DIONYSIUS PERIEGETES

dionysius periegetes, author of a [greek: periegesis tes oikoumenes], a description of the habitable world in greek hexameter verse, written in a terse and elegant style. nothing certain is known of the date or nationality of the writer, but there is some reason for believing that he was an alexandrian, who wrote in the time of hadrian (some put him as late as the end of the 3rd century). the work enjoyed a high degree of popularity in ancient times as a school-book; it was translated into latin by rufus festus avienus, and by the grammarian priscian. the commentary of eustathius is valuable. the best editions are by g. bernhardy (1828) and c. muller (1861) in their _geographici graeci minores_; see also e. h. bunbury, _ancient geography_ (ii. p. 480), who regards the author as flourishing from the reign of nero to that of trajan, and u. bernays, _studien zu dion. perieg._ (1905). there are two old english translations: t. twine (1572, black letter), j. free (1789, blank verse). dionysius telmaharensis ("of tell-ma[h.]r[=e]"), patriarch or supreme head of the syrian jacobite church during the years 818-848, was born at tell-ma[h.]r[=e] near ra[k.][k.]a (ar-ra[k.][k.]ah) on the bal[=i]kh. he was the author of an important historical work, which has seemingly perished except for some passages quoted by barhebraeus and an extract found by assemani in cod. _vat._ 144 and published by him in the _bibliotheca orientalis_ (ii. 72-77). he spent his earlier years as a monk at the convent of [k.]en-neshr[=e] on the upper euphrates; and when this monastery was destroyed by fire in 815, he migrated northwards to that of kais[=u]m in the district of samos[=a]ta. at the death of the jacobite patriarch cyriacus in 817, the church was agitated by a dispute about the use of the phrase "heavenly bread" in connexion with the eucharist. an anti-patriarch had been appointed in the person of abraham of [k.]artam[=i]n, who insisted on the use of the phrase in opposition to the recognized authorities of the church. the council of bishops who met at ra[k.][k.]a in the summer of 818 to choose a successor to cyriacus had great difficulty in finding a worthy occupant of the patriarchal chair, but finally agreed on the election of dionysius, hitherto known only as an honest monk who devoted himself to historical studies. sorely against his will he was brought to ra[k.][k.]a, ordained deacon and priest on two successive days, and raised to the supreme ecclesiastical dignity on the 1st of august. from this time he showed the utmost zeal in fulfilling the duties of his office, and undertook many journeys both within and without his province. the ecclesiastical schism continued unhealed during the thirty years of his patriarchate. the details of this contest, of his relations with the caliph ma'm[=u]n, and of his many travels--including a journey to egypt, on which he viewed with admiration the great egyptian monuments,--are to be found in the _ecclesiastical chronicle_ of barhebraeus.[1] he died in 848, his last days having been especially embittered by mahommedan oppression. we learn from michael the syrian that his _annals_ consisted of two parts each divided into eight chapters, and covered a period of 260 years, viz. from the accession of the emperor maurice (582-583) to the death of theophilus (842-843). in addition to the lost _annals_, dionysius was from the time of assemani until 1896 credited with the authorship of another important historical work--a _chronicle_, which in four parts narrates the history of the world from the creation to the year a.d. 774-775 and is preserved entire in _cod. vat._ 162. the first part (edited by tullberg, upsala, 1850) reaches to the epoch of constantine the great, and is in the main an epitome of the eusebian chronicle.[2] the second part reaches to theodosius ii. and follows closely the _ecclesiastical history_ of socrates; while the third, extending to justin ii., reproduces the second part of the _history_ of john of asia or ephesus, and also contains the well-known chronicle attributed to joshua the stylite. the fourth part[3] is not like the others a compilation, but the original work of the author, and reaches to the year 774-775--apparently the date when he was writing. on the publication of this fourth part by m. chabot, it was discovered and clearly proved by noldeke (_vienna oriental journal_, x. 160-170), and nau (_bulletin critique_, xvii. 321-327), who independently reached the same conclusion, that assemani's opinion was a mistake, and that the chronicle in question was the work not of dionysius of tell-ma[h.]r[=e] but of an earlier writer, a monk of the convent of zu[k.]n[=i]n near [=a]mid (diarbekr) on the upper tigris. though the author was a man of limited intelligence and destitute of historical skill, yet the last part of his work at least has considerable value as a contemporary account of events during the middle period of the 8th century. (n. m.) footnotes: [1] ed. abbeloos and lamy, i. 343-386; cf. wright, _syriac literature_, 196-200, and chabot's introduction to his translation of the fourth part of the _chronicle_ of (pseudo) dionysius. [2] see the studies by siegfried and gelzer, _eusebii canonum epitome ex dionysii telmaharensis chronico petita_ (leipzig, 1884), and von gutschmid, _untersuchungen uber die syrische epitome der eusebischen canones_ (stuttgart, 1886). [3] text and translation by j.-b. chabot (paris, 1895). dionysius thrax (so called because his father was a thracian), the author of the first greek grammar, flourished about 100 b.c. he was a native of alexandria, where he attended the lectures of aristarchus, and afterwards taught rhetoric in rhodes and rome. his [greek: techne grammatike], which we possess (though probably not in its original form), begins with the definition of grammar and its functions. dealing next with accent, punctuation marks, sounds and syllables, it goes on to the different parts of speech (eight in number) and their inflections. no rules of syntax are given, and nothing is said about style. the authorship of dionysius was doubted by many of the early middle-age commentators and grammarians, and in modern times its origin has been attributed to the oecumenical college founded by constantine the great, which continued in existence till 730. but there seems no reason for doubt; the great grammarians of imperial times (apollonius dyscolus and herodian) were acquainted with the work in its present form, although, as was natural considering its popularity, additions and alterations may have been made later. the [greek: techne] was first edited by j. a. fabricius from a hamburg ms. and published in his _bibliotheca graeca_, vi. (ed. harles). an armenian translation, belonging to the 4th or 5th century, containing five additional chapters, was published with the greek text and a french version, by m. cirbied (1830). dionysius also contributed much to the criticism and elucidation of homer, and was the author of various other works--amongst them an account of rhodes, and a collection of [greek: meletai] (literary studies), to which the considerable fragment in the _stromata_ (v. 8) of clement of alexandria probably belongs. editions, with scholia, by i. bekker in _anecdota graeca_, ii. and g. uhlig (1884), reviewed exhaustively by p. egenolff in bursian's _jahresbericht_, vol. xlvi. (1888); scholia, ed. a. hilgard (1901); see also w. horschelmann, _de dionysii thracis interpretibus veteribus_ (1874); j. e. sandys, _hist. of classical scholarship_, i. (1906). dionysus (probably = "son of zeus," from [greek: dios] and [greek: nysos], a thracian word for "son"), in greek mythology, originally a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially of the vine; hence, distinctively, the god of wine. the names bacchus ([greek: bakchos], in use among the greeks from the 5th century), sabazius, and bassareus, are also thracian names of the god. the two first (like iacchus, bromius and euios) have been connected with the loud "shout" ([greek: sabazein = bazein = euazein]) of his worshippers, bassareus with [greek: bassarai], the fox-skin garments of the thracian bacchanals. it has been suggested (j. e. harrison _prolegomena to greek religion_) that sabazius and bromius = "beer-god," "god of a cereal intoxicant" (cf. illyrian _sabaia_ and modern greek [greek: bromi], "oats"), while w. ridgeway (_classical review_, january 1896), comparing apollo smintheus, interprets bassareus as "he who keeps away the foxes from the vineyards" (for various interpretations of these and other cult-titles, see o. gruppe, _griechische mythologie_, ii. pp. 1408, 1532, especially the notes). in homer, notwithstanding the frequent mention of the use of wine, dionysus is never mentioned as its inventor or introducer, nor does he appear in olympus; hesiod is the first who calls wine the gift of dionysus. on the other hand, he is spoken of in the _iliad_ (vi. 130 foll., a passage belonging to the latest period of epic), as "raging," an epithet that indicates that in those comparatively early times the orgiastic character of his worship was recognized. in fact, dionysus may be regarded under two distinct aspects: that of a popular national greek god of wine and cheerfulness, and that of a foreign deity, worshipped with ecstatic and mysterious rites introduced from thrace. according to the usual