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rgraves1 · 1 year

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Source: The Collector

Orpheus

ORPHEUS, SON of the Thracian King Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope, was the most famous poet and musician who ever lived. Apollo presented him with a lyre, and the Muses taught him its use, so that he not only enchanted wild beasts, but made the trees and rocks move from their places to follow the sound of his music. At Zone in Thrace a number of ancient mountain oaks are are still standing in the pattern of one of his dances, just as he left them. (Orpheus, The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, pp 111-115)

Orpheus joined the Argonauts on their adventures and on his return married Eurydice. The unfortunate woman suffered a fatal snake bite while trying to escape an attempted rape, and so descended into Tartarus. The grieving Orpheus travelled to the Underworld to claim back his deceased love. His beautiful music charmed both Charon, ferryman over the River Styx and the three headed hound and guardian of the gates to Tartarus, Cerebus. He thus gained an audience with Hades and Persephone. His song charmed even these two sombre rulers of the realm of the dead and they agreed to the release of Eurydice to her husband. Hades promised the young man he would have free passage to the land of the living but if he wished Eurydice to be restored to him, he must not look back at her before she reached the surface. The young woman followed her husband faithfully, guided by the sound of his lyre, and at the last, as the bright sunlight of the mortal world burst upon them, Orpheus turned to see if Eurydice was still behind him and she disappeared forever.

Orpheus met an horrific end. Dionysus was enraged when Orpheus, who had become priest of the Sun God, Helius, refused to make obeisance to him when the wine god and his train invaded Thrace. The furious Dionysus therefore set the Maenads on the musician. The crazed women massacred Orpheus’s devotees and then tore Orpheus himself limb from limb. His head they tossed into the River Hebrus, from whence it floated, its mouth still singing, until it washed up on the island of Lesbos. The Maenads were punished for this murder when the Gods decided they must die for the crime, but Dionysus saved his female followers by turning them into oak trees.

Graves draws attention to the similarity of the singing decapitated head of Orpheus to that of the Welsh god, Bran, discerning a religious connection between the two myths.

#greek mythology #robert graves #orpheus #the maenads

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lifeofroos · 2 years

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Hello! I saw your last post: who are the maenads?

Heyo!

In mythology, simply put, the Maenads are female followers of Dionysus who left their homey lives to join him in the woods. In his 'the bachae,' which features the Maenads heavily, Euripides describes how these women get completely wrapped up in their extatic worship of the god, engaging in sexual activity, singing, dancing, playing with snakes, drinking tons of wine and dismembering... well, usually animals like Bulls (Symbolic of Dionysus), but sometimes humans. Like, in the Bachae they tear up king Pentheus after disrespecting Dionysus and his mother one too many times. I have also seen people describe the nymphs who took care of Dionysus as an infant as 'maenads,' although usually the term seems to refer to the extatic women.

These days, some devotees of Dionysus use the term Maenad to refer themselves. Whether this also happened in Ancient Greece itself, I am not sure and you'll have to ask someone who does now, or any one of my mayhaps more knowledgeable friends who will probably see this post and are once again invited to add their own thoughts.

#dionysus #greek mythology #greek gods #greek myths #maenads #the maenads #ask

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the-evil-clergyman · 3 months

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The Feast of Silenus by Alfred Philippe Roll (1871)

#alfred philippe roll #art #paintings #fine art #19th century #19th century art #academicism #academism #academic art #painting #french art #french artist #mythology #greek mythology #silenus #bacchante #maenad #classic art

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bugcowboyart · 1 year

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Happy Trans Day of Visibility— I wanted to celebrate by putting these two together in one post!

I’m a proud trans artist and I love celebrating trans people in my art!

#tdov #trans art #tdov 2023 #t4t #trans artist #the bacchae #dionysian #satyrs #maenads #red figure pottery #ancient greek inspired #bacchante

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meirimerens · 7 months

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pathologic fest day 19

"In the Darkness"

where nobody dwells but the earth herself

#pathologic #pathologic 2 #herb brides #pathologic_fest #моросентябрь #pathologic fest #мор утопия #nonsexual nudity /#my art #i STAY herbbridesposting......... having a blast #fun fact this one's been in my WIPs for months now #and getting to finish it because it fit the theme so well.... blissful #herb brides can have a little Pythia moment... as a treat #can't believe i have to do this /!\ THIS IS NOT DIONYSOS-RELATED. THOSE ARE NOT MAENADS. THOSE ARE FICTIONAL MEMBERS #OF A FICTIONAL CENTRAL ASIAN-INSPIRED PEOPLE PARTAKING IN MOTHER-EARTH WORSHIP WITHIN A FICTIONAL #CENTRAL-ASIAN INSPIRED SPIRITUALITY. /!\#/!\ THEY WORSHIP AN ALL-MOTHER EARTH-GODDESS WHOSE PROGENY IS THE ENTIRE WORLD AND NOT A MALE GOD OF WINE PASSION THEATRE [...] /!\#/!\ THE OP HAS PERSONAL AND INTIMATE SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND WOULD NEVER MAKE DEVOTIONAL ART TO A MALE GOD /!\#this would be my portfolio tag if i had a portfolio [portfolio tag]

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thoodleoo · 2 months

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t4t satyr and maenad dancing at a bacchanal together. is that anything

#it should be #i love vase art of satyrs and maenads hanging out. i want them to be trans about it #tagamemnon #greek mythology #queueusque tandem abutere catilina patientia nostra

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starsnores · 1 month

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i wanted to draw chahut in a corset... maybe a little bit of a fancy outfit.

#homestuck #hiveswap #chahut maenad #artsnores

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lepetitdragonvert · 6 months

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The Bacchante

c. 1853

Artist : Jean Léon Gérôme

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grendelsmilf · 1 year

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coach ben whenever the yellowjackets engage in bacchic rituals

#he refuses to be a maenad and the forest hates him for it!!!!!!#yj spoilers #technically #but this also applies to doomcoming #yellowjackets #o.tv #100

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s-u-w-i · 1 year

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The Death of Orpheus as a thank you for dear Patrik ✨

#my art #mythology #Greek Mythology #orpheus #maenad #ink #Illustration

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tractym · 6 months

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redraw of this vase

#the bacchae #bakkhai #pentheus #maenad #greek myth #greek mythology #art tag #artistic nudity

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lionofchaeronea · 9 months

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Ancient Greek ring depicting a dancing maenad. Artist unknown; 3rd or 2nd cent. BCE (Hellenistic). Now in the Louvre. Photo credit: © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.