Dancing Maenad

myminifactory

It's rare for a maenad to be shown without any snakes nearby. The artist has made an exception with this statue, making it one of a kind. Who is being depicted? In Greek mythology, the female followers of Dionysus were known as maenads and they were key members of his retinue, the Thiasus. Their name literally means "raving ones." In Roman mythology, these women were referred to as Bassarids or Bacchantes after the Roman god's fondness for wearing a fox-skin. The maenads are often portrayed as being inspired by Dionysus into an ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. During their rituals, they would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves topped with a pine cone. They would wear ivy-wreaths around their heads or don a bull helmet in honor of their god, and often handle or wear snakes.