Agrionia was anancientGreek religious festival in honor ofDionysusAgrionius. It was celebrated annually, especially atOrchomenus inBoeotia.[1]
According toPlutarch, agrionia was celebrated at night with only women accompanied by the priests of Dionysus, who often wore black garments.[citation needed] Women pretended to search for Dionysos and then declared that he has fled to theMuses and hidden there.[1] After that they feasted and began to present and solve riddles.[citation needed]
According to legend, theMinyades or Oleiai (Ὀλεῖαι), the daughters of kingMinyas of Orchomenus, who had despised the Dionysian rites, were seized with a desire toeat human flesh of one of their children.[1] They cast lots to decide which of their children they would eat and selectedHippasus, son ofLeucippe.[citation needed]
Plutarch also explains that the festival included ahuman sacrifice. At this festival it was originally the custom for the priest of the god to pursue a woman of the Minyan family with a drawn sword and kill her.[2] This practice was later discontinued after the occurrence of bad omens.[citation needed]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Agrionia".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 424.