Ancient religion: Dionysos and Artemis

THE CULT OF DIONYSOS IN ASIA MINOR
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL AGE

Making his presence, which can be traced long before the Archaic Age, deeply felt mainly in Hellas, Asia Minor and then in Rome throughout the ancient world, Dionysos, depending on the place and time, appears before us sometimes as a god of grape-wine, sometimes as a god of theatre and acting arts and sometimes as a religious power shaped according to the local needs, however, he has generally been a god of nature representing the fertility and abundance. According to the inscriptions, Dionysos was mentioned with many epithetons in Asia Minor of the Roman Imperial Age, and that he was a god of nature bringing abundance-fertility and his many other features can be observed by these epithetons. Depending on the long stated customs, the cult of Dionysos in Asia Minor survived throughout the Roman Imperial Age (especially in the II-III. Century A.D. with festivals, cult associations and structuring, artists (musicians, players, dancers) that served his cult. According to the written records, festivals such as Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris organized in the name of Dionysos were celebrated. Dance, music and play competitions were made in these festivals maintained by the rich citizens or directors and not commonly known cult rituals were performed. Besides the associations of synodos artists called by different names in different times in the large cities of the west, cult associations broad in scope such as thiasos, speira or cult member groups with large audience in various names were active both in worshipping and these festivals. In order to achieve this, undoubtedly, both artist associations and cult associations had to have a well organized governing structure. Names were given to the cult members according to the task taken. These members also had to pay a membership fee in order to be a member or to continue to be one. Actually, these fees were as important as the epimeletes in the mainta-nance of these associations. In addition, they were supported both mate-rially and spiritually by the Roman emperors or provincial governors. Although the paganic religious activities in the lands of Asia Minor under the control of Rome were left to the free will of the cities, they would not be strong without the respect shown for the cults of the emperors, emperor and the Roman goddess (Dea Roma). The worshipping of Dionysos could only develop with the close relations with the emperors and the Roman Empire. Correspondingly, supporting a paganic cult significant for the people, the Roman Empire gained the sympathy of the people and also kept them loyal to Rome. The deification of the Roman emperors began with General Marcus Antonius, who was wellcomed as “New Dionysos” on his arrival to Ephesos, and continued in the Roman Imperial Age. During this period the associations in Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias and Sardeis characterised Emperor Hadrianus, Commodus and Caracalla by this epitheton. Thus, they deified them by considering them equal with Dionysos. Dionysos also had common worship with imperial or Dea Roma cult besides the common paganic worship of Zeus and Dēmētēr. Like all other paganic religions, the cult of Dionysos broke down with the strengthening Christianity with which it had opposite doctrines and finally with the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of the state. However, many features of the Dionysos cult continued to exist in Asia Minor both in Christian features and local cultures and traditions. Today it still continues this effect.

