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Halloween Special: The Oschophoria · Lambda: the LGBT in Antiquity Podcast

• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everybody, and welcome to Lambda, the LGBT and Antiquity podcast, your home for all queer things in the ancient world.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode explores some spooky queer festivals on the Athenian calendar in late October.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus is first and foremost a god of agriculture.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was the first to discover grapes, how to cultivate them, and how to turn them into wine.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus revealed this magical power to humans.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was generally a deity who protects all the fruit trees, particularly apples and pomegranates.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Additionally, Dionysus discovered honey and the myriad of uses for honey, such as curing maladies, mystic protection, and the ability to produce mead out of honey.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: In the Bacche, written by Euripides, the old seer Tiresias tells us that Demeter is the deity of dry crops such as cereal grains and corns, while Dionysus is the deity associated with moist crops such as grapes and fruits.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus also revealed to humanity how to harness wild bulls, the aurochs, and yoke them to ploughs.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus is associated with all manner of wild and barn animals, especially bulls, goats, and donkeys.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: It should come as no surprise then that Dionysus was associated with seasonal changes in the yearly cycles.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, it makes perfect sense that we have a deity who brings about such remarkable changes throughout the year, each of them miraculous in the ancient imagination.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: All the while Dionysus brings about remarkable changes in humanity itself.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Over the winter there were a series of festivals where Dionysus' ability to die and be reborn were brought to the forefront.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was closely associated with ivy because ivy could be cut back to practically nothing, yet even the smallest spore of a single root could regrow the entire plant.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Additionally, throughout the winter, any ivy that wasn't chipped away would shrivel and appear to die, but would actually just be going back to stasis to be reborn again in the spring.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: This symbolically plays out Dionysus' role as a god who can die and be reborn again.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It would be very cold and there might be snow for significant portions of this period, but it was definitely not agriculturally productive.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: These festivals were to remind people that just as Dionysus can be killed for a very short time, so too would their plants die when they harvest them, but then be reborn again in a cycle.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: During this period, Dionysus is in the underworld.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, in some traditions, Dionysus is literally killed and reborn every year during the winter months.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus brought the world back to life in the spring, and there were festivals and feast days associated with the remarkable miracles brought forth.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: These festivals included a lot of flower symbolism, especially the festival of the flower blossoms called the Anthisteria.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: As Ovid reminds us, Lord Bacchus loves flowers.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: During the spring, flowers are often the first and most visceral of all the signs that the world is beginning to grow again.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Anthisteria also saw the opening of the sacred wine jars and the communal sharing of the first fruits of last year's labors.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Agriculturalists could use the signs nature provided for when to plant their crops.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: They would also know when it was time to start breeding animals, thereby producing agriculturally productive young at the appropriate time.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: All of these changes were overseen by Dionysus and Demeter.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was associated with the high summer when crops are growing and the world is turning towards agricultural productivity.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: But the summer is also a period when agricultural duties have shifted a bit.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now is a period when people have to do a lot of waiting for the magic of Dionysus to really take root.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Crops are growing and grapes are getting round and juicy, but the fruit of their labors is still far away in the future.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Finally we get to the fall.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was closely associated with the harvest.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is the period when the fruits of all their labor were coming to fruition.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus has harvest festivals all throughout this period of the year.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most important is called the Oshkophoria, the grape cluster parade.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: This was an episode where young men and women would literally carry freshly harvested grape clusters through the streets of Athens.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: But it was also a period of communal rituals, and in these rituals I think you'll find many attributes that are somewhat familiar and extremely queer.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was born in Greece, but then driven out of their homeland by Hera, the queen of the gods, who played the role of evil stepmother towards Zeus's illegitimate children.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So Dionysus traveled all around the world from the far reaches of India to Africa, from the Black Sea to the Red Sea.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is part of where Dionysus derives their power.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus was a deity to peoples across Asia, Africa, the subcontinent, all before returning to Greece and to Italy.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: At every turn, this queer stranger had to first prove they were a real god, and second prove they were worthy of worship based on the gifts they brought.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: These gifts included grapes and fruit trees, as well as knowledge of healing and herbal lore, and even the magical properties of fires and stone.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: When Dionysus arrives in a new land, it is nearly always from the east.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember from our Spirit Day special, Dionysus reached the coasts of Italy and Rome itself from the east.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus reached Thebes from the east, and Dionysus reaches Argos from the east.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: These myths often relay the details of Dionysus arriving and demonstrating their power to the people.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: There is usually violence and tragedy followed by the people accepting Dionysus as a real god.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: The myth usually forms the basis for the ritual activities carried out during the festival days which commemorate them.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: The Oshkophoria was a complex parade where people carried grape clusters through Athens in a great procession.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The procession marched from the Temple of Dionysus, located right behind the great theater, to the seaport of Phaleron, on the eastern coast near Athens.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: This was meant to be the place where Dionysus first reached Argos.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Commemorating this momentous occasion, citizens piously constructed a great wooden ship on a cart carrying a statue of Dionysus, or an Athenian dressed as Dionysus, or possibly both.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: The ship was decorated in fruits and flowers, bloodless offerings for Dionysus.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Young men and women of Athens paraded through the streets in costumes while pulling the cart from the temple to the harbor.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: The procession passed by a shrine to Athena where they praised them, Dionysus, and Ariadne all together.