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Dionysian Meditations:

The Anthesteria

also known as

The More Ancient Dionysia(Ta Arkhaiotera Dionysia)

of Apollonius Sophistes

(c) 1997

Introduction

First Day: Pithoigia (Jar-opening)

Second Day: Khoes (Pitchers)Third Day: Khutroi (Pots)Activities, Sources and Notes

Introduction

The Anthestêria is a Festival of Flowers (Anthê) for Dionysos Anthios (also Antheus and Euanthês - Fair-flowering), theBlooming God. For, as Ovid (Fasti 5.345) says, "Bacchus loves flowers," which herald His arrival by their appearance

in the spring.

At this time (c. Feb. 25-27), when also the Lesser Mysteries are held at Agrai, the Divine Child was conceived; He

grew in the womb of Semele (who is Persephone) for seven months, until the time of the Greater (Eleusinian) Mysteriesand grape harvest, when Zeus blasted her with his bolt (c. Sept. 29 - Oct. 5) and sewed the Child into His thigh. Afterthe wine fermented for 40 days (c. Nov 8), we called Dionysos in the Marshes. This is the beginning of winter, marked

by the rising of the Pleiades, when Dionysos rules at Delphi. He came to term ten months after conception, when we firsttasted the wine at the Rural Dionysia (early Jan.). We celebrated Dionysos' birth and also His emergence from theUnderworld in the Lênaia (c. Feb. 2). Now we have come full circle and we celebrate the God's wedding. At Delphi He

yields to Apollo, whose birthday was four days ago.

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This is the time when the fermentation of the wine is complete and the new wine is ready to drink, and so we make afirst-fruit offering, but it is also the time when the vines are pruned in preparation for the next season. Therefore theAnthestêria is also the most important Festival of the Dead, for we appreciate the beauty and fruits of the Earth, the

delights of wine, and indeed all pleasures, the most when we salute the Dead. Indestructible Life (Zôê) necessitates thebirth and death of Individual Lives (Bioi), and so our Mother Earth both brings forth fruits and welcomes the dead back

to Her bosom.

We have held this festival since before the Greeks sailed to Troy [c. 1200 BCE]; its origin is beyond the limits ofmemory. The rites occur on the 11th, 12th and 13th - that is, during the full moon - of the month called Anthesterion.

Nominally, this is the end of February, but more precisely the full moon following the full moon of the Lênaia, and twomoons following the full moon nearest the winter solstice. This is the time when Zeus mated with Semele, who is alsoPersephone, and Dionysos was conceived. It is also the time when Dionysos took Ariadne to be His wife, and so we

celebrate the marriage of the Basilinna (religious Queen {BASI/LINNA}) and the God. (The days are reckoned fromsundown to sundown.)

The First Day: Pithoigia (Jar-opening)

Today we open the Pithoi (large wine jars), which have been half buried in the Earth, and in which the wine hasfermented, since the time when Dionysos was sewn in the Father's thigh. Therefore, this day is called the Pithoigia, theFestival of Pithoi-opening.

At this time of year the World also lies open (Patet Mundus, as they say in Latin), and Varro wrote, "When the Worldlies open, it is as though the gates of the sad Underworld Gods are open." We give offerings to the Underworld andaccept Its gifts in turn. The fragrance of the wine from the open Pithoi will attract the Thirsty Ones (Dipsioi), the Shadesof the dead, who will come to drink. Dionysos too, who has been dwelling among them as the Emasculated God, is alsoreborn from the Underworld.

This is the day of the God's epiphany, when He comes to His sanctuary. A festiveprocession accompanies His ship-chariot, for He is Lord of Moist Nature (KuriosHugras Phuseos). It looks like a small boat with its ram shaped like an mule's head; itrolls on four wagon wheels and is drawn by Silenoi or Satyrs. In it sits the dignifiedimage of Lord Dionysos, around which Silenoi and Satyrs pipe and sing dithyrambs.(Therefore some say that Carnival, which is celebrated at this time of year, takes its

name from the Carrus Navalis, the ship-chariot.) Sometimes the ship-chariot may bedrawn by mules, or the God may arrive riding on a mule, for the lusty mule, one of Dionysos' favorite animals, remindsus that pleasure for its own sake can be as worthwhile as pleasure that serves a purpose.

