Observations placeholder
The Anthestheria festival
Identifier
016290
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Anthestheria festival
In addition to Dionysos' mythical loves, there was also a curious cult practice involving the sacred marriage, or hieros gamos, of a mortal woman to the god Dionysos.
In Athens during the Anthestheria festival in the spring, the wife of the royal archon spent the night in the god's sanctuary, awaiting a visit from the god who was to come and consummate relations with her. (Jameson 54-56)
While it is unknown precisely what transpired and how, the occasion of a kingly figure surrendering his own wife to the god would seem to testify to the perceived power of Dionysos; it signifies the yielding of mundane authority to divine potency.