#city dionysia

[dionysia-ta-astika]

The City Dionysia begins now!

About the Festival

The City Dionysia is a yearly festival in honour of Dionysos, Lord of Wine and Theatre. In ancient Athens, it was celebrated with a theatrical competition featuring tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays.

This blog serves to bring this competition into a modern scope by allowing Hellenic polytheists to submit their own creative pieces in honour of Dionysos.

Currently there are no prizes for winning, the competition only aims to be a fun way to bring the City Dionysia to life as a communal event for modern worshippers.

Categories

The categories for this edition are the same as last year, that is:

Retelling of Classic myths

Original myths

Poetry

Art (digital or traditional)

2024 Timeline

Submission openings: February 10th

Submission closing: March 10th

Vote opening: March 11th

Vote closing: March 18th

Winner announcement: March 19th

Rules for submissions

Roleplay and fanfic are not allowed in submissions. This is a religious festival, please respect our faith and do not submit an entry if you are roleplaying or writing fanfiction.

Submissions do not need to revolve specifically around Dionysos, but they must be created in honour of the Hellenic pantheon.

All stories, myths, poems, and art pieces must be entered using the submissions button.

All entries must be tagged for the category they are being submitted to.

Entries must also be tagged for potentially triggering content, squicks, and anything NSFW.

An entry may only be submitted to a single category.

Each person may only submit one entry per category each year.

Participants are the owners of their work and have full rights over their submission. Should a third party be interested in publishing/distributing/using a submission for whatever purpose, permission is to be asked to the original creator of the piece. The admins of this blog have no say in this matter.

Winners for each category will be decided by popular vote.

Happy creating and Io Dionysos!

#hellenic deities #hellenic reconstructionism #hellenic community #hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic gods #hellenic devotion #hellenic revivalism #city dionysia competition #city dionysia #dionysusdeity

[withlovefromolympus]

Dionysus: why is my underwear in the freezer?

Ariadne: you said “this is gonna confuse me so much tomorrow.” Apparently drunk you likes to pull pranks on sober you

Dionysus: that explains so much

#queued post #I think I might've done this one already #apologies #greek mythology #greek gods #incorrect greek gods #incorrect greek mythology #incorrect quotes #city dionysia #Ariadne #dionysus x ariadne

[gilddedgay]

happy city dionysia to all who celebrate!

i wish you all a happy week of singing, feasting, dancing, and honoring lord dionysus.

stay safe and enjoy this week of worship and celebration. 🍇🩷

#—gilded dionysus. #city dionysia #dionysia #dionysus #bacchus #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenism #hellenic deities #hellenic polythiest #hellenic gods #hellenic worship #hellenic devotion #hellenic pantheon #pagan blog #greek pantheon #greek gods #greek mythology #greek myth #pagans of tumblr

[elikoeides]

Happy Dionysia Ta Astika my friends!!

#dionysia ta astika #city dionysia #hellenic polytheism #hellenism #hellenismos #pagan #helpol #hellenic pagan #dionysus #dionysus worship #pagan holiday

[aceofcupsbiggestfan]

Dionysia ta Megala

~ 10-17 Elaphebolion ~

Dionysia ta Megala translated to Greater Dionysia (or Dionysia ta astika/City Dionysia), was the second most important Dionysian Festival of the year.

City Dionysia celebrated the end of winter, as well as the crop harvest of the year. Nearing around the Spring Equinox, you can also celebrate as a welcoming of spring.

The festival has it origins in Eleutherea, a town north of Attica. A myth came about that when the Athenians rejected the Dionysian cult, he cast upon the men a disease on their genitals.

This lead to the Athenians hosting Dionysia ta Megala, as honoring Dionysus after their misfalling. Because of this particpants carried a large phallus across the polis durng Dionysia.

Several things were done every City Dionysia. Starting with the pompe, citizens continued with komos after.

Modern Hellenes can celebrate City Dionysia by following the pompe and the komos.

Plan your own route to walk, talking time to celebrate Dionysus by carrying a statue or a reminder of him.