The Second Day: Khoes (Pitchers)

At sundown, when the next day begins, the new wine is brought to the Limnaion, His sanctuary in the Marshes, where itis mixed with water the way He taught us. First we pour a libation of the new wine to Lord Dionysos; by this first-fruitoffering it becomes right for us to enjoy the bounty of the harvest. We pray:

Lord Dionysos, hear! We thank You forthis gift of wine, now mixed as You have taught,and pray its potent force will always beof benefit to us,both now and evermore.*

Then we taste the new wine, miraculous gift of the God. Now to bed to await sunrise, for the day will be spent

celebrating the pleasure of the vine!

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* * *

As Dionysos comprehends all opposites, so the Anthestêria comprises both joy and sorrow, both life and death.Although this is a day of joyous celebration, it is also an uncanny day, a polluted day (miara hêmera), for Shades andother Daimônes are free to roam abroad. Therefore I chew the buckthorn (rhamnus) leaves, and smear my door withpitch to keep Them away. So also the sanctuaries are closed to keep the Shades outside, and no one may swear anoath today.

This day is for drinking, and is named for the Khoes (sing. Khous), the distinctive pitchers that hold the mixed wine: theyare short and squat with a trefoil lip, and we can buy them at the special market held for the festival. (A Khous holdsabout three liters of mixed wine, which is enough to fill a Kotulê, a large Skuphos or cup, 12 times.)

Everyone joins in the joyous celebration, man and woman, adult and child. Everyone drinks. In a procession we allcome to the sanctuary of Dionysos Limnaios (In the Marshes), the sacred spring which is a passage to the Underworld.Today is the only day of the year on which the Limnaion, the oldest Dionysian sanctuary, is open, and likewise only

during the Anthestêria is the way open between the worlds of the living and the dead. (Conversely, all the othersanctuaries are closed during the Anthestêria.) On this day we are compelled to think of love and death, Eros andThanatos. Indeed, the journey to the Underworld becomes an exciting erotic adventure.

A stele by the Altar in the Marshes declares that the Basilinna must have been a virgin when she married her husband,the Basileus (religious King), otherwise she is not fit to be the God's bride. (In origin the Basileus is a Guild-master,

especially of smiths.)

The Basileus has chosen the twice-seven Gerairai {GE/RAIRAI}, the Venerable Women, who will assist the Basilinna.With the Sacred Herald standing by, she swears them in with this oath:

I sanctify myself and am both pureand holy from all things that are impure,especially from intercourse with men,

and I shall act as Geraira in theancestral way and at appropriate times.**

Now they assist her mixing the wine in front of the awesome Mask of the God set up in the sanctuary.

While we are lined up, waiting for the Priestesses to fill our Khoes with the mixed wine, we call the God from theUnderworld, where He is Lord over the Shades:

Euanthês! (Fair-flowering)Dithurambos!

Cry out to Him:We shall sing Dionysos

On the Holy Days,Him who was so long away.Now the season! Now the flowers!(Para d' hôra, para d' anthê!){PA/RA D' W(/RA, PA/RA D' A)/NQH}***

Although the Anthestêria is primarily a festival for women, children and the Dead, the Priest of Dionysos invitesdistinguished men to a strange drinking contest supervised by the Basileus at the Thesmotheteion{QESMOQETEI=ON}, to which we bring our jugs of mixed wine. We sit apart; no one speaks; a blast from theancient Salpinx, the trumpet of Dionysos, hidden in the leaves of a Thursos (Dionysian staff), signals everyone to start,and the winner is whomever the Basileus judges to have emptied his cup first. And so the rounds continue. Thus we callDionysos back to our world.