Arkaik Çağ’dan çok daha eskilere götürebildiğimiz varlığını, coğrafi olarak başta Hellas, Küçükasya ve sonraları Roma olmak üzere tüm Antik Çağ coğrafyasında etkin bir şekilde hissettiren Dionysos, yer ve zaman farkına bağlı olarak, bazı yerlerde üzüm-şarap tanrısı, bazılarında tiyatro ve sahne sanatlarının tanrısı, bazılarında ise yerel ihtiyaçlar doğrultusunda şekillendirilmiş dinsel bir güç olarak karşımıza çıkmıştır. Ama genel olarak bereket ve bolluğu temsil eden bir doğa tanrısı kimliğine sahip olmuştur. Yazıtlardan anlaşıldığına göre Roma İmparatorluk Çağı Küçükasyası’ nda birçok epitheton ile anılan Dionysos’un, bolluk-bereket getiren bir doğa tanrısı olduğu ve diğer başka özellikleri gene bu epitheton’larından anlaşılmaktadır. Küçükasya’daki Dionysos kültü Roma İmparatorluk Çağı boyunca (bilhassa M.S. II-III. yüzyılarda), öncesinden gelen bir geleneğe bağlı olarak şenlikleri, kült dernekleri ve yapılanması, kültüne hizmet eden sanatçıları (müzisyenler, oyuncular, dansçılar) ile varlığını sürdürmüştür. Yazılı belgelerden bu dönemde büyük ve zengin kentlerde hâlâ Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris gibi Dionysos adına tertiplenen şenliklerin kutlandığını; masrafları, epimeletes olarak bildiğimiz kentin zengin vatandaşları ya da yöneticileri tarafından karşılanan bu şenliklerde külte ilişkin dans, müzik ve oyun yarışmaların yapıldığını ve herkesçe bilinmeyen kült ritüellerinin uygulandığını öğrenmekteyiz. Bilhassa batı kesimlerdeki büyük kentlerdeki, farklı dönemlerde farklı isimlerle anılan synodos sanatçı derneklerinin yanında thiasos, speira gibi daha geniş kapsamlı kült dernekleri ya da en yaygını mystai olan çeşitli adlar altında toplanan geniş kitleli kült üye grupları hem tapınımda, hem de bu şenliklerde aktif olmuşlardır. Şüphesiz ki bunu gerçekleştirebilmek adına gerek sanatçı dernekleri gerekse kült dernekleri, iyi organize olmuş bir idari yapılanmaya sahip olmak durumundaydı. Bu derneklerde üstlendikleri görevlere göre adlandırılan kült üyelerinin, üye olabilmeleri veya üyeliklerini sürdü-rebilmeleri için ödemek zorunda oldukları aidatlar da vardı. Esasen bu derneklerin finansmanının karşılanmasında bu aidatlar, en az epimeletes’ ler kadar önemliydi. Ayrıca Roma imparatorlarının ya da eyalet yöneticilerinin hem manevi hem de maddi desteğini alıyorlardı. Zira bu dönemde Roma egemenliği altında bulunan Küçükasya topraklarındaki pagan dinsel yaşam her ne kadar kentlerin özgür iradesine bırakılmışsa da, imparatorlara, imparator ve Roma Tanrıçası (Dea Roma) kültüne gösterilen saygı olmaksızın güçlü kalamazdı. Küçükasya Dionysos tapınımı da, tamamıyla imparatorlar ve Roma İmparatorluğu ile kurulan güçlü bağlar sayesinde gelişebilmiştir. Bununla paralel olarak da Roma İmparatorluğu, halk için önemli olan pagan bir kültü destekleyerek, hem halkın sempatisini kazanmakta, hem de böylece onların Roma’ya olan bağlılığını sürdürmek amacını gütmekteydi. General Marcus Antonius’un Ephesos’a gelişinde “Yeni Dionysos” olarak karşılanmasıyla başlayan Romalı devlet adamlarını tanrılaştırma geleneği, Roma İmparatorluk Çağı’nda da sürmüş; bu dönemde özellikle Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias ve Sardeis’teki dernekler, İmparator Hadrianus, Commodus ve Caracalla’yı bu sıfatla nitelendirmişler, böylece onları Dionysos ile bir tutarak tanrılaştırmışlardır. İmparatorluk veya Dea Roma kültü ile ortak tapınımı da görülen Dionysos’un Zeus ve Dēmētēr gibi pagan tanrı-tanrıçalarla da ortak tapınımı söz konusudur. Diğer pagan dinler gibi Dionysos kültünün yıkımı da, öğretilerinin birbirine tamamen ters düştüğü Hıristiyanlık dininin güçlenmesiyle ve nihayetinde M.S. 391’de imparatorluğun resmî dini olmasıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Ancak Dionysos kültünün birçok unsuru, Küçükasya topraklarında, gerek Hıristiyanlık unsurlarında gerekse halk kültür ve geleneklerinde yaşamaya devam etmiştir. Bugün de bu etkisini göstermeye devam etmektedir."

SEG 60-1998. Religion. Dionysos: his cult in Asia Minor, Imperial period:
On the basis of archaeological, numismatic, and (mainly) epigraphic attestations, B.Öztürk,Roma imparatorluk çağı Küçükasaysı’nda Dionysos kültü (Istanbul 2010), studies the cult ofΔιόνυσος in Roman Asia Minor. After general remarks about the god, he presents a geographically arranged catalogue of the relevant inscriptions with brief comments (ph. of some texts). On 196-209, Ö. provides a register with explanations of the most important terms found in the inscriptions, and on 210/211 a list of epithets.

The Macedonic cult of Dionis (Paionian Dyalos; lat. Dionysus), Sabazius, Bachus, Nimrod, Tammuz/Dumuzi, Zagreus, Osiris-Serapis, etc. is one of the oldest mythological appearances known to humanity. His name is founded in immemorial timeworn forgotten past. According to his astrological and animalistic attributes, the time frame of his conception coincides with the Zodiacal Era of Bull, which spans from 4th to 2nd millennium BCE.
The Macedonic Paionians gave the origin of the name Dyaus, from a root-word which means ‘to shine’: Dya/Da - ‘to’, and Us - ‘rising, up’ (like the sun) and/or Usvity - ‘incandescent’. Same meaning is to be found in the Sanskrit ‘Vas-anta’ - spring, from the word root ‘vas’ - shine, heat. Russian prominent linguist Vadim Tsymbursky proposed interpretation of the name Dionis on the basis of Macedonic onomastics: "Our God” – ‘Douh-naš’ in plain Macedonian.
When these first Pre-Indo-Europeans fashioned the other gods out of the forces and forms in nature, this root-name was implied for Dionis as well. His primordial cult is strongly associated with the archaic mythological creatures as kentaurs, maenads, satyrs, sileni, etc. Dionis was originally a god of the fertility and nature, associated with wild and ecstatic religious rites; in later traditions he was also the god of wine, of ritual madness and ecstatic behavior, who loosens inhibition and inspires creativity in music and poetry. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionisiac Mysteries, which were comparable to and intricately linked with the Eleusian and Orpheic Mysteries, which are again one and the same with the manifestations of most primordial mysteries of Cabiri , mentioned already by Herodotus as thought by Pelasgians  to the men from the isle of Samothrace.

