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The σύνοδος of the μύσται and τεχνῖται of Dionysos Breiseus at Smyrna has long been known to students from several series of inscriptions. These, although defective in themselves, can be supplemented by the inscriptions of analogous associations, so that the details of the society's organisation are tolerably familiar, and for the present require no further discussion. But certain questions have not so far been decided. Such concern the origin of the god, the meaning of the epithet, and the situation of his temple at Smyrna. The present paper is an attempt to answer these questions, some new evidence having recently come to hand.
The earliest certain home of Dionysos Breiseus seems to have been Lesbos, where the name of Brisa has been known for many centuries. Homer's heroine will be recalled: Androtion knew a Lesbian promontory called Βρῆσα: the Lesbos of to-day has a hill and a village called respectively Βρίσιον and Βρίσια.
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- Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1913
References
page 89 note 1 C.I.G. 3160, 3161, 3176 (with 3173), 3177, 3190, 3210; Szanto, E. in Arch. Epigr. Mitth. ix, 1885, pp. 133 ff.Google Scholar; Le Bas-Waddington, , Asie Mineure, p. 360Google Scholar, n. 248 (= De Witte, in Acaa. Roy. Brux. ix, 1Google Scholar; B.M. Cat. Bronzes, n. 887; B.M. Inscr. ii, p. 4). Perhaps C.I.G. 3175 is to be added, if we read ΔΙΟ[ΝΥΣΟΥ for the uncertain ΔΙΟΣ ΔΙΟΣ[- - -
page 89 note 2 See e.g. Farnell, , Cults of the Greek States, v, pp. 146–8.Google Scholar
page 89 note 3 Gruppe, Whether (Griech. Myth. pp. 235, 297)Google Scholar and Wilamowitz, (Phil. Unters, vii, p. 409)Google Scholar are right in thinking the Lesbian god hailed originally from Boeotia, is beside the present question.
page 89 note 4 Il. i, ll. 184, 323, etc.
page 89 note 5 Etym. M. Βρισαῖος οὔτες ὁ Διόνυσος . . . ἀπὸ ἄκρας Λεσνιακῆς Βρήσης, ἦς μέμνηται ᾿ Ανδροτίων cf. Steph. Byz. s.v. Βρίσα ἄκρα Λέσβου, ἐν ἦ ἴδρυται Διονυσος Βρισαῖς. The spelling of the epithet varies considerably.
page 89 note 6 Pottier and Hauvette-Besnault in B.C.H. iv, 1880, p. 445; Wilamowitz, l.c.
page 89 note 7 B.C.H. l.c.
page 90 note 1 Ibid. Unfortunately the remains are too scanty to permit the hope of discovering there an inscription with the more usual epithet.
page 90 note 2 Homer does not mention the town, and the Leleges seem to have held the coast lands at that time, cf. Strano, xiv, 634.
page 90 note 3 C.I.G. 3173.
page 90 note 4 Hdt. i, 143, 149.
page 90 note 5 Mimnermus 9 [12]; Strabo, xiii, 582: Paus, vii, 5, 1.
page 90 note 6 i, 150; cf. Aristides, xvii, 373 D: xxi, 440 D.
page 90 note 7 xl, 49 D.
page 90 note 8 B.M. Cat. Ionia, p. 251, n. 138, Pl. XXVI, 11.
page 90 note 9 Ibid. p. 287, n. 395.
page 90 note 10 The group of Semele and Dionysos occurs without the cultus-statue in a wall-painting of a Pompeian, villa (Not. Scavi, 1910, Pl. XVGoogle Scholar; J.R.S. vol. iv, 1914, pp. 160–1, Pl. XI) and in another from Herculaneum (Pitt. d'Ercolano, ii, n. 13). This identification is due to Miss Mudie-Cooke (J.R.S. l.c.), who has kindly communicated the theory and above references in advance to me: it is to be noted that she considers the goddess to be probably not Semele but Ariadne.
page 91 note 1 Cf. Paus. x, 19, 3 for the historical worship of the ξόανον of Dionysos Φάλλην at Methymna.
page 91 note 2 Strabo, xiv, 646.
page 91 note 3 Paus. vii, 5, 4.
page 91 note 4 c. 324 B.C. (by Antigonos).
page 91 note 5 Strabo, xiv, 646, mentions a ξόανον of Homer and bronze coins called Homereia. Quantities of these have been found (cf. B.M. Cat. Ionia, pp. 244 ff. nn. 78 ff.).
page 91 note 6 Arch. Epigr. Mitth. ix, 1885, p. 134.
page 91 note 7 See n. on C.I.G. 2963 c.
page 91 note 8 Le Bas-Waddington, , Asie Min. p. 373Google Scholar, n. 1601.
page 91 note 9 Cults, v, pp.135–6, 152–3.
page 91 note 10 C.I. G. 3108.
page 92 note 1 Farnell, op. cit. p. 146; C.I.G. 3067.
page 92 note 2 C.I.G. 2796; cf. Boeckh on 2963 c.
page 92 note 3 C.I.G. 3194 and 3211; cf. Boeckh, l.c.
page 92 note 4 Arch. Epigr. Mitth. l.c.
page 92 note 5 ix, 15. μέρη δὲ τῶν πρὸ πόλεως καὶ τὰ κατὰ δήμους ἰερά, τελεστήρια, μέγαρα, κ.τ.λ.
page 92 note 6 ix, 14. τὰ μὲν δὴ μέρη τῶν ἔξω πόλεως . . .
page 92 note 7 The sanctuary of the Κληδόνες at Smyrna was outside the wall; cf. Paus, ix, 11, 7.
page 93 note 1 B.M. Cat. Bronzes, n. 887; B.M. Inscr. ii, p. 4; Proc. Soc. Ant. ii, 1853, p. 265. Le Bas-Waddington (Asie Min. p. 360, n. 248) and De Witte, (Acad. Roy. Brux. ix, 1)Google Scholar wrongly think the heads are those of Gallienus, his wife, and son. The appearance of the whole imperial family on the seal is interesting. Bernoulli, (Röm. Ikon, ii, pt. 3, p. 141)Google Scholar says Philip was the first to introduce the practice on coins and other monuments, but gives no explanation.
page 93 note 2 E.g. the decree of alliance between Smyrna and Magnesia ad Sipylum was ratified by the individual seals of the various delegates and also by the public seals of either town: see C.I.G. 3137.
page 93 note 3 Omont, , Missions Archéologiques, i, p. 210.Google Scholar The reference I owe to my husband.
page 93 note 4 Ces statues ces testes et ces inscriptions, que j'ay copiées et envoiées à M. Spon pour en augmenter son recueil, avoient esté trouvées dans une vigne, un peu au dessous du stadium.
page 93 note 5 C.I.G. 3160, 3173, 3176.
page 93 note 6 Misc. Erud. Antiq. x, 94, p. 354.
page 93 note 7 The female statue is in the Louvre: Fröhner's Cat. n. 73.
page 94 note 1 Fontrier, in Rev. Et. Anc. ix, 1907, p. 115Google Scholar, placed the temple of Dionysos πρὸ πόλεως outside the city but to the east near the Caravan Bridge River, apparently, however, without any evidence at all.
page 94 note 2 Pococke, , Descr. of East, vol. ii, pt. ii, p. 35Google Scholar n. See e.g. the map in Murray's Handbook to Asia Minor, to face p. 74.
page 94 note 3 Le Bruyn, who visited Smyrna in 1678, has left a drawing which shows vineyards east and west of the stadium, i.e. within and without the city wall: this is worth noting as at the present day vineyards exist only to the east of the stadium, houses covering the western slopes.