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Sparagmos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maenads attacking Pentheus (Roman wall painting from the House of theVettii, Pompeii

Sparagmos (!ncient "reek# $%&'&)*+, from $%&'$$- sparasso, .tear,

rend, pull to pieces. is an act of rending, tearing apart, or mangling,/01

usually in a 2ionysian conte3t4

5n 2ionysian rite as represented in myth and literature, a li6ing animal, or

sometimes e6en a human 7eing, is sacri8ced 7y 7eing dismem7ered4

Sparagmos was fre9uently followed 7y omophagia (the eating of the raw

:esh of the one dismem7ered4 5t is associated with the Maenads or

;acchantes, followers of 2ionysus, and the 2ionysian Mysteries4 Historically,

howe6er, there is little indication that women cele7rating the rites of

2ionysius dismem7ered animals or ate raw :esh4/s play ?he ;acchae, which

concerns 2ionysus and the Maenads4 !t one point guards sent to control the

Maenads witness them pulling a li6e 7ull to pieces with their hands4 @ater,

2ionysus lures his cousin, king Pentheus, into a forest after he 7ans worship

of the god where he was attacked 7y Maenads, including his own mother

!ga6e4 ?he reference of his mother tearing apart his lim7s is sparagmos4

!ccording to some myths, Arpheus, regarded as a prophet of Arphic or;acchic religion, died when he was dismem7ered 7y raging ?hracian

women4

Bontents /hide1

0 Medea

< Modern literature and theory

C See also

D References

Medea/edit1

Medea is said to ha6e killed and dismem7ered her 7rother whilst :eeing

with Eason and the stolen :eece in order to delay their pursuers, who would

7e compelled to collect the remains of the prince for 7urial4 ?he 5talian 8lm

director Pier Paolo Pasolini staged a sparagmos ritual as part of a long

se9uence near the 7eginning of his 8lm Medea (0G, 7efore dramatising

the episode in which Medea kills her 7rother in a similar way4

Modern literature and theory/edit1

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5nterpreting the ritual through the lens of the Freudian Aedipus comple3,

Batherine Ma3well identi8es sparagmos as a form of castration, particularly

in the case of Arpheus4/C1

5n contemporary literature, this is used in ?ennessee Williams>s play

Suddenly, @ast Summer4

Sparagmos is also 7rie:y mentioned in 2onna ?artt>s ?he Secret History4

Amophagia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See raw foodism for the modern use of the term4

Amophagia, or omophagy (from "reek -)*+ .raw. is the eating of raw

:esh4 ?he term is of importance in the conte3t of the cult worship of

2ionysus4

Mar7le image of a dancing Maenad appro3imately 0

epithets is Amophagos .RawJ=ater.4/01 Amophagia may ha6e 7een a

sym7ol of the triumph of wild nature o6er ci6iliKation, and a sym7ol of the

7reaking down of 7oundaries 7etween nature and ci6iliKation4/ female worshippers,

eating raw meat as part of their worship howe6er, there is little solide6idence that historical Maenads consumed raw meat4/

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7y the ?itans in an act of sparagmos4 !fter tearing agreus apart, the ?itans

de6oured him, e3cept for his heart4

His 7ody was then reassem7led this may 7e re:ected in the story of

Pentheus, whose 7ody parts were gathered together after his mother, aunt

and other Maenads tore him apart in a 2ionysic frenKy, and the story of!ctaeon, who was eaten 7y his own hunting dogs4 ;ecause the dogs grie6ed

so deeply after !ctaeon>s death, an image of him was made to comfort

them4 !ll three stories show a common motif of reassem7ly of 7ody parts

following sparagmos and omophagia, and this motif may ha6e 7een

signi8cant for religious ritual4/1

5n Arphism, worshippers took part in an Arphic ritual which reenacted the

story of egreus, using a 7ull as their 6ictim (poorer worshippers may ha6e

used a goat instead4/0I1 ?hey considered the ritual to 7e .commemorati6e.

of e6ents in their god>s e3istence4/01 5n his article .! Tew Ritual of the

Arphic Mysteries., Michael ?ierney says that .444 7y sacramental reJ

enactment of the god>s death, a hope of sal6ation for his worshippers was

o7tained4./001 2ionysus 7ecame associated with agreus, and the story of

ha6ing 7een torn apart and eaten 7y the ?itans was applied to him as well4

/01

Amophagia was the focus of the 2ionysiac mysteries, and a component of

Arphic ceremonies4/0