Sparagmos
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Sparagmos refers to an ancient Dionysian ritual in which a living animal--or sometimes even a human being--would be sacrificed by being dismembered, by the tearing apart of limbs from ones body. Sparagmos was frequently followed by omophagia (the eating of the raw flesh of the one dismembered).
According to some myths, Orpheus notably met this fate at the hands of the Thracian women.
Catherine Maxwell identifies sparagmos as a form of castration, particularly in the case of Orpheus.[1]
Another example of sparagmos is Dionysus and his cousin Pentheus. Pentheus was lured into the forest by the god after he banned worship of Dionysus. He is attacked by Maenads, followers of Dionysus, as well as by his own mother. The reference of his mother tearing apart his limbs is sparagmos.
[edit] References
- ^ Catherine Maxwell, The Female Sublime from Milton to Swinburne: Bearing Blindness, Manchester University Press, 2001, p. 17