This thesis presents a critical reading of youth rites of passage in Ancient Greece with a view to determine how far our conceptualisation of the phenomenon reflects ancient practice. The investigation concerns a number of cults and rites of Artemis and Apollo which are often interpreted to have served as puberty ‘initiations’ or ‘rites of passage’ by modern scholars. The aim of the project is to illuminate the palaeopsychology and societal dynamics behind such rites against the modern idea of ‘rites of passage’. This is realised through the exploration of a number of themes related to youth worship of Artemis and Apollo while placing ancient evidence in the position of highest authority and evaluating the implications of modern commentaries and anthropological models on our understanding of the phenomenon. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted, drawing on archaeological and literary evidence and the various approaches to rites of passage applied in anthropology, sociology and classics. The investigation covers the topics of ancient terminology pertaining to initiatory contexts, the idiosyncrasies that appear within the larger modern grouping of ‘rites of passage’, the ways in which ancient foundation myths reveal the true function of the cults in question, while the study of cult objects and inscriptions attempts to engage the voice of the youth and their families. The thesis finds that the modern concept of rites of passage does not manifest itself in Ancient Greek evidence as elaborately as is currently perceived by classical scholars and that attempts to attribute the initiatory function to Artemisian and Apollonian worship and cult activity demonstrate modern bias and distort our understanding of coming of age in antiquity.

This paper uses ancient geographical, mythological, and literary information to expand the interpretation of the reverse design of a small ancient bronze coin type issued by Ophrynion in Troas. The evidence indicates that the coin shows the infant Dionysos as usually described, but in addition that Dionysos is represented as an impersonator of the Trojan War prince Paris who was also known by the name Alexander, and in local legend may have been exposed as an infant on the steep hill at Ophrynion.

Discussed are the known today altars found in Tauric Chersonesos, which can be considered as used in cults of polis, as well as numismatic and epigraphic evidence on them. The offerings on behalf of the civic community were made on an altar of the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 3rd centuries BC, which was dedicated to “the goddess” by Pasiadas, the basileus. It is presumed in the article that in the second half of the 3rd century BC they were made on the altar with prothesis and barriers in the form of volutes sitting on which Parthenos is depicted on the coin of that time. It is unknown yet which of the altars was used till the end of the 2nd century BC and whether they should be associated with the altar mentioned in the Decree in honour of Diophantes. There also could be several places for offerings to the goddess. Both in the chora and in the city were found altars in the form of Heracles’ club which was depicted on the coins of that period. Their size and localization testifies that they were used if not in polis cults, then in cults of philae or the religious organization. It is ascertained that several types of altars were used in Chersonesos, though their attribution is not diverse. Most of them were dedicated to the supreme gods of the city: predominantly to Artemis Parthenos and sometimes to Heracles.
A fragment of a slab with a relief depiction of a lion turned with his head to kantharos is linked to the public cult of Apollo. The functional purpose of the slab is evidenced by the localization of the relief at its lateral side. Considering the analogue from Chersonesos it should be defined as a detail of an altar in the form of an offering table. This and other evidence on the offerings at the altars in honour of other gods are analysed in the paper. However, the conclusion is made that this evidence is not definitive or reliable and attributions of the available altars of other gods from the pantheon are hypothetical. For instance, there are evidences on functioning of temples of other gods in the city, though we can only presume that separate altars of their cults were used.
Thus, such an integral attribute of religious life of civic community as altars testify for the narrow directivity of polis ideology in Chersonesos towards the worship of Parthenos as a dominant goddess above all other gods in the pantheon. At the time when various gods, such as Demeter, Dionysus, Heracles or Aphrodite, and in the first centuries AD the Mother of the Gods, etc. were worshipped on the altars used in family cults, the altars of polis cults were used mostly in cults of two supreme gods of civic community. While during the Hellenistic period Heracles belonged to them, in the period after the polis’ foundation and till the end of the civic community existence only the cult of Parthenos remained predominant.

""According to dithyrambs and dramas, Dionysos leads the dance of the stars. Since the Wanderers are the only stars that dance, Dionysos must be connected to the Planets.

Dionysos is also linked to the Mysteries of Eleusis, as seen on Greek and Roman coins and as told by Sophocles, with the Mysteries being celebrated in the Spring and in the Fall.

Those are the times of the year when a celestial phenomenon makes its rare appearance just before dawn or shortly after dark, with Pindar invoking Dionysos' "holy light at summer's end."""

Pausania descrive nel VII libro della Periegesi della Grecia il complesso mitico-rituale di Artemide Triclaria e Dioniso Aisymnetes a Patrai (attuale Patrasso), catapultandoci all’interno di una delle feste greche meno note e più scarsamente documentate – le uniche testimonianze riguardo la festa sono il citato libro sull’Acaia di Pausania e alcune monete – e con una bibliografia sporadica nel tempo e poco cospicua. Eppure ci troviamo dinanzi all’analisi di un fenomeno che può aiutarci nel compito di comprendere le dinamiche della religione dei Greci.