Translated by Catherine Proppe October 3, 2016.
45. Διονύσου Βασσαρέως Τριετηρικού.
To Dionysos Bassareos Triennial
Ἐλθέ, μάκαρ Διόνυσε, πυρίσπορε, ταυρομέτωπε,
Come, blessed Dionysos, fire-seeded, bull-browed,
Βάσσαρε καὶ Βακχεῦ, πολυώνυμε, παντοδυνάστα,
Bassaros and Bacchos, many-named, all dynastic,
ὃς ξίφεσιν χαίρεις ἠδ' αἵματι Μαινάσι θ' ἁγναῖς,
Delighting in swordplay and blood mania pure,
εὐάζων κατ' Ὄλυμπον, ἐρίβρομε, μανικὲ Βάκχε,
Gloriously unconfined Olympian, raucous, manic Bacchos,
θυρσεγχής, βαρύμηνι, τετιμένε πᾶσι θεοῖσι
Thyrus-wielding, raging, revered by all Goddesses, Gods,
καὶ θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσιν, ὅσοι χθόνα ναιετάουσιν·
And mortal humans, by every one of earth’s inhabitants.
ἐλθέ, μάκαρ, σκιρτητά, φέρων πολὺ γῆθος ἅπασι.
Come, blessed, leaping dancer, bring a multitude of Ge’s divine gifts for all.
NOTES
Bassare/Bassaros (Βάσσαρε) is another name for Dionysos. Bassara (βασσάρα) means fox and refers to the fox-skin dresses worn by Thracian bacchanals. A bacchanal is any one full of wine and reveling in dancing and music. Bacchos (Βακχεῦ) is another name for Dionysos. Bak- (Βακ-) is a prefix meaning “rod” or “staff.” Devotees of Dionysos carried a staff, a thyrsus (θύρσος), tipped with a pinecone and draped in the ivy of the grapevine. It is likely that these staffs served as torches (δαΐς) since torches were generally made of pine (πεύκη) topped with pine tar (πίσσᾰ, πίττᾰ).
Triennial may mean three times a year, every three years, or every other year.
Some authorities cite four annual Dionysian festivals, one of which they designated as “rustic” which may mean it was not officially recognized. The three officially recognized festivals were the Lenaea (January-February), a festival of the wine-press, the Anthesteria (February-March), a festival to first open the new casks of wine and to honor deceased loved ones, and the Great Dionysia (March-April), a festival to celebrate first blooms.[1]
Dionysos’ father is Zeus, the immortal God of lightning storms and the spark of fire/spark of life, thus Dionysos is “fire-seeded.”
The stars which outline the face of the constellation Taurus, the bull, are called the Hyades, bringers of rain. These are said to be the nurses of Dionysos.[2]
Some Roman poems about Bacchus:
“…The Female Train the soft Vine-Jav’lins wield…
--All the Matrons fir’d,
With the same Furies in their Breasts, to seek
New Dwellings, leave their Houses: To the Winds
They give their Necks, and Hair: Some fill the Sky
With trembling Yells: and, clad in Skins of Beasts,
Brandish their Spears with viny Wreaths entwin’d.” – Pietro Trapassi
“-------------------------------- Distracted, wild,
She rages: and, incens’d, o’er all the Town
Roves, like a Bacchanal: when at the Name
Of Bacchus, his triennial Orgies swell
Her Breast with Madness: and Cytheron’s Top
Invites her echoing with nocturnal Sounds.” -- Pietro Trapassi
From Medulla Poetarum Romanorum, or, The Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets, by Henry Baker, Vol. I., London, England, 1737, ps. 89-91.
http://books.google.com/books?id=wzA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=bacchus+triennial+festival&source=bl&ots=ihD7WCaR6F&sig=LwF0T7PZpxfMlttgaeaa2tNfiH0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yDQVU7XgJ-He0QH47oEQ&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bacchus%20triennial%20festival&f=false
[1] http://www.cndp.fr/archive-musagora/dionysos/dionysosen/fetes.htm
[2] Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 21
45. Διονύσου Βασσαρέως Τριετηρικού.
