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Bacchana- 

 lia 



The rites of Bacchus were celebrated at Athens 

 in the following manner : The Bacchanals were foU 

 lowed by certain persons carrying vessels, the first 

 of which was tilled frith water ; after these came a 

 select number of honourable virgins, carrying little 

 baskets of gold, tilled with all sorts of fruit. In 

 these consisted the most mysterious part of the so- 

 lemnity ; and to make the ceremony more horrible, 

 serpents were introduced among the fruit, which 

 were continually crawling out and terrifying the 

 spectators. Next came the Phallophori, carrying 

 the Phallus, which was a representation of the male 

 genitals, and singing obscene songs. There were 

 also persons employed to carry the Fan, which was 

 essential in these ceremonies, called by Virgil Mysti- 

 ca vannus Iacchi. 



These festivals were distinguished by every kind 

 of extravagance, lewdness, and enormity. Julius Fir- 

 micus informs us, that one part of the ceremony con- 

 sisted in tearing, with their teeth, and devouring the 

 flesh of a bull, whilst the animal was yet alive : Vivum 

 laniant dcntibus taurum. This was called omopha- 

 gia. But this was not the worst ; for we learn from 

 Porphyry, that, in the islands of Chios and Tenedos, 

 the votaries of Bacchus sacrificed to him, ^a>*-8 

 3(o-7tts?, by tearing a man limb from limb. From 

 this we may observe, that the story of Pentheus 

 being torn to pieces by the Bacchanals, if not a rea- 

 lity, is at least a fable founded on facts. 



It is impossible to ascertain the origin or meaning 

 of these horrid and unnatural rites. Perhaps, like 

 the worship of Bacchus, they may be traced to In- 

 dia, (See Bacchus ;) but this would throw but lit- 

 tle light upon the subject. Mr Faber has proposed 

 an explanation, which, we fear, will scarcely prove 

 satisfactory to our readers. He supposes, that the 

 Bacchanalia were intended, originally, as a scenical re- 

 presentation of the fall of our first parents. " As the 

 woman first plucked the apples, and afterwards car- 

 ried them to her husband, when this subject came to 

 be mythologically represented, the fruit, which con- 

 stituted the most mysterious part of the Bionysia, 

 was naturally placed in the hands of females, and by 

 them alone borne in the sacred procession. For simi- 

 lar reasons, the serpent, which took his station near 

 the forbidden tree, and there tempted the woman to 

 transgress the prohibition of God, was, in the mystic 

 rites of Dionysus, closely connected with the fruit, 

 and carried along with it in the same golden baskets. 

 And in the term Evoe, which resounded from every 

 mouth during the continuance of the festival, we 

 may trace a manifest allusion to the name of our un- 

 happy parent, through whose frailty sin and death 

 entered into the world, and disturbed the original 

 harmony of universal nature." Whatever our read- 

 ers may think of this explanation, it is by no means 

 new. It is adopted both by Epiphanius (torn. ii. 

 1. 3. ) and by Clemens Alexandrinus ( Cohortatio, 

 p. 11.) They seem to rest their opinion chiefly on 

 the exclamation Evoe, which, Clemens says, means, 

 v*> KifWi oi iv i w//i irce^ijxoAa.^j-j, that Eve by 

 rvhom sin was introduced. 



To us it appears, that the exclamation, Evoe, Sa- 

 lae, Attes Hups, which was utterly unintelligible 

 to the Greeks, is evidently corrupted Hebrew, and 



that it was originally a title of the true God. It Baccharis, 

 may very easily be restored to Jeve Sabaotli Alia Bacchus. 

 Hue, i.e. O Lord of Hosts, thou art God. See Park- ^~~V~~~ ' 

 hurst's Lex. on the words fjin and N3S- For .he 

 Bacchanalian rites, see Potter's Autiq. of Greece, 

 vol. i. Bryant's Mythology, vol. ii. laber's Horce 

 Mosaicw, vol. i. (g) 



BACCHARIS, a genus of plants of the class 

 Syngenesia, and order Polygamia Supeiflua. See 

 Botany, (to) 



BACCHUS, the god of wine, the son of Jupiter 

 and Semele. He is represented as always young, 

 crowned with ivy or vine leaves, and sometimes 

 with horns, hence called Corniger, holding in his 

 hand a thyrsus, or spear bound with ivy : his chariot 

 was drawn by tygers, lions, or lynxes, attended by 

 Silenus, his preceptor, bacchanals, and satyrs. Bac- 

 chus is equally celebrated in Greece, Egypt, and In- 

 dia ; and each of these countries claims the honour of 

 having given him birth. He was a very important 

 personage in ancient mythology, and is represented 

 as the great promoter of civilization over the world. 

 He is said to have settled men in society, and to 

 have taught them agriculture, commerce, and navi- 

 gation ; hence he is reckoned the same as the Egyp- 

 tian Osiris. The muses have also been indirectly in- 

 debted to him ; for it is said, that the first attempts 

 at tragedy were made at the annual festivals in ho- 

 nour of Bacchus, ( Hor. De Arte Poet. 220. ) And 

 many seem to have thought, that his influence was not 

 less necessary than that of Apollo, to give birth t 

 poetic inspiration : 



Ennius ipse paler nunquam nisi patiis ad arrna 

 Pnisiluil dicenda. 



Numberless conjectures have been offered to ex- 

 plain the fabulous history of Bacchus. Some sup- 

 pose him to have been Moses ; Bochart imagines that 

 he was Nimrod, and that his name is properly Bar- 

 Chus, the son of Chits ; Mr Bryant contends that he 

 was Noah ; and Sir William Jones, with still greater 

 probability, as we shall afterwards see, supposes him 

 to have been Ramah, the son of Chus, or Cush ; 

 and suggests, that his name may be derived from 

 Bagis, one of the names of Siva. 



One of the most celebrated of the exploits of 

 Bacchus was his conquest of India : this circumstance 

 would naturally lead us to look to that quarter of 

 the world for some illustration of his history. Ac- 

 cordingly we learn from Arrian, ( Hist. Ltd. p. 318, 

 321.) that the worship of Bacchus, or Dionysus, 

 was common in India, and that his votaries observed 

 a number of rites similar to those of Greece : such as 

 crowning themselves with ivy ; wearing the nebris, 

 or spotted skins, like the Bacchanalians in the west ; 

 and using cymbals and tabours in their religious ce- 

 remonies. On this account, when Alexander enter- 

 ed India, the natives considered the Greeks as be- 

 longing to the same family with themselves ; and, 

 when the people of Nysa sent the principal person of 

 their city, to solicit their freedom of the Grecian 

 conqueror, they conjured him by the well-known 

 name of Dionysus, as the most effectual means of 

 obtaining their purpose. " O king, the Nyssaeans 

 entreat thee to allow them to enjoy their liberties and 



