of wine).

After the pompe, there were contests of dancing and singing, and choruses (led by a choregos) would perform dithyrambs. Some festivals may have included dramatic performances, possibly of the tragedies and comedies that had been produced at the City Dionysia the previous year. This was more common in the larger towns such as Piraeus and Eleusis.

Because the various towns in Attica held their festivals on different days, it was possible for spectators to visit more than one festival per season. It was also an opportunity for Athenian citizens to travel outside the city if they did not have the opportunity to do so during the rest of the year. This also allowed travelling companies of actors to perform in more than one town during the period of the festival.

The comic playwright Aristophanes parodied the Rural Dionysia in his play The Acharnians.

City Dionysia

Origins

The City Dionysia (Dionysia ta en Astei, also known as the Great Dionysia, Dionysia ta Megala) was the urban part of the festival, possibly established during the tyranny of Pisistratus in the 6th century BC. This festival was held about three months after the rural Dionysia, during the month of Elaphebolion (corresponding to the end of March and the beginning of April), probably to celebrate the end of winter and the harvesting of the year's crops. According to tradition the festival was established after Eleutherae, a town on the border between Attica and Boeotia, chose to become part of Attica. The Eleuthereans brought a statue of Dionysus to Athens, which was initially rejected by the Athenians. Dionysus then punished the Athenians with a plague affecting the male genitalia that was cured when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus. This was recalled each year by a procession of citizens carrying phalloi.

The urban festival was a relatively recent invention, and fell under the auspices of the eponymous archon rather than the basileus, to whom religious festivals were given when the office of archon was created in the 7th century BC.

Pompe and Proagon

The archon prepared for the City Dionysia as soon as he was elected, by choosing two paredroi and ten epimeletai to help organize the festival. On the first day of the festival the pompe was held, in which citizens, metics, and representatives from Athenian colonies marched to the Theatre of Dionysus on the southern slope of the Acropolis, carrying the wooden statue of Dionysus Eleutherus (the "leading" or the eisagoge). As with the Rural Dionysia, they also carried phalloi, made out of wood or bronze, and a cart pulled a much larger phallus. Basket-carriers and water- and wine-carriers participated in the pompe here as in the Rural Dionysia.

During the height of the Athenian Empire in the mid-5th century BC, various gifts and weapons showcasing Athens' strength were carried as well. Also included in the procession were bulls to be sacrificed in the theatre. The most conspicuous members of the procession were the choregoi, who were dressed in the most expensive and ornate clothing. After the pompe the choregoi led their choruses in the dithyrambic competitions. These were extremely competitive, and the best flute players and poets (such as Simonides and Pindar) offered their musical and lyrical services. After these competitions, the bulls were sacrificed, and a feast was held for all the citizens of Athens. A second procession, the komos, occurred afterwards, which was most likely a drunken revelry through the streets.

The next day, the playwrights announced the titles of the plays to be performed, and judges were selected by lot (the proagon). It is unknown where the proagon originally took place, but after the mid-5th century BC it was held in the Odeon of Pericles on the Acropolis. The proagon was also used to give praise to notable citizens, or often foreigners, who had served Athens in some beneficial way during the year. During the Peloponnesian War, orphaned children of those who had been killed in battle were also paraded in the Odeon, possibly to honour their fathers. The proagon could be used for other announcements as well; in 406 BC the death of the playwright Euripides was announced there.

Dramatic performances

During the pompe, the Theatre of Dionysus was purified by the sacrifice of a young pig. According to tradition, the first performance of tragedy at the Dionysia was by the playwright and actor Thespis (from whom we have the word "thespian") in 534 BC. His prize was a goat, a common symbol of Dionysus, and possibly the origin of the word "tragedy" (which perhaps means "goat-song").

The next three days of the festival were devoted to the tragic plays. Three playwrights performed three tragedies and one satyr play each, one set of plays per day. Most of the extant Greek tragedies, including those of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, were performed at the Theatre of Dionysus. The archons, epimeletai, and judges (agonothetai) watched from the front row.

Comic poets were officially allowed at the contests (agons) held during the City Dionysia, only since 487/86 BCE.^[1] On the sixth day of the festival, five comedies (such as those of Aristophanes) were performed. Comedies were of secondary importance at the Dionysia, and were instead more important to the Lenaia festival earlier in the year. Nevertheless, it was considered a greater honour to win the comedic prize at the Dionysia.

After the classical period in the 5th century BC, older plays could be performed again. It seems that audiences may have preferred this to the production of new plays of inferior quality. The number of plays performed also fluctuated; during the Peloponnesian War, there were usually only three comedies, and comedies were omitted altogether by the 2nd century BC. There do not seem to have been any new tragedies after the 2nd century AD, older plays being exclusively performed by that point.

Another procession and celebration was held on the final day, when the judges chose the winners of the tragedy and comedy performances. The winning playwrights won a wreath of ivy, although, when old plays were performed, the producer was awarded the prize rather than the long-dead playwright.

Significance

Dionysus was often seen as the god of everything uncivilized, of the innate wildness of humanity that the Athenians had tried to control. The Dionysia was probably a time to let out their inhibitions through highly emotional tragedies or irreverent comedies. During the pompe there was also an element of role-reversal - lower-class citizens could mock and jeer the upper classes, or women could insult their male relatives. This was known as aischrologia or tothasmos, a concept also found in the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The plays themselves could highlight ideas that would not normally be spoken or shared in everyday life. Aeschylus' The Persians, for example, while patriotic to Athens, showed sympathy towards the Persians, which may have been politically unwise under normal circumstances. The parodies of Aristophanes mocked the politicians and other celebrities of Athens, even going so far as producing an anti-war play (Lysistrata) at the height of the Peloponnesian War. The circumstances of the Dionysia allowed him to get away with criticisms he would not normally be allowed to voice.

