Heiros Gamos - Tumblr Posts

Today 22 February, ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗΣ (Friday), Δωδεκάτη/ Δευτέρα Μεσοῦντος/ Δυοκαιδεκάτη, XII day From today’s sunset: twelfth day of Anthesterion. Anthesteria, II day: Choes, ‘Pitchers’. “It was a particular festival amongst Athenians, celebrated on the twelfth of month Anthesterion. But Apollodorus says that Anthesteria is the name for the festival as a whole, celebrated in honour of Dionysos, with its component parts Pithoigia, Choes, Chytroi.” Suda s.v. Χόες “At first, no host would willingly take me (Orestes) in, as one hated by the Gods; then some who felt shame offered me a table apart, as a guest, themselves being under the same roof, and in silence they kept me from speaking, so that I might be apart from them in food and drink, and into each private cup they poured an equal measure of wine and had their delight. And I did not think it right to blame my hosts, but I grieved in silence…I hear that my misfortunes have become a festival at Athens, and they still hold this custom and the people of Pallas honor the cup that belongs to the Feast of Pitchers.” Eur. Iph. Taur. 948 Drinking contest, private and public: “According to our customs, at the trumpet signal drink your pitchers; whoever drains his first will win Ktesiphon’s wineskin.” For in the Pitchers there was a contest concerning who could drain his pitcher first, and the winner was crowned with a wreath of leaves and got a skin of wine. At a trumpet signal they would drink. Ktesiphon was ridiculed for being fat and paunchy. An inflated wineskin was set forth in the festival of the Pitchers, on which those drinking in the competition would stand. The first one to finish his drink won, and got a wineskin.” Aristophanes, Acharnians 1000-2 & scholia Miarà hemera- all the Temples are closed. Apotropaic rituals: “‘in the Choes in the month of Anthesterion, in which (i.e. during the Choes) they believed that the spirits of the dead rose up again. From early morning they used to chew rhamnos and anointed their doors with pitch.’ (Phanod. FGrH 325 F 11; Poll. 8.141) Procession: “to go on board the sacred trireme. For in the month Anthesterion a trireme in full sail is brought in procession to the agora, and the priest of Dionysos, like a pilot, steers it as it comes from the sea, loosing its cables.” Phil. Lives of the Sophists, 25 Sacred Marriage of Dionysos and the Queen: “And this woman offered on the City’s behalf the sacrifices which none may name, and saw what it was not fitting for her to see, being an alien; and despite her character she entered where no other of the whole host of the Athenians enters save the wife of the King Archon only; and she administered the oath to the venerable priestesses who preside over the sacrifices, and was given as bride to Dionysus; and she conducted on the city’s behalf the rites which our fathers handed down for the service of the Gods, rites many and solemn and not to be named…This law they wrote on a pillar of stone, and set it up in the sanctuary of Dionysos by the altar in Limnae. Thus the people testified to their own piety toward the God, and left it as a deposit for future generations, showing what type of woman we demand that she shall be who is to be given in marriage to the God, and is to perform the sacrifices. For this reason they set it up in the most ancient and most sacred sanctuary of Dionysos in Limnae, in order that few only might have knowledge of the inscription; for once only in each year is the sanctuary opened, on the twelfth day of the month Anthesterion. These sacred and holy rites for the celebration of which your Ancestors provided so well and so magnificently, it is your duty, men of Athens, to maintain with devotion, and likewise to punish those who insolently defy your laws and have been guilty of shameless impiety toward the Gods…I wish now to call before you the sacred herald who waits upon the wife of the King Archon, when she administers the oath to the venerable priestesses as they carry their baskets in front of the altar before they touch the victims, in order that you may hear the oath and the words that are pronounced, at least as far as it is permitted you to hear them; and that you may understand how august and holy and ancient the rites are. “Oath of the Venerable Priestesses” I live a holy life and am pure and unstained by all else that pollutes and by commerce with man, and I will celebrate the feast of the Theoinia and the Iobacchic feast in honor of Dionysus in accordance with custom and at the appointed times.” (Dem. 59 Neaera 73-78) (Pompe holds a wreath and looks toward Dionysos, seated and wearing a diadem. The winged Eros adjusts His sandals as though preparing to depart. The gilt openwork basket on the ground is the type used in religious processions to carry sacrificial implements to the place of sacrifice. This procession must be part of an Athenian festival in honor of Dionysos, probably the Anthesteria, which culminated in the Sacred Marriage of the God to the wife of the Archon Basileus. From Attica, mid-4th century B.C; now in the Metropolitan Museum…)

Greek Sarcophagus with Dionysus and Ariadne.

Walters Art Museum

Baltimore, MD

by Sannion

“We celebrate the union of Bacchus and Venus, for the good of all Asia.” said Marcus Antonius, taking a sip from his wine-cup and smiling.

How full of profound mysteries, this single statement is.

O, the sublimity! Bringing together madness and fucking, wine and roses, West and East, masks and pageantry. Pretending to be the ancestors as you dine, in order to renew the kingdom, everyone and everything in it. Such is the rite. But only the Masters can perform it.

The multitudes watched as they met and feasted on the boat of pleasure rocking, rocking, rocking on the waves of the eternal river of life.

Eventually the jester emerged wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt and shouted to the crowd, “Consummatum est!”