tradition, he was born at thebes--originally the local centre of his worship in greece--and was the son of zeus, the fertilizing rain god, and semele, the daughter of cadmus, a personification of earth. before the child was mature, zeus appeared to semele at her request in his majesty as god of lightning, by which she was killed, but the infant was saved from the flames by zeus (or hermes). the epithet [greek: perikionios], originally referring to an ivy-crowned, pillar-shaped fetish of the god, afterwards gave rise to the legend of a miraculous growth of ivy "round the pillars" of the royal palace, whereby the infant dionysus was preserved from the flames. zeus took him up, enclosed him within his own thigh till he came to maturity, and then brought him to the light, so that he was twice born; it was to celebrate this double birth that the _dithyrambus_ (also used as an epithet of the god) was sung (see _etym. mag._ s.v.). it has been suggested that this is an allusion to the _couvade_ of certain barbarous tribes, amongst whom it is customary, when a child is born, for the husband to take to his bed and receive medical treatment, as if he shared the pains of maternity (see couvade, and references there). dionysus was then conveyed by hermes to be brought up by the nymphs of nysa, a purely imaginary spot, afterwards localized in different parts of the world, which claimed the honour of having been the birthplace of the god. as soon as dionysus was grown up, he started on a journey through the world, to teach the cultivation of the vine and spread his worship among men. while so engaged he met with opposition, even in his own country, as in the case of pentheus, king of thebes, who opposed the orgiastic rites introduced by dionysus among the women of thebes, and, having been discovered watching one of these ceremonies, was mistaken for some animal of the chase, and slain by his own mother (see a. g. bather, _journ. hell. studies_, xiv. 1894). a similar instance is that of lycurgus, a thracian king, from whose attack dionysus saved himself by leaping into the sea, where he was kindly received by thetis. lycurgus was blinded by zeus and soon died, or became frantic and hewed down his own son, mistaking him for a vine. at orchomenus, the three daughters of minyas refused to join the other women in their nocturnal orgies, and for this were transformed into birds (see agrionia). these and similar stories point to the vigorous resistance offered to the introduction of the mystic rites of dionysus, in places where an established religion already existed. on the other hand, when the god was received hospitably he repaid the kindness by the gift of the vine, as in the case of icarius of attica (see erigone). the worship of dionysus was actively conducted in asia minor, particularly in phrygia and lydia. here, as sabazius, he was associated with the phrygian goddess cybele, and was followed in his expeditions by a _thiasos_ (retinue) of centaurs, and satyrs, with pan and silenus. in lydia his triumphant return from india was celebrated by an annual festival on mount tmolus; in lydia he assumed the long beard and long robe which were afterwards given him in his character of the "indian bacchus," the conqueror of the east, who, after the campaigns of alexander, was reported to have advanced as far as the ganges. the other incidents in which he appears in a purely triumphal character are his transforming into dolphins the tyrrhene pirates who attacked him, as told in the homeric hymn to dionysus and represented on the monument of lysicrates at athens, and his part in the war of the gods against the giants. the former story has been connected with the sailors' custom of hanging vine leaves, ivy and bunches of grapes round the masts of vessels in honour of vintage festivals. the adventure with the pirates occurred on his voyage to naxos, where he found ariadne abandoned by theseus. at naxos ariadne (probably a cretan goddess akin to aphrodite) was associated with dionysus as his wife, by whom he was the father of oenopion (wine-drinker), staphylus (grape), and euanthes (blooming), and their marriage was annually celebrated by a festival. having compelled all the world to recognize his divinity, he descended to the underworld to bring up his mother, who was afterwards worshipped with him under the name of thyone ("the raging"), he himself being called after her thyoneus. another phase in the myth of dionysus originated in observing the decay of vegetation in winter, to suit which he was supposed to be slain and to join the deities of the lower world. this phase of his character was developed by the orphic poets, he having here the name of zagreus ("torn in