Find a City Dionysia festival or group to join! Sing loudly and go out with friends to raucous parties. Have a feast, holding a space for Dionysus. Watch theatre, whether modern or ancient and sing hymns!

Traditional Offerings:

-phallus shaped objects

-oboloi

-wine

-water

-statues of Dionysus

Traditional Acts:

-party

-sing hymns

-hold a feast

-watch plays

-drink wine

-parade through the streets

-role-reversing

Khaire Dionysus! 🐆🍷🍇

#hellenic polytheism #hellenic witch #hellenism #hellenic deities #hellenic polytheistic #hellenic worship #hellenistic #theoi #helpol #dionysus #city dionysia #dionysia

[neoclassicalblobphilosopher]

I just want to stress how cool the City Dionysia would of been for people. The great Panathenaea was cool but most of the shows were exclusive to men. And the competitions were useally very bloody aswell. In the City Dionysia men and women of all walks of life would be able to attend, in fact they had a fund to pay for poor people to see the shows. The celebration was annual and lasted five days. The first two were based mainly around lots of drinking and orgies, the next three would be entire days spent watching drama. Imagine that. Nine tragedies, five comedies and two satyr plays in total. Each one considerably long. It would of been pretty cool.

#greek mythology #City Dionysia #dionysus #dionysos #greek tragedy #satyr plays #greek comedy #ancient greece #greek drama #euripedes #sophocles #hellensism #greek festival

[seafoamv3ins]

Happy city dionysia :] I’m celebrating tonight with non-alcoholic wine and yummy food !! Praise be to Dionysus!!!

#hellenic polytheism #helpol #hellenism #city dionysia #dionysus

[classicschronicles]

Hi lovelies,

Okay so my A-levels are approaching and once again, what is the point of having this blog if I can’t exploit it for revision, and so today I am going to explain Euripides Bacchae to you all. Also this is my favourite favourite Greek tragedy and so you all have to love it too. Okay yay <3

So, in true Euripidean fashion, the play begins with a prologue that sets the scene. The one giving this speech is Dionysus who explains the complicated circumstances of his birth. His human mother, Semele, was pregnant with Zeus’ child and long story short Hera got angry and Semele dies with Dionysus still in her womb. Zeus takes the baby from the womb and sews him into his thigh, birthing it from his thigh when the time came. However, the family of Semele (especially her two sisters) did not believe the circumstances of her pregnancy. They were convinced that Semele died because she had lied about her relationship with Zeus and so they denied the fact that the child was the son of a god.

The now adult Dionysus says that he has travelled all around Asia gathering a cult of female worshipers (Maenads) to establish his right as a god. He says he has now returned to the place of his birth, Thebes, to take revenge on the ruling house of Cadmus (his mothers father) to punish them for his refusal to worship him, and to vindicate his mother. As the play begins, Dionysus has driven the women of Thebes (including his aunts Agave and Ino) to the mountains of Cithaeron and turned them into his worshippers. The only men in the city who have accepted Dionysus include the king Cadmus, and the prophet Tiresias (although there is a lot of debate over whether these two really accept Dionysus or if they are just taking the piss).

Enter the young king of Thebes, Pentheus (son of Agave and cousin of Dionysus). Guys also wait, when I first read the Bacchae (for reasons you will soon find out) I literally would shit on Pentheus, but I found out that he’s actually like 17 which changes the whole morality of the play and now I kinda feel bad for him rip. Anyways, enter Pentheus, who proceeds to ban Dionysian worship in its entirety and orders his soldiers to arrest anyone engaging in the bacchic rites. He sees the Maenads ‘divinely-inspired’ insanity as drunken cavorting as an attempt escape the moral codes of Theban society.