Unlike at ordinary parties, we bring our own wine and food; our host provides only the garlands, perfumes and desserts.

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This, and the silence, is an inversion of the usual sharing and conversation that accompany our symposia (drinkingparties). Instead, we act as in the days before Orestes had been purified of the Pollution (Miasma) of murder, havingtaken vengeance on his mother for slaying his father. Each person used a different vessel so that the pollution would notbe spread. Then as now, everyone drank in silence and in isolation. So also all the temples were closed to preventOrestes from defiling the sacred places. Likewise, we are guilty of killing the God whose gifts we enjoy today. Our

ancestors, the Titans, killed the Child and cut Him into seven pieces. Now we cut back the vine, crush the fruit, anddrink the scarlet lifeblood pressed from its flesh.

The winner of this contest receives a skin full of wine, but there are many informal contests taking place around the city,and the winners of these will receive cakes or garlands for their heads.

Everyone drinks today! Everyone who is at least three years old, for that is the age at which children are enrolled in theirclans (phratriai). Each little boy is presented with his first Khous, which is smaller than an adult's, and with many othergifts, including toys and pets. First-Khoes is one of the milestones of our lives: Birth, Khoes, Ephêbia (Puberty),Marriage. Indeed the garlands of flowers (anthê) worn by the three-year-olds give their name to the festival. Many ofthe children push toy wagons with long handles, and they imitate the sacred processions and rituals of the adults. Thus isthe Divine Child honored through the mortal children. Thus we celebrate the "new shoots" brought forth from the Earth.Today the children and the Shades throng the streets together, for everyone is welcome at our feasts, the Dead as well

as the living.

As in the Lênaia, in the Khoes procession there are carts of male revellers who sing Ribald Songs (Skômmata) to driveaway unhealthy pollutions. The revellers shout abuse at the crowd as they pass, which the people happily return, withinterest! In this way we release our tensions and exult in lusty life. Laughter banishes the impotent enemies of Life.

Before the Altar of the Twelve in the Agora stands a chorus singing dithyrambs that celebrate the birth of the DivineChild after His long incubation. The six men wear long, decorative tunics (khitônes) with long sleeves, and togas(himationa) over them; garlands wreathe their brows. They are the choral leader, his four singers (two holding ivysprigs), and the double-aulos (reed pipe) player to accompany them. They stand around Dionysos' Pole: a thin shaft,taller than the men, standing on an omphalos-shaped tripod wound with ivy and surmounted by a crossbar: the Tree ofLife Growing from the Navel of the Earth. As in the Lênaia, this skeletal Pole shows the God as Lord of theUnderworld, for when the Anthestêria are done, He will return to the Underworld with the other Shades, and appear to

us only in this form. The Dead descend into the Earth, from which new Life is born.

Also on Khoes day we celebrate the Aiôra (Swing), the Feast of Swings, for this is the day when Êrigonê found herfather's grave. The maidens sing "Alêtis" ("The Wandering One"), which tells the story:

Êrigonê (Born-at-Dawn) is called Alêtis because she wandered like the Moon Goddess, searching with

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her she-dog Maira (Glittering One) for her father Ikaros. For the farmer Ikaros had brought the gift of wine

from the birthplace of Dionysos, where the God Himself had taught him viticulture. Ikaros hitched up hisplough team to pull the wagon of full wine skins through the countryside, but he was killed by wildshepherds when they became drunk. The dog Maira found the corpse where they had buried it by a tree,and brought Êrigonê to it. In grief she hung herself from that very tree, around which a vine had grown;thereby her love was fulfilled.

