Scope and Contents Wikepedia: "In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus (Bacchus in the Roman pantheon), the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by him into a state of ecstatic frenzy, through a combination of dancing and drunken intoxication. In this state, they would lose all self-control, begin shouting excitedly, engage in uncontrolled sexual behavior, and ritualistically hunt down and tear to pieces animals "” and, in myth at least, sometimes men and children "” devouring the raw flesh. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped by a cluster of leaves; they would weave ivy-wreaths around their heads, and often handle or wear snakes." According to the Basinski's inscription on the verso of the drawing, "the Maenads had ladder like tattoes groves on their arms And I...

Scope and Contents

This version of the poem has slight differences from the first version, -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.