And then enter Dionysus, who has deliberately allowed himself to be arrested in his disguise as a the long-haired Lydian leader of the Dionysian priests (referred to as the Stranger). He is then questioned by Pentheus. However, it is clear that Pentheus (despite his apparent disgust of the Maenads) is actually very fascinated by the maenads. The reason for that is basically he thinks that the Maenads are having 0rg13s in the woods and he lowkey wants to see it. However, the Strangers refusal to reveal the full extent of the Bacchic rites angers Pentheus and so he locks him up. However, as a god, Dionysus is able to break free quickly and then basically sets fire to Pentheus’ palace. Excessive but okay king.

Guys also I know that Pentheus has banned Dionysian worship and that is seriously blasphemous of him, but you have to understand that this strange man has turned up and taken all the women of the city to the mountains and is claiming to be a god, you would be confused as well. So when he bans Bacchic worship, I don’t think he’s doing it out of malice I think (as a 17 year old) he is doing his best to protect his people.

Okay now to set the scene again, this poor confused 17 year old has just had his palace burnt to the ground and now some strange messenger arrives and tells him what the Maenads are really doing. He says that the Maenads are behaving in a superhuman manor and are performing incredible feats and miracles. The messenger tells of how the women hit the ground with their thrysus and milk and honey spring from the ground. However, when they see the male guards they are whipped into a wild frenzy, chasing after them. He says that the weapons of the guards are unable to harm them, whilst the women are able to defeat them armed only with sticks. He also says some stuff about they are suckling the wild animal cubs in the forest and also they rip up a cow and honestly, there is a lot going on. A lot.

Anyways, this makes Pentheus even more determined to see the maenads. There is some debate over whether or not Pentheus is simply curious about the maenads, or if there is some psycho-sexual thing going on here, but feel free to interpret that however you want. Anyways, Dionysus then says that if Pentheus is so eager to see the maenads, he should dress up as one and infiltrate the rites, saying this in an attempt to humiliate Pentheus.

Pentheus then dresses up as a woman and there is this whole scene where he stands there admiring Dionysus gorgeous curls and his eyelashes, and it’s all a bit homoerotic if you read the deeper meaning. When Pentheus is all dressed up, rather than being humiliated, he is quite taken by his image and asks if he looks pretty and if his wig is fixed right. Basically, this poor boy is having a moment of gender euphoria before it all goes to shit.

As you may or may not know, all violence in greek theatre happens off stage and is retold through messenger speeches. This is because theatre was incredibly sacred to the Greeks and therefore its ritual purity was not to be ruined by violence. Which leads on to the next part. A messenger enters and tells the following. He says that the god took his vengeance a step further than humiliation, helping Pentheus to the top of a tree to spy on the maenads secretly. However, Dionysus alerts the women of the arrival of a man and they proceed to shake the tree from its roots until Pentheus falls. (Trigger warning because it gets quite violent). They then proceed to rip him apart by his limbs and play catch with his head.

Agave (his mother) still possessed with Bacchic frenzy, arrives back at the palace carrying her sons head and displays it at the feet of Cadmus. The catch is, she thinks this is the head of a mountain lion that she has defeated, and has no idea what she has really done. But as the Dionysian ecstasy begins to wear off she releases what she was done and become inconsolable. Cadmus comments that the god has punished the family excessively.

Dionysus then appears in his true form and exiles Ino and Agave. Deciding that this is still not enough, he also turns Cadmus and his wife into snakes. By the end of the play, Dionysus has all but destroyed the house of Cadmus.

Okay so when I didn’t know that Pentheus was literally a child I was like, mmm slay Dionysus mwah. But now it’s maybe not his biggest slay. Also, I cant help but feel for Pentheus as a young king who is convinced he is doing the best for his people, and is being punished unjustly for the impiety of his mother and aunt. Also, i have done this play absolutely no justice so I really recommend that you all read the Bacchae, it’s a very short and very easy read!

Anyways, that was grim but it is my absolute favourite tragedy, and I hope you all enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Hopefully I’ll see you all next week!

