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In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones." Maenads were known as Bassarids, Bacchae or Bacchantes in Roman mythology after the penchant of the equivalent Roman god, Bacchus, to wear a bassaris or fox-skin. Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped with a pine cone. They would weave ivy-wreaths around their heads or wear a bull helmet in honor of their god, and often handle or wear snakes.〔Ernest L. Abel, ''Intoxication in Mythology: A Worldwide Dictionary of Gods, Rites, Intoxicants, and Place'' McFarland; Jefferson, NC and London 2006.〕 These women were mythologized as the 'mad women' who were nurses of Dionysus in Nysa: Lycurgus "chased the Nurses of the frenzied Dionysus through the holy hills of Nysa, and the sacred implements dropped to the ground from the hands of one and all, as the murderous Lycurgus struck them down with his ox-goad."〔Homer, ''Iliad'', VI.130ff, in E.V. Rieu's translation.〕 They went into the mountains at night and practiced strange rites. According to Plutarch's ''Life of Alexander'', maenads were called ''Mimallones'' and ''Klodones'' In Macedon, epithets derived from the feminine art of spinning wool.〔According to Grace Harriet Macurdy, "Klodones, Mimallones and Dionysus Pseudanor," ''The Classical Review'' 27.6 (September 1913), pp. 191-192, and ''Troy and Paeonia. With Glimpses of Ancient Balkan History and Religion'', 1925, p. 166.〕 Nevertheless, these warlike ''parthenoi'' ("virgins") from the hills, associated with a ''Dionysios pseudanor'' "fake male Dionysus", routed an invading enemy.〔According to the second-century CE Macedonian military writer Polyaenus, IV.1; Polyaenus gives a fanciful etymology..〕 In southern Greece they were described with ''Bacchae'', ''Bassarides'', ''Thyiades'', ''Potniades''〔''Potnia'', the "power" of maddened intoxication.〕 and other epithets.〔Harrison, "The Maenads", ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'', 3rd ed. (1922:388-400) p. 388.〕 The term ''maenad'' has come to be associated with a wide variety of women, supernatural, mythological, and historical,〔Jane Ellen Harrison remarked of the 19th-century (male) classicists, "so persistent is the dislike to commonplace fact, that we are repeatedly told that the maenads are purely mythological creations and that the maenad orgies never appear historically in Greece." ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'' (1903; 1922), p.388.〕 associated with the god Dionysus and his worship. In Euripides' play ''The Bacchae'', maenads of Thebes murder King Pentheus after he bans the worship of Dionysus. Dionysus, Pentheus' cousin, himself lures Pentheus to the woods, where the maenads tear him apart. His corpse is mutilated by his own mother, Agave, who tears off his head, believing it to be that of a lion. A group of maenads also kill Orpheus.〔Pseudo-Apollodorus, (''Library and Epitome'', 1.3.2 ). "Orpheus also invented the mysteries of Dionysus, and having been torn in pieces by the maenads he is buried in Pieria."〕 In ceramic art, the frolicking of Maenads and Dionysus is often a theme depicted on kraters, used to mix water and wine. These scenes show the maenads in their frenzy running in the forests, often tearing to pieces any animal they happen to come across. German philologist Walter Friedrich Otto writes: ==Cult worship== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maenad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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