''Sparagmos'' (, from σπαράσσω ''sparasso'', "tear, rend, pull to pieces") is an act of rending, tearing apart, or mangling, usually in a

Dionysian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by Fri ...

context. In Dionysian rite as represented in myth and literature, a living animal, or sometimes even a human being, is sacrificed by being dismembered. ''Sparagmos'' was frequently followed by omophagia (the eating of the raw flesh of the one dismembered). It is associated with the Maenads or Bacchantes, followers of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, and the

Dionysian Mysteries The Dionysian Mysteries were a ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which sometimes used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions. It also provided some liberation for people marginalized by Gre ...

. Examples of ''sparagmos'' appear in

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

's play '' The Bacchae''. In one scene guards sent to control the Maenads witness them pulling a live bull to pieces with their hands. Later, after King Pentheus has banned the worship of Dionysus, the god lures him into a forest, to be torn limb from limb by Maenads, including his own mother

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

. According to some myths,

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, regarded as a prophet of Orphic or Bacchic religion, died when he was dismembered by raging Thracian women.

Medea

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

is said to have killed and dismembered her brother whilst fleeing with

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

and the stolen fleece in order to delay their pursuers, who would be compelled to collect the remains of the prince for burial. The Italian film director

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

staged a sparagmos ritual as part of a long sequence near the beginning of his film ''

'' (1969), before dramatising the episode in which Medea kills her brother in a similar way.

Modern literature and theory

Interpreting the ritual through the lens of the Freudian

Oedipus complex In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire ...

, Catherine Maxwell identifies ''sparagmos'' as a form of

castration Castration is any action, surgery, surgical, chemical substance, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical cas ...

, particularly in the case of Orpheus. Historically, it is presumed that women celebrating the rites of Dionysus did not actually dismember animals or eat raw flesh, although it is believed those acts still had some basis in maenadic ritual. In contemporary literature, this is used in

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

's play '' Suddenly, Last Summer''. Sparagmos is also briefly mentioned in Donna Tartt's '' The Secret History''.

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia ( ; born April 2, 1947) is an American academic, social critic and Feminism, feminist. Paglia was a professor at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1984 until ...

, in her controversial survey of Western culture '' Sexual Personae'', uses sparagmos to describe flesh-rending violence in several works, including ''The Bacchae'', contemporary horror films, Emily Bronte's ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'', and a poem by

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

. Sparagmos is a central theme in

Dimitris Lyacos Dimitris Lyacos (; born 19 October 1966) is a Greek writer. He is the author of the ''Z213: Exit, Poena Damni'' trilogy and the composite novel ''Until the Victim Becomes our Own''. Lyacos's work is characterised by its genre-defying form and th ...

's ''

The First Death ''The First Death'' is a book by Dimitris Lyacos. It is the third part of the ''Poena Damni'' trilogy. The book is a fictional rendering of a poem that is translated by an inmate with the use of a dictionary he finds available in the library of ...

'', which recounts the torments of a mutilated protagonist stranded on an island. The book draws upon the dismemberment of Dionysus as well as ancient Greek rituals and practices.''The Journal of Modern Greek Studies'', Volume 19, 2001/ Johns Hopkins University Press. Robert Zaller – Recent Translations from Shoestring Press. Tassos Denegris, Dimitris Lyacos, Dionysios Solomos. Jump up ^ In Eric Gans'

Generative Anthropology Generative anthropology is a field of study based on the hypothesis that the origin of human language happened in a singular event. The discipline of Generative Anthropology centers upon this original event which Eric Gans calls The Originary Sc ...

, sparagmos is a key component of the hypothetical "originary event" marking the birth of human language and culture. It occurs as a violent release of mimetic tension following the first use of a sign, involving the dismemberment and consumption of a central object designated as sacred. This concept integrates sacrificial violence into the theory of language origin, showing how symbolic representation and ritualized action simultaneously express and contain group violence.

References

{{reflist Ancient Greek theatre Cult of Dionysus

Medea

Modern literature and theory

See also

References