~Z

#classical studies #classics #greek mythology #ancient rome #ancient greece #dark acamedia #roman mythology #hellenic deities #ancient world #dionysus deity #hellenistic #greek gods #city dionysia #dionysus #my babygirl #also yeah #gender envy #bacchic #bacchus

[30fury]

happy city dionysia i am celebrating by sunbathing and generally being Outside! eating reading sneezing what have you

#jonah celebrates #city dionysia #dionysus deity #hope the day is good for you and yours

[juliag13]

Hello friends! I resubmitted an edited more polished version of the Hermes and Jay myth and lost all my previous votes. 😣 I didn’t realize that would happen. If you can please go and vote again for it if you like it! Thank you in advance! Here’s the link! https://www.tumblr.com/dionysia-ta-astika/713554887578943488/hermes-and-the-jay-by-j-johanan-one-day-hermes

#hermes #hermes greek god #hermes greek #city dionysia #original story #original mythology #animalfable #cute story #hermesismycopilot #hermes greek mythology #hermes deity

[kerenobara]

EGO BY KEREN SARAH OBARA

EGO This anthology is about gaining trust in one’s ego and having faith in oneself. By exploring all aspects of both the inner and outer world. The ego is a powerful tool, because it is the instrument for psychological investigation and exploration. Therefore, learning, acknowledging and building a healthy ego are all very important in the growth of an individual. EGO What inspired this…

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#ART #CITY DIONYSIA #DIONYSUS #EGO #GROWTH #POEMS #POETRY #REBIRTH

[dionysia-ta-astika]

The winners of this year's City Dionysia are now revealed! Thank you everyone for your hard work and dedication!

✒ For the Poetry category:

Savage & Free by @khaire-traveler

✒ For the Art category:

Untitled by @vdoes

✒ For the Retellings category:

Sparagmos (or Euripides, Eat Your Heart Out) by @delirpa

✒ and, finally, for the Original Myth category:

"Apothnesko and the Psychopomp" by @hillbillyoracle

Congratulations to our winners!

Continue writing and sharing your work with the world and the gods. Thank you again for your participation, and we look forward to seeing next time!

#hellenic deities #hellenic reconstructionism #hellenic community #hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheism #hellenic gods #hellenic devotion #hellenic revivalism #city dionysia competition #city dionysia #dionysusdeity

[lesbianshepard]

constantly thinking of this 5th century bc actor who fucked up so badly that the only reason we know his name is bc he fucked up his lines in a play. imagine flubbing your line so embarrassingly that the playwright is like "i cant even be in the same city as this guy"

#m #HE MADE EURIPEDES LEAVE ATHENS???? 😭 #'typo in group chat' reaction image but it says mispronunciation in city dionysia

[messywitch]

moodboard for Dionysus.

ok to rb!

#helpol #hellenic polytheism #dionysus deity #dionysus worship #i'm celebrating city Dionysia with my friends and family today! #so joyous Dionysia to everyone from me!

[thegrapeandthefig]

I was rumaging through my old external drive when I came across a note dating back from 2017, titled "city dionysia contest" which contained a poem. 2017 was when the first City Dionysia was organized here on Tumblr, at the time held by pomegranateandivy. The blog on which that poem was initially posted is now long gone, and I do not remember ever sharing it on here, so here it is, for archive's sake.

-

Frenzied are they! Those who dare run through the wilderness Those who throw their fears away Those who taste the pleasures of excess

Wild and free from bounds, Untied hair flowing into the wind, Hearts united in a thousand pounds In the chests of the undisciplined

Sirens of the vine, Breaking silence with your cries, Calling out to the divine Under Selene's rise

And so He comes, Forever joining His admirers, In a dance to the mad rhythm of drums Dionysus, eternal keeper of revellers!

#my poetry #dionysusdeity #I don't remember if there has been an edition of the city dionysia every single year since #but if it's the case #it means it's already been 7 consecutive years

[finelythreadedsky]

oh i wish we had more of euripides' peliades

#apparently his first ever play at the city dionysia in 455 #and im so curious about the peliades as an inversion of the danaids! #and aeschylus did his danaid trilogy (w/ the suppliant women) probably only a few years earlier #the extant fragments are pretty boring as tragic fragments preserved by quotation tend to be (nearly all multiword fragments are stobaeus) #mine