The three ascended to the heavens; Ikaros became Bootes (the Ploughman), Êrigonê became Virgo (the

Virgin) and Maira became Canicula (the Little Dog), or, as others say, the Dog-star (Sirius). For the Dog-star is called Iakar, and the first rising of Sirius at dusk (c. July 19) marks the New Year, the date ofApollo's arrival at Delphi, and the beginning of Opôra (Fruit-time); the wine harvest follows in 49 days withthe setting of Arcturus (early Sept.), at that time of year when Dionysos was plucked from Semele's wombin blazing heat, for the Pure Light of High Summer (Hagnon Phengos Opôras) is essentially Dionysos.Therefore the Dog shows us the way to the Vine, and Dionysos transforms the stifling heat of the DogDays into the Pure Light of High Summer, from which the grapes are born. Therefore He comes as torch-bearing Iakkhos, keeper of the treasures of the vine, by which name He is invoked in the Greater(Eleusinian) Mysteries [c. Sept. 29 - Oct. 5], at the time of the wine harvest, when the Divine Child wasborn in the Underworld.

Some say Father Eleuthereus (Freedom, i.e., Dionysos) transformed Ikaros, Êrigonê and Maira into stars. But in truth,Ikaros and Êrigonê were Iakkhos and Ariadne disguised as wandering strangers; the tree grew from the body of theSlain God, whereby He was reborn in the vine that grew around it, which the faithful Dog brought to light.

Therefore in the Aiôra children (boys as well as girls) swing like Êrigonê from trees near their homes; the Delphic Oracletold us to do this to appease Êrigonê's spirit. This is also the reason we hang little figures and masks in the trees so theyswing in the breeze; good luck goes wherever they look.

Also, parents put their children on swings near open, half-buried pithoi (jugs) of wine, which are openings to theUnderworld. Therefore they swing between the upper andlower worlds, like Êrigonê and Ariadne, who descendedinto death and ascended to the heavens. Sometimes theyswing over smoking censors, and as they swing they arepurified by the element Air. But beyond this, the swinging is

fun, and a theme in this festival is joy for its own sake. Like wine, swinging elevates usto the heavens. By swinging, girls participate in the tragedy of Êrigonê, but through the Maenadic toss of the head (krataseisai), swinging may bring erotic pleasure, by which the young maids (and older women too!) share the ecstasy ofDionysos' Bride. Therefore we sometimes see Silenoi pushing them on their swings.

As Dionysos was slain by the shepherds, so now a he-goat is slain for the God, that his blood may nourish the vines,and Dionysos' tragic death is lamented in Goat-songs (trag-ôidia = tragedies). We sing and dance for the Goat, andafter he is slaughtered, we make a wineskin (askos) of his hide. We use it for the Askôliasmos, wherein we blow up thewineskin and grease it with oil, to see who can balance longest on it. A source of much laughter!

Thus we relive the ancient myth that tells how a Goat got into the first vineyard, which had been planted by Ikarosaccording to the directions of Father Eleuthereus, and ate all the most tender leaves. In anger, Ikaros killed the Goat andmade the first wineskin from his hide. Then he blew it up, tied it tight, threw it to his companions, and told them to dancearound it. As Eratosthenes says in his Êrigonê, "Then first they danced around the goat of Ikaros." In this way too, theGoat is made to expiate his sin against the vine and the God. Thus tragedy is transmuted into comedy. (So also thedramatic tragedies are followed by satyr plays to make us laugh.)

While we men are occupied in our drinking contests, all the city's women are preparing for the arrival of the God tonight.Each Geraira {GE/RAIRA} goes to the Marshes, accompanied by her servant, a Silenus, who holds a three-corneredumbrella over her head. In the inner sanctum of the Sanctuary in the Marshes, the Gerairai make their secretpreparations for the sacred marriage to the God to the Basilinna. From the Marshes each carries a mysterious basket to

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one of the twice-seven Dionysian altars, where she performs the sacred rite. The Gerairai also make preparations at theBoukoleion (Bull's Stable), where the Basilinna will marry the Horned Dionysos, for the Old Women call the Bull-footedGod:

Come, Lord Dionysos,with the Graces to the temple,holy temple by the sea,raving with Your bull's foot,worthy Bull,worthy Bull!****

At sundown we all, including the contest winners, wrap our garlands, which have become polluted by blood-guilt,around our Khoes and walk back to the Limnaion, singing as we go. Many of us are more than a little tipsy and sufferinghangovers! When we arrive at the Marshes, we give our garlands to the Priestess, who is seated in her throne andholding a torch in her right hand. There we pour out the rest of our wine as a libation to the God. We eagerly anticipatethe arrival of Dionysos among us tomorrow! Spurning the God brings madness!

