DOI Artikel:
Pickard, John: Dionysus en Limnais
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8681#0362
350
DIONYSUS Iv A^vai-s.
Chthonian Hermes and those who had perished in the waters.
The scholiast adds that sacrifice was ottered to no one of the
Olympian gods on this day.
In Suidas we find a hint of the other ceremonies on the Chytri.
According to him, there were sacrifices to Dionysus as well as to
Hermes. This suggests that the Chytri was but one day of the
Anthesteria, and, though the worship of the departed may have
been the older portion of the celebration, it was later overshadowed
by the festivities in honor of the wine-god. As the text of his
argument in his oration against Midias, Demosthenes cites four
oracular utterances, two from Dodona, the others probably from
Delphi. In the first the god calls upon the children of Erechtheus,
as many as inhabit the city of Pandion, to be mindful of Bacchus,
all together throughout the wide streets to return fit thanks to the
Bromian, and crowned with wreaths, to cause the odor of sacrifice
to rise from the altars. In this oracle, Athens is the city of Pan-
dion, because it was reported that under his rule the worship of
Dionysus was introduced into the city. This and the other com-
mands from Dodona and Delphi concerning Dionysus refer to the
introduction of the worship of the god ; for in every one the state-
ment is absolute; there is no reference to a previous worship and
a backsliding on the part of the people. kvmtcLv ^cofj-olat of the
first oracle can refer only to a sacrifice of animals. Stronger still
is the statement in the fourth oracle (from Dodona) where the
command is given to fulfil sacred rites (lepa reXelv) to Dionysus,
and to sacrifice to Apollo and to Zeus. (^AttoWgivi 'ATrorpoiraCa.
f3ovv Qvacu .... Ad Kt7}<ti<p fiovv XevKov.) The command
" to mix bowls of wine and to establish choral dances," in the
second and fourth oracles, serves as an explanatory comment on
" return fit thanks to the Bromian " in the first. " Let free men
and slaves wear wreaths and enjoy leisure for one clay," must
refer to the Pithoigia. In this feast the slaves had a part, and
enjoyed a holiday. Hence the saying74 "Forth, slaves, it is no
longer the Anthesteria." In obedience to the oracles then, public
sacrifices could not have been lacking at the Anthesteria, There-
fore, this festival must have been officially known as the Dionysia,
li Ovpafe Kapes ouk^t' 'AvdearripLcL.
DIONYSUS Iv A^vai-s.
Chthonian Hermes and those who had perished in the waters.
The scholiast adds that sacrifice was ottered to no one of the
Olympian gods on this day.
In Suidas we find a hint of the other ceremonies on the Chytri.
According to him, there were sacrifices to Dionysus as well as to
Hermes. This suggests that the Chytri was but one day of the
Anthesteria, and, though the worship of the departed may have
been the older portion of the celebration, it was later overshadowed
by the festivities in honor of the wine-god. As the text of his
argument in his oration against Midias, Demosthenes cites four
oracular utterances, two from Dodona, the others probably from
Delphi. In the first the god calls upon the children of Erechtheus,
as many as inhabit the city of Pandion, to be mindful of Bacchus,
all together throughout the wide streets to return fit thanks to the
Bromian, and crowned with wreaths, to cause the odor of sacrifice
to rise from the altars. In this oracle, Athens is the city of Pan-
dion, because it was reported that under his rule the worship of
Dionysus was introduced into the city. This and the other com-
mands from Dodona and Delphi concerning Dionysus refer to the
introduction of the worship of the god ; for in every one the state-
ment is absolute; there is no reference to a previous worship and
a backsliding on the part of the people. kvmtcLv ^cofj-olat of the
first oracle can refer only to a sacrifice of animals. Stronger still
is the statement in the fourth oracle (from Dodona) where the
command is given to fulfil sacred rites (lepa reXelv) to Dionysus,
and to sacrifice to Apollo and to Zeus. (^AttoWgivi 'ATrorpoiraCa.
f3ovv Qvacu .... Ad Kt7}<ti<p fiovv XevKov.) The command
" to mix bowls of wine and to establish choral dances," in the
second and fourth oracles, serves as an explanatory comment on
" return fit thanks to the Bromian " in the first. " Let free men
and slaves wear wreaths and enjoy leisure for one clay," must
refer to the Pithoigia. In this feast the slaves had a part, and
enjoyed a holiday. Hence the saying74 "Forth, slaves, it is no
longer the Anthesteria." In obedience to the oracles then, public
sacrifices could not have been lacking at the Anthesteria, There-
fore, this festival must have been officially known as the Dionysia,
li Ovpafe Kapes ouk^t' 'AvdearripLcL.