Bassareus

A surname of Dionysus,1 which, according to the explanations of the Greeks, is derived from bassara (βασσάρα) or bassaris (βασσαρίς), the long robe which the god himself and the maenads used to wear in Thrace, and whence the maenads themselves are often called bassarae or bassarides.

The name of this garment again seems to be connected with, or rather the same as, βασσαρίς, a fox,2 probably because it was originally made of fox-skins. Others derive the name Bassareus from a Hebrew word, according to which its meaning would be the same as the Greek protruges (προτρύγης), that is, the precursor of the vintage.

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Iconography

On some of the vases discovered in southern Italy Dionysus is represented in a long garment which is commonly considered to be the Thracian bassara.

References

Notes

  1. Horace. Carmen Saeculare i, 18.11; Macrobius. Saturnalia, i, 18.
  2. Hesychius s.v. βασσάραι.

Source

  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.