The Third Day: Khutroi (Pots)

The third day begins at sundown, and, although the contests are officially over, drinking continues throughout the night,for there will be many symposia to keep us men occupied. We will have drinking and dancing, Aulêtrides (Flute girls)and Hetairai (Escorts). Thus the women keep us diverted while they indulge their secrets. What of it? I strip off myclothes, and hand them to a friend to hold, so that I can dance more freely with my Khous.

Meanwhile at the Limnaion the Basilinna prepares to perform the Arrhêta Hiera (Ineffable Secret Rites) by which shewill become the Horned God's bride. The Gerairai have also conducted their secret rituals in the Marshes and at thetwice-seven altars. Little more than this can be said about the Arrhêta Hiera:

The Basilinna's rich wedding garments are draped over a swing (aiôra) above a fire, on which a female assistant poursaromatic oils and sprinkles incense. When dressed, the Queen will be escorted by holy Pompê (Procession) to theBoukoleion, where she will see what no other mortal is permitted to see. Perhaps it is an Agalma, an archaic cult statueof the Horned God. Nobody but she knows.

An empty wagon pulled by mules comes for the Queen. (Unlike in an ordinary, mortal wedding,the Divine Groom does not accompany His bride.) She steps into the wagon, which continues tothe Boukoleion. She is preceded by a Satyr, wearing an Ependutês (decorative tunic) andcarrying the two torches that signify a wedding processing. Another Satyr follows with the tall

basket containing her dowry. Next are the Dendrophoroi (Tree-bearers), Silenoi carrying theDionysian Pole, and the rest of the procession. Eros is in the air.

When they arrive at the marriage chamber, the bride is escorted inside. A Satyr takes his positionas Thurôros (Porter) at the threshold of the marriage chamber. Revellers with torches keep vigil

outside the Boukoleion and sing wedding hymns.

Alone inside the inner sanctum, the Basilinna awaits the arrival of the God. She performs the Theion Prêgma (DivineAct), the Mystêrion that calls the Immortal Lord to her in Sacred Marriage (Hieros Gamos) and Divine Union (TheiaSummeixis) - the Consummatio Divini Matrimonii. This night the King (Basileus) surrenders his wife to the God, as wasfirst done by Theseus. Tonight she is Ariadne. Dionysos' mules remind us that this union is to affirm Indestructible Life(Zôê), not to beget children. By this sacred rite the Basilinna awakens Indestructible Life and invokes It to move uponthe Earth.

Also on this very night on the crags above Delphi the raving Maenads awaken Dionysos Liknitês, the God in theWinnowing Fan. Nurses of the Child, they now unite with the Mystery in the Winowing Fan. Thus is the God awakenedand called back among the living.

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On this night all mature women may become Dionysos' brides, but especially the women who have taken mortalhusbands in the preceding Month of Marriages (Gamêliôn), especially on the night preceding the new moon two weeksago. Tonight they will unite with the source of Indestructible Life through Dionysos, for which their earthly marriageshave been a prelude. (Virgins had a lesser union by means of the Aiôra during the day.)

Daimônes (Divinities) walk the streets tonight! While I am celebrating tonight, some torch- or thursos-bearing Silenos orSatyr, sent by the God, may come to my house, and my wife will follow him into awesome mysteries, perhaps led by hishand as though to her wedding. Where will she go? To the mountains? To the clandestine rites of some Thiasos? I darenot wonder! Tonight all women may unite with Lord Dionysos, whomever He calls and whoever is willing.