Notable winners of the City Dionysia

Tragedy

484 BC - Aeschylus
472 BC - Aeschylus (The Persians)
471 BC - Polyphrasmon
468 BC - Sophocles (Triptolemus)
467 BC - Aeschylus (Seven Against Thebes)
463 BC - Aeschylus (The Suppliants)
458 BC - Aeschylus (The Oresteia)
449 BC - Herakleides
441 BC - Euripides
441 BC - Sophocles, (Antigone)
431 BC - Euphorion, son of Aeschylus, Sophocles took 2nd place, Euripides took 3rd with Medea
428 BC - Euripides (Hippolytus)
427 BC - Philocles, nephew of Aeshyclus, Sophocles took 2nd place
415 BC - Xenocles
409 BC - Sophocles (Philoctetes)
406 BC - Euripides (The Bacchae)
372 BC - Astydamas

Comedy

486 BC - Chionides
472 BC - Magnes
458 BC - Euphonius
450 BC - Crates
446 BC - Callias
437 BC - Pherecrates
435 BC - Hermippus
422 BC - Cantharus
421 BC - Aristophanes (Peace (2nd prize))
414 BC - Ameipsias (The Revellers)
402 BC - Cephisodoros
290 BC - Poseidippus
278 BC - Philemon
185 BC - Laines
183 BC - Philemon
154 BC - Chairion

Notes

Mastromarco, Giuseppe: (1994) Introduzione a Aristofane (Sesta edizione: Roma-Bari 2004). ISBN 8842044482 p.3

Sources

Aristophanes, The Acharnians.
Simon Goldhill, The Great Dionysia and Civic Ideology, in Nothing to Do with Dionysos? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context, eds. John J. Winkler and Froma I. Zeitlin. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-691-06814-3
Susan Guettel Cole, Procession and Celebration at the Dionysia, in Theater and Society in the Classical World, ed. Ruth Scodel. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993. ISBN 0-472-10281-8
Jeffrey M. Hurwit. The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archaeology From the Neolithic Era to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0521428343
Sir Arthur Pickard-Cambridge. The Dramatic Festivals of Athens. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953 (2nd ed. 1968). ISBN 0-19-814258-7
Robert Parker. Athenian religion: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-814979-4
Carl A. P. Ruck. IG II 2323: The List of the Victors in Comedies at the Dionysia. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1967.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Dionysia". Image Credit.
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Topics by Level of Interest: Dionysia
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Dionysia	16	Dionysia	16
Source: the editor, created by/for EVE to gauge likely levels of human interest in linguistically triggered topics (compiled across various sources, such as Wikipedia and specialty expression glosses).

Translations: Dionysia

Language	Translations (or nearest inflections or synonyms, in parentheses)
Bohemian	dionýzie (Dionysia). Additional references: Bohemian, Czech Republic, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Cestina	dionýzie (Dionysia). Additional references: Cestina, Czech Republic, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Czech	dionýzie (Dionysia). Additional references: Czech, Czech Republic, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Dutch	Dionysia (Dionysia). Additional references: Dutch, Netherlands, Aruba, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Greek	Διονυσία (Dionysia). Additional references: Greek, Greece, Albania, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Greek (transliteration)	dhionisia (Dionysia). Additional references: Greek, Greece, Albania, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Hanguk Mal	디오니소스제 (Dionysia), 주신제 (Bacchanalia, bacchanal, Dionysia, orgy). Additional references: Hanguk Mal, Korea, South, Korea, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Hanguohua	디오니소스제 (Dionysia), 주신제 (Bacchanalia, bacchanal, Dionysia, orgy). Additional references: Hanguohua, Korea, South, Korea, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Japanese	ディオニソス祭 (Dionysia). Additional references: Japanese, Japan, Taiwan, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Korean	디오니소스제 (Dionysia), 주신제 (Bacchanalia, bacchanal, Dionysia, orgy). Additional references: Korean, Korea, South, Korea, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Russian	Дионисии (Dionysia). Additional references: Russian, Russia, China, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Russian (transliteration)	dionisii (Dionysia). Additional references: Russian, Russia, China, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Russki	Дионисии (Dionysia). Additional references: Russki, Russia, China, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Russki (transliteration)	dionisii (Dionysia). Additional references: Russki, Russia, China, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Serbian (transliteration)	dionizija (Dionysia). Additional references: Serbian (transliteration), Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Turkish	Dionysus (Dionysia), Þarap Ve Bereket Tanrısı (Dionysia). Additional references: Turkish, Turkey, Bulgaria, Dionysia. (volunteer & more translations)
Source: Eve, based on a combination of meta analysis and graph theory (for near and back translations).		Top

Language	Translations for “Dionysia” or closest synonym(s); back translations in parentheses.
Athag	Dathagiathagonyathagsathagiathaga (Dionysia). Additional references: Athag, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Double Dutch	Dagiagonyagsagiaga (Dionysia). Additional references: Double Dutch, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Leet	()\|1()[\]\-/$14 (Dionysia). Additional references: Leet, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Oppish	Dopioponyopsopiopa (Dionysia). Additional references: Oppish, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Pig Latin	Ionysiaday (Dionysia). Additional references: Pig Latin, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Terran B	Dionyis (Dionysia). Additional references: Terran B, Dionysia. (volunteer)
Ubbi Dubbi	Dubiubonyubsubiuba (Dionysia). Additional references: Ubbi Dubbi, Dionysia. (volunteer)
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