Bacchanalia (redirected from Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus)

Bacchanalia (băkənā`lēə), in Roman religion, festival in honor of Bacchus, god of wine. Originally a religious ceremony, like the Liberalia, it gradually became an occasion for drunken, licentious excesses and was finally forbidden by law (186 B.C.).

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Bacchanalia

 or Dionysia

In Greco-Roman religion, any of the festivals of the wine god Bacchus (Dionysus), which probably originated as fertility rites. The most famous Greek festivals included the Greater Dionysia, with its dramatic performances; the Anthesteria; and the Lesser Dionysia, characterized by simple rites. Bacchanalia were introduced from lower Italy into Rome, where they were at first secret, open only to women, and held three times a year. They later admitted men and became as frequent as five times a month. In 186 BC their reputation as orgies led the Senate to prohibit them throughout Italy, except in special cases.

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Dionysia (Bacchanalia)

Various dates

The Dionysia was a festival in ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus (also called Bacchus), the son of Zeus and god of wine, fertility, and drama. There were a series of Dionysian festivals: the Oschophoria, the rural or Country Dionysia, the Lenaea, the Anthesteria, the urban Dionysia, and the most famous—the City or Great Dionysia.
The Great Dionysias were held in the spring (March or April) in Athens for five or six days, and their centerpieces were the performances of new tragedies, comedies, and satyric dramas. These took place in the Theater of Dionysus on the side of the Acropolis and were attended by people from throughout the country. The earliest tragedy that survives is Persai by Aeschylus, from the year 472 b.c.e. The dramatists, actors, and singers were considered to be performing an act of worship of the god, and Dionysus was thought to be present at the productions.
The City Dionysias were a time of general springtime rejoicing (even prisoners were released to share in the festivities) and great pomp. The statue of Dionysus was carried in a procession that also included representations of the phallus, symbolizing the god.
Dionysus was both a merry god who inspired great poetry and a cruel god; the Greeks realistically saw wine as something that made people happy and also made them drunk and cruel. Thus, like the god, his festivals seem to have combined contrasting elements of poetry and revelry.
The small rustic Dionysias were festive and bawdy affairs held in December or January at the first tasting of new wine. Besides dramatic presentations, there were processions of slaves carrying the phallus, the singing of obscene lays, youths balancing on a full goat-skin, and the like.
The Leneae, held in Athens in January or February, included a procession of jesting citizens through the city and dramatic presentations. The Oschophoria ("carrying of the grape cluster"), held in the fall when the grapes were ripe, was marked by a footrace for youths.

SOURCES:
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 830, 867
EncyRel-1987, vol. 4, p. 358
NewCentClassHandbk-1962, p. 399
OxClassDict-1970, p. 350
(c)

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Bacchanalia 

(Latin).

(1) In Ancient Rome, mystery plays in honor of Dionysus (Bacchus) which took on the character of orgies in the second century B.C. Initially, only women participated in the Bacchanalia; later, men were permitted to take part as well. In 186 B.C., by a special resolution of the senate, Bacchanalia were prohibited in Italy on pain of criminal prosecution. However, they were held secretly in certain areas of southern Italy up to the time of the Empire.

(2) Wild revelry or orgy (figurative).