And yet there are also times when I'm a Satyr or Silenos! We men who belong to Dionysian Brotherhoods of Satyrs(Dionusiakoi Thiasoi Saturôn) will take on the identities of His animals, especially the He-Goat or Stallion, and spreadHis Phallic Energy throughout the town. And on this night of exuberant life, if I wear the headband of DionysosMitrêphoros, I may find myself approached by thursos-bearing Bacchants to be led off by torch-light to manifest forthem the God or some lesser Daimôn in their mysteries. (This Dionysian Mitra or headband proclaims my willingness toinvoke my Lord; it encircles the head and loops are pulled up under it so the ends hang like flaps at the ears.) Dionysosis the God of the Mask and, all night long, masked souls will roam the streets manifesting the awesome presence ofDivinity.

* * *

With daybreak we turn our attention to appeasing the Dead and driving Them from the land of the Living. The Khoeswas a happy day, but now begins the Khutroi, the somber part of the Anthestêria, a day of gloom. This day is named forthe Khutroi, the pots in which we prepare a Panspermia, a honeyed porridge of many vegetables and grains, which wegive, as food for the Dead, to the Psychopompos (Soul-guide), Hermes Chthonios. The Ithyphallic Herms embody theUnderworld Guide. (No Gods are present in the city today except Hermes and Dionysos, and some say that They arethe same.)

Just so, long ago, on the day after the Anthestêria, the survivors of the Great Flood in the time of Pyrrha and Deukalion,cooked their first meal after the water receded. They celebrated the triumph of Life while lamenting those who perished.The Flood marked a fresh beginning in which the old was washed away to make way for the new, and so we celebratenew beginnings. (We all eat this Panspermia, except the Priests, for the temples are closed today.)

We also honor our distant ancestors who died in the Flood, and we give thanks for the disappearance of the water.Young girls celebrate the Hudrophoria (Water-bearing) by making offerings of wheat-flour and honey and by pouringlibations of water to the victims of the Flood. (We offer water because that is what the Thirsty Ones may be given.) Thegirls carry water-jugs (hudriai) on their heads to the cubit-wide chasm into which the flood waters drained; it is apassage to the Underworld.

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Among the day's amusements are the Contests of the Khutroi (Agônes Khutrinoi), in which the Comoi (ComicRevellers) compete for the honor of performing at the City Dionysia next month, but as the day grows old, we carry thepots and escort the Dead to the Marshes. Glutted with wine, They will return at our bidding to the Underworld. Wehave honored the Dead and now They can depart. At sundown we all shout:

Begone Ye Ghosts!Thuraze Kêres!{QU/RAZE KH=RES}

Begone Ye Ghosts! The Anthestêria are done! Thuraze Kêres, ouket' Anthestêria! {QU/RAZE KH=RES, OU)KE/T' )ANQESTH/RIA}

By this spell, as also by the Aiôra and Hudrophoria, the city is cleansed of all impurities and hostile spirits. Theparadoxical God Dionysos both descends with the Shades to the Underworld and remains above with us, a divinemystery, simultaneously alive and dead, at once Child and Husband.

Activities

Read Aristophanes' Frogs, which is about Dionysos in the Marshes.

Sources

1. Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion, pp. 237-41.2. Hyginus. Poetica Astronomica II.4.3. Kerenyi, Carl. Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, pp. 73-5, 77-8, 152-60, 169-70, 182,

198-9, 233-4, 289-90, 292-3, 300-13, 317, 323-5, 362, 364, 366, 378.4. Nilsson, M. P. Greek Folk Religion, p. 33.5. Otto, Walter F. Dionysus: Myth and Cult, pp. 80, 100, 116-7, 139, 159.6. Parke, H. W. Festivals of the Athenians, pp. 107-19.7. Pickard-Cambridge, Arthur. Dramatic Festivals of Athens, pp. 1, 9-19.8. Simon, E. Festivals of Attica: An Archaeological Commentary, pp. 92-9.

Notes

*based on Parke 108

**adapted from a speech attributed to Demosthenes

***adapted from Kerenyi 198-9

****Plutarch, Quaest. Graec. 299A-B

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