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: The story goes that when Theseus returned to Athens from his adventures in Crete, it was about harvest time and he had a great parade from the harbor up to the city center, where they celebrated a feast.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: The festival of the Oskophoria itself was set up by Theseus out of devotion to these gods for protecting him and delivering from danger.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: It seems that the gods were responsible for guiding Theseus and bringing them home.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Theseus was originally planning on bringing Ariadne home to Athens.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: There had been a prophecy that if Theseus brought Ariadne home, it would have been a disaster for the city, and Dionysus wanted to marry Ariadne themselves.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a two-bird scenario.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is important to note here that Ariadne is not only a human daughter of King Minos, but an incarnation of a wild Cretan primordial goddess.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: There was far more danger than any of them knew in bringing Ariadne from her island.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: This wild deity would become Dionysus' beloved wife, whom Dionysus would even release from death.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Then the parade reached the port of Phaleron.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was at this point that the ship on the cart was pushed into the sea as a sacrifice to Dionysus.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then the lights dimmed and the great festival began.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: There were games and races.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: The winners of these races were awarded treats such as honey and wine.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: The children of Athens decorated olive branches, and the most beautiful would be placed within the feasting grounds.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Then, once the games were completed, everyone turned out for the feast.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: The feast celebrated Dionysus' role as a deity of fruits.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: There were figs and pomegranates baked into all sorts of sweet treats, which were enjoyed by the entire community.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a festival where young people put on costumes, decorated plants, paraded through town, and enjoyed sweet treats.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So far most of this festival feels very familiar, but there are a few queer attributes we have to consider now.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: First, women are equals to men.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to emphasize just how outlandish this would be in practically any other day of the year.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: For women to play ritually equal roles to men is something truly radical from the perspective of Athenian social customs.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Counterintuitively, Athens and Rome, the two most democratic societies in the ancient world, were some of the cruelest and regressive when it came to women and queer rights.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: So here, when women and queer people are able to participate as ritual equals, it is well outside of what would be expected in Athenian society.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Heterosexual women, heterosexual men, and queer people were all liberated from the rigid social hierarchies, albeit temporarily.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Second, people are dressed as the opposite genders.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I deliberately glossed over it because people were wearing costumes that weren't just men dressed as women or women dressed as men, but costumes across the board.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: People might show up dressed as satyrs, half human, half-goat sprites closely associated with Dionysus.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or they might dress up as maynids, wild devotees of Dionysus from the early ecstatic mysteries.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Or they might walk around in cloaks with masks on.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: But most strikingly is the gender nonconformity.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: The story goes that Theseus deliberately set up his young male companions dressed as women when the parade occurred.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is likely in reference to the fact that Theseus was able to sneak extra troops with him in the blood sacrifice to the Minotaur when he went to Crete.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: The blood sacrifice could only contain so many men and so many women, so by dressing up his troops as women, he was able to get more of them through to the labyrinth.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: But mythical origins aside, you will see some people, including some of the most wealthy men in Athens, and their children, dressing up as opposite genders and parading through the streets during the Oshklophoria.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what are we meant to make of all this?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to say anything definitive about these festivals, not least of which because the most detailed description of the Oshglophoria actually comes from Plutarch, who wrote many centuries later during the Roman Empire.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: However, it's important to note that Dionysus offers this kind of ritual space all throughout the festival year.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: The Athenian festival calendar, which rebegins on the third year, contains many celebrations where hierarchy and gender are cast aside.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: For many people, particularly Athenian citizens of high regard, Athenian social customs and gendered expectations were truly crushing.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: The act of even walking too effeminate leave could be cause for ridicule and expulsion from polite society.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: There is something deeply cathartic for people who have a space where gender nonconformity, queerness, and general ecstatic dancing and celebration is not just allowable but celebrated.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: For some Athenians, it may have been no more than a few hours where they could break out of the crushing social expectations of their daily life.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: But for others, it may have been a genuinely affirming day where they could express their internal gendered being in a world which normally would have destroyed that internal existence.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus is the deity that offers this space to all people, whether heteronormative or queer.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: So when you do Halloween stuff this week, dressing up and enjoying sweet treats, remember these customs began with an extremely queer harvest festival where the Athenians recalled the day Dionysus was manifested for them.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy an excellently queer Halloween, everyone.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Tiresius' line about Dionysus and Demeter comes from the Bacche of Euripides, lines two hundred seventy four through two hundred seventy-nine.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Bacchus amat flores, Bacchus loves flowers, is from Ovid's Fasti, Book V, line three hundred and forty five.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: The ship cart called the Pentachonter wagon is associated with Dionysus.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: That much is clear, but we don't technically know for which Athenian festival it was used.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: The shipkart is known exclusively through images of rituals, particularly found in Athenian pottery, so which festival or when it was actually used is anybody's guess.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: The interpretation that it reflects Dionysus' arrival in the Oshklophoria comes from Otokern's Dionysus Myth and Cult and Kareni Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Other scholars have posited that the carp was used for the urban or rural Dionysia and the Anthostaria and other Dionysaic festivals throughout the year.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: More recently, scholars have acknowledged the ambiguity and inadequacy of such interpretations.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: We simply don't know which festival it was designed for, and it could well have been used in many.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Dionysus comes from the sea, and the wagon is returned into the sea.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's about all we know about the Pentachanter wagon, for sure.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great Halloween.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next episode.