To Dionysos Bassareos Triennial
Ἐλθέ, μάκαρ Διόνυσε, πυρίσπορε, ταυρομέτωπε,
Come, blessed Dionysos, fire-seeded, bull-browed,
Βάσσαρε καὶ Βακχεῦ, πολυώνυμε, παντοδυνάστα,
Bassaros and Bacchos, many-named, all dynastic,
ὃς ξίφεσιν χαίρεις ἠδ' αἵματι Μαινάσι θ' ἁγναῖς,
Delighting in swordplay and blood mania pure,
εὐάζων κατ' Ὄλυμπον, ἐρίβρομε, μανικὲ Βάκχε,
Gloriously unconfined Olympian, raucous, manic Bacchos,
θυρσεγχής, βαρύμηνι, τετιμένε πᾶσι θεοῖσι
Thyrus-wielding, raging, revered by all Goddesses, Gods,
καὶ θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσιν, ὅσοι χθόνα ναιετάουσιν·
And mortal humans, by every one of earth’s inhabitants.
ἐλθέ, μάκαρ, σκιρτητά, φέρων πολὺ γῆθος ἅπασι.
Come, blessed, leaping dancer, bring a multitude of Ge’s divine gifts for all.
NOTES
Bassare/Bassaros (Βάσσαρε) is another name for Dionysos. Bassara (βασσάρα) means fox and refers to the fox-skin dresses worn by Thracian bacchanals. A bacchanal is any one full of wine and reveling in dancing and music. Bacchos (Βακχεῦ) is another name for Dionysos. Bak- (Βακ-) is a prefix meaning “rod” or “staff.” Devotees of Dionysos carried a staff, a thyrsus (θύρσος), tipped with a pinecone and draped in the ivy of the grapevine. It is likely that these staffs served as torches (δαΐς) since torches were generally made of pine (πεύκη) topped with pine tar (πίσσᾰ, πίττᾰ).
Triennial may mean three times a year, every three years, or every other year.
Some authorities cite four annual Dionysian festivals, one of which they designated as “rustic” which may mean it was not officially recognized. The three officially recognized festivals were the Lenaea (January-February), a festival of the wine-press, the Anthesteria (February-March), a festival to first open the new casks of wine and to honor deceased loved ones, and the Great Dionysia (March-April), a festival to celebrate first blooms.[1]
Dionysos’ father is Zeus, the immortal God of lightning storms and the spark of fire/spark of life, thus Dionysos is “fire-seeded.”
The stars which outline the face of the constellation Taurus, the bull, are called the Hyades, bringers of rain. These are said to be the nurses of Dionysos.[2]
Some Roman poems about Bacchus:
“…The Female Train the soft Vine-Jav’lins wield…
--All the Matrons fir’d,
With the same Furies in their Breasts, to seek
New Dwellings, leave their Houses: To the Winds
They give their Necks, and Hair: Some fill the Sky
With trembling Yells: and, clad in Skins of Beasts,
Brandish their Spears with viny Wreaths entwin’d.” – Pietro Trapassi
“-------------------------------- Distracted, wild,
She rages: and, incens’d, o’er all the Town
Roves, like a Bacchanal: when at the Name
Of Bacchus, his triennial Orgies swell
Her Breast with Madness: and Cytheron’s Top
Invites her echoing with nocturnal Sounds.” -- Pietro Trapassi
From Medulla Poetarum Romanorum, or, The Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets, by Henry Baker, Vol. I., London, England, 1737, ps. 89-91.
http://books.google.com/books?id=wzA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=bacchus+triennial+festival&source=bl&ots=ihD7WCaR6F&sig=LwF0T7PZpxfMlttgaeaa2tNfiH0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yDQVU7XgJ-He0QH47oEQ&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bacchus%20triennial%20festival&f=false
[1] http://www.cndp.fr/archive-musagora/dionysos/dionysosen/fetes.htm
[2] Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 21
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