mythologyofthepoetandthemuse: In the worship of Dionysus, his female followers lived with each other

mythologyofthepoetandthemuse:

In the worship of Dionysus, his female followers lived with each other while the male presence was prohibited. These women represented the goddesses who had been united with the gods. The concept of ‘sacred fury’ characterized Maenads, who were also known as Bacchae. Blatant meant angry and not insane in the case of Maenads. Maenads were running wearing long dresses while they were carrying thyrsus, a reed wrapped with ivy or vine leaves, they were also wearing ivy leaves on their heads. Flutes and drums accompanied the  ecstatic and wild Maenads as they were dancing to honour their lord, Dionysus. Dionysus, a god of nature and of the deep forests, like the celtic Cernunnos, orgiastic and rejuvenating.

After a night of revelry on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus, exhausted Maenads collapse in the mountain town of Amphissa, where the local women take care of them. Painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema,1887.