In the dark and bloody world of Greek Mythology, Dionysus ruled the winter months of December, January, February, while Apollo dominated the rest of the year. His festival took place near the winter solstice, on top of Mount Parnassus.
“Up there in the snow and winter darkness Dionysus rules in the long night, while troops of maenads swarm around him, himself the choir leader for the dance of the stars and quick of hearing for every sound in the wastes of the night." Sophocles Antigone
“Up there in the snow and winter darkness Dionysus rules in the long night, while troops of maenads swarm around him, himself the choir leader for the dance of the stars and quick of hearing for every sound in the wastes of the night." Sophocles Antigone
The maenads have had a tougher journey through the centuries than their god. They are more often called the ‘frenzied’ than the ecstatic. Their name comes from the same root as our word mania, and means the ‘raving ones’. Their wild dancing and ecstasy ends in bloodshed, with the literal tearing to pieces of small animals… and occasionally larger ones… as if discarding logic and reason could only end in horror. They seem creatures of the shadow side, unleashing the dark, repressed forces in our psyches. That they are women makes this more shocking. In Ancient Greece women were similar to slaves, having few rights, and living largely confined to the house. These women are potent, archetypal creatures, capable of uprooting trees or killing a bull.
When Nietzsche acclaimed the Dionysian, perhaps he unleashed the Maenads back into the world. They await in the dark shadows of artists such as Klimt and in the subconscious realms mined by the surrealists. But unlike the Sirens and other femme fatales, the Maenads neither lure nor tempt mortal men. They are totally focused on their god and have no interest in men. As Plutarch puts it: ‘The image of Dionysus, whom she loves, stands alive before her soul…”
These are ecstatic dancers, possessed by their god. Their dance is a ritual accompanied by the clashing of cymbals and the beat of drums. The drum is very similar to drums used by shamans in many cultures, across the centuries and still used today. Maenads carried the thyrsus staff of Dionysus, which ended in a pine cone. As they danced they beat these on the ground until the sound resounded through the earth and the forest.
When Nietzsche acclaimed the Dionysian, perhaps he unleashed the Maenads back into the world. They await in the dark shadows of artists such as Klimt and in the subconscious realms mined by the surrealists. But unlike the Sirens and other femme fatales, the Maenads neither lure nor tempt mortal men. They are totally focused on their god and have no interest in men. As Plutarch puts it: ‘The image of Dionysus, whom she loves, stands alive before her soul…”
These are ecstatic dancers, possessed by their god. Their dance is a ritual accompanied by the clashing of cymbals and the beat of drums. The drum is very similar to drums used by shamans in many cultures, across the centuries and still used today. Maenads carried the thyrsus staff of Dionysus, which ended in a pine cone. As they danced they beat these on the ground until the sound resounded through the earth and the forest.
Visual images of the maenads are less bloody than their portrayal by Euripides in the Bacchae. Their dance is a ritual, a going beyond the self into connection with the divine. They share their god’s links with vegetation and festivity, as well as with wine. Dionysus was said to have discovered the grape vine, and taught men how to grow it.
Classical myths often have their origins in much earlier times. Trance or ritual dance seems the most ancient of the sacred arts. It was, and remains, a way of entering an altered state and accessing the spirit realm. In the shamanic world everything is sacred. Dance deepened connections with nature and the spirits who inhabit everything, those of plants, trees and animals. Dionysus was connected with the panther, the bull and the serpent.. animals which are potent archetypal forces in shamanic cultures. When Euripides has his Bacchae weaving serpents into their hair he sees this as evidence of their madness, rather than their links to Nature and Earth. Some Ancient Greek writers described Dionysus as the creator of the fig tree, apple and even of all fruits.
Visual representations of maenads focus on their dance, rather than the blood thirsty frenzy portrayed by Euripides and in some of the myths. A relief in the British Museum shows a procession of Dionysus, panther, maenad with drum and satyr. Similar images are found on vases and in mosaics. There were real as well as mythological Maenads. They were celibate, ignoring the advances of satyrs or mortals, priestesses of their god. When a statue of Dionysus appeared in a tree, Apollo sent them to set up a new temple and teach the local people the rites.
We all need a bit of Maenad spirit to get through the long, dark nights of midwinter and to revision them as a necessary and sacred part of the natural cycle.
Classical myths often have their origins in much earlier times. Trance or ritual dance seems the most ancient of the sacred arts. It was, and remains, a way of entering an altered state and accessing the spirit realm. In the shamanic world everything is sacred. Dance deepened connections with nature and the spirits who inhabit everything, those of plants, trees and animals. Dionysus was connected with the panther, the bull and the serpent.. animals which are potent archetypal forces in shamanic cultures. When Euripides has his Bacchae weaving serpents into their hair he sees this as evidence of their madness, rather than their links to Nature and Earth. Some Ancient Greek writers described Dionysus as the creator of the fig tree, apple and even of all fruits.
Visual representations of maenads focus on their dance, rather than the blood thirsty frenzy portrayed by Euripides and in some of the myths. A relief in the British Museum shows a procession of Dionysus, panther, maenad with drum and satyr. Similar images are found on vases and in mosaics. There were real as well as mythological Maenads. They were celibate, ignoring the advances of satyrs or mortals, priestesses of their god. When a statue of Dionysus appeared in a tree, Apollo sent them to set up a new temple and teach the local people the rites.
We all need a bit of Maenad spirit to get through the long, dark nights of midwinter and to revision them as a necessary and sacred part of the natural cycle.