pieces"), and being no longer the theban god, but a son of zeus and persephone. the child was brought up secretly, watched over by curetes; but the jealous hera discovered where he was, and sent titans to the spot, who, finding him at play, tore him to pieces, and cooked and ate his limbs, while hera gave his heart to zeus. the tearing in pieces is referred by some to the torture experienced by the grape (_naturschmerz_) when crushed for making into wine (cf. burns's _john barleycorn_); but it is better to refer it to the tearing of the flesh of the victim at sacrifices at which the deity or the sacred animal was slain, and sacramentally eaten raw (cf. the title [greek: omestes] given to dionysus in certain places, probably pointing to human sacrifice.) to connect this with the myth of the theban birth of dionysus, it is said that zeus gave the child's heart to semele, or himself swallowed it and gave birth to the new dionysus (called iacchus from his worshippers' cry of rejoicing), who was cradled and swung in a winnowing fan ([greek: liknos]; see j. e. harrison, _journ. hellenic studies_, xxiii.), the swinging being supposed to act as a charm in awakening vegetation from its winter sleep. the conception of zagreus, or the winter dionysus, appears to have originated in crete, but it was accepted also in delphi, where his grave was shown, and sacrifice was secretly offered at it annually on the shortest day. the story is in many respects similar to that of osiris. according to others, zagreus was originally a god of the chase, who became a hunter of men and a god of the underworld, more akin to hades than to dionysus (see also titans). dionysus further possessed the prophetic gift, and his oracle at delphi was as important as that of apollo. like hermes, dionysus was a god of the productiveness of nature, and hence priapus was one of his regular companions, while not only in the mysteries but in the rural festivals his symbol, the phallus, was carried about ostentatiously. his symbols from the animal kingdom were the bull (perhaps a totemistic attribute and identified with him), the panther, the lion, the tiger, the ass, the goat, and sometimes also the dolphin and the snake. his personal attributes are an ivy wreath, the thyrsus (a staff with pine cone at the end), the laurel, the pine, a drinking cup, and sometimes the horn of a bull on his forehead. artistically he was represented mostly either as a youth of soft, nearly feminine form, or as a bearded and draped man, but frequently also as an infant, with reference to his birth or to his bringing up in "nysa." his earliest images were of wood with the branches still attached in parts, whence he was called dionysus dendrites, an allusion to his protection of trees generally (according to pherecydes in c. w. muller, _frag. hist. graec._ iv. p. 637, the word [greek: nysa] signified "tree"). it is suggested that the cult of dionysus absorbed that of an old tree-spirit. he was figured also, like hermes, in the form of a pillar or term surmounted by his head. for the connexion of dionysus with greek tragedy see drama. see farnell, _cults of the greek states_, v. (1910); also o. rapp, _beziehungen des dionysuskultus zu thrakien_ (1882); o. ribbeck, _anfange und entwickelung des dionysuskultes in attica_ (1869); a. lang, _myth, ritual and religion_, ii. p. 241; l. dyer, _the gods in greece_ (1891); j. e. harrison, _prolegomena to the study of greek religion_ (1903); j. g. frazer, _the golden bough_, ii (1900), pp. 160, 291, who regards the bull and goat form of dionysus as expressions of his proper character as a deity of vegetation; f. a. voigt in roscher's _lexikon der mythologie_; l. preller, _griechische mythologie_ (4th ed. by c. robert); f. lenormant (s.v. "bacchus") in daremberg and saglio's _dictionnaire des antiquites_; o. kern in pauly-wissowa's _realencyclopadie_ (with list of cult titles); w. pater, _greek studies_ (1895); e. rohde, _psyche_, ii., who finds the origin of the hellenic belief in the immortality of the soul in the "enthusiastic" rites of the thracian dionysus, which lifted persons out of themselves, and exalted them to a fancied equality with the gods; o. gruppe, _griechische mythologie und religionsgeschichte_, ii. (1907), who considers boeotia, not thrace, to have been the original home of dionysus; p. foucart, "le culte de dionysos en attique" in _memoires de l'institut national de france_, xxxvii. (1906), who finds the prototype of dionysus in egypt. _the great dionysiak myth_ (1877-1878) by r. brown contains a wealth of material, but is weak in scholarship. for a striking survival of dionysiac rites in thrace (bizye), see dawkins, in _j.h.s._ (1906), p. 191.