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The first Maenads were the nymphs who had nursed the infant Dionysus. When he grew older he was able to convince these nymphs to join in a type of divine madness. Later he was able to convert women to this madness with estatic revelry and wine. The goal of this activity was not promiscuity and drunkeness, but rather insight and prophesy. Not everyone was capable of the goal and some fell into promiscuity and drunkeness because of their weakness.
Euripides in The Bacchae suggests that the first Maenads were the nurses of Zeus, line 120,
Hail thou, O Nurse of Zeus, O Caverened Haunt
Where fierce arms clanged to guard God's cradle rare,
For thee of old some crested Corybant
First woke in Cretan air
The wild orb of our orgies,
Our Timbrel; and thy gorges
Rang with this strain; and blended Phrygian chant
And sweet keen pipes were there.
But of course the nurses of Zeus (The Corybants) were men.
The word 'Maenad', 'μαινάς' has its roots in the Indo-European culture that included ancestors of the Greeks. The name 'Maenad' means 'mad woman' from Indo-European 'men-1', 'To think' and perhaps 'ner-2', 'Man'. Mostly words based on 'men-2' have changed to 'mn' as in 'mnemonic' in Greek. So it is possible that 'maenad' is an older word in the Greek language. This is inconsistent with the idea that the cult of Dionysus came from Minoan Crete. Likewise the word 'orgy' seems to have Indo-European roots as well. The word 'orgy' means 'frenzied action' from Indo European 'werg-1', 'To do' and 'ya-', 'To be aroused' The wand that is associated with the maenads, the thyrsus, may also be Indo-European if it means 'planting pole' from Indo-European 'dher-2','To hold firmly, support' and 'se-1', 'To sow'. But the name 'Dionysus' seems not to be Indo-European. In fact the meaning 'twice born' seems just a close approximation of the name. If 'twice born were translated into Indo-European it would result in 'Dwogenesis' So what we have may be a Minoan cult that has been described in Indo-European terms
Actually there is very little reference in ancient literature to the term 'maenad' so it seems mostly to be a term of convenience. The nymphs who nursed the infant Dionysus became the first Maenads. When he grew to manhood he was able to impart to these women a divine madness that they enhanced with wine. They would wander about in a drunken revel. They dressed in thin skimpy outfits or nothing at all. They carried thyrsus staffs and wore wreaths of ivy on their heads. They danced, played double flutes, or struck tambourines. As they wandered they picked up human converts who joined them. The worship included orgies of the male and female followers. They involved in various sexual activities not just to stimulate fertility of the earth but also to achieve ecstacy. Pan often bragged that he had sex with all the Maenads. The Maenads denied this and are often shown rejecting the advances of a satyr or Pan. They sometimes would achieve a frenzied state that was quite dangerous. In this state if they caught a wild animal or even a human they would tear it to pieces and then devour it.
Maenad dancing toward ecstasy on a beach in the moonlight.
A thyrsus is a wand wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a pine cone at the top carried by the devotees of Dionysus. Most illustrations of it make it look more like a staff than a wand. A fawn skin or feline skin and ecstatic dance are other characteristics of Maenads. These symbols suggest the meaning of the activity of the maenads. The pinecone tipped staff is a phallic symbol that indicates the fertility nature of the rite. Like other evergreens, the ivy symbolizes eternal life and resurrection. The vine-leaves refer to wine and its effects.
We can assume that the nymphs who attend Dionysus are permanent participants in Dionysian revels along with the silenoi. But it seems that temporary converts also participated. The worship of Dionysus is often described as an orgy. It begins with music, dancing, and drinking of wine. As the activity becomes more intense, inhibitions and clothing are loosened and discarded. A heightened mental and emotional state is achieved during which new ideas appear and insights are gained into one's place in the cosmos. This feeling is the ecstasy that is the stated goal of the activity. Since sexual intercourse is also accompanied by such feelings it is thought to be appropriate also. The nymphs who are present can participate in these activities without fear of consequences because any pregnancy that results is intentional and part of some divine plan. But mortal women who participate may acquire an unintended pregnancy. This was a special concern for ancient Greek men because the paternity of the baby was impossible to establish in the context of an orgy where the female might have a number of sexual partners. The unfortunate result was that these babies might end up exposed or sold into slavery.
Dionysian Orgy
The activity of the Maenads seems to relate to the religion of the Minoan culture. It may be that they have their origin as priestesses of that culture. The art of that culture has been shown to demonstrate a concern for the continuity of life. The rending of animals is an expression of that continuity. It was believed that the rending released the life force of the animal in a way that allowed it to be absorbed by the worshiper when the raw flesh of the victim was eaten by the worshipper. Dionysus can be identified with the bull of Minoan religion and the Minotaur of Greek Myth. A consistent interpretation of the Minotaur myth is that he rent his victims when he devoured them. The Maenads can be related to priestesses who danced before the victims in a way that would excite the bull to rend them by goring and tossing them. The bull was then, himself sacrificed by the priestesses in an attempt to bring the life force of the bull upon them. It should be noted that bulls are much more capable of rending their victims than Maenads would be.
The Minoan religious worship seems to place a strong emphasis on the witness of epiphany. Both the dancing, the wine, and the sexual activity may have been carried out to stimulate an epiphany. These have certainly been used by other cultures for this purpose. Such an event may have been important to certify that the Minoan people had received the favor of their deities.
Ariadne is not usually condsidered a maenad yet she definately participates in maenad-like activities. Homer, in the Iliad makes a reference to Ariadne when he describes the Shield of Achilles (Book XVIII): "Furthermore he wrought a green, like that which Daedalus once made in Cnossus for lovely Ariadne. Hereon there danced youths and maidens whom all would woo, with their hands on one another's wrists. The maidens wore robes of light linen, and the youths well-woven shirts that were slightly oiled. The girls were crowned with garlands, while the young men had daggers of gold that hung by silver baldrics; sometimes they would dance deftly in a ring with merry twinkling feet, as it were a potter sitting at his work and making trial of his wheel to see whether it will run, and sometimes they would go all in line with one another, and much people was gathered joyously about the green. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them when the man struck up with his tune." This scene can be compared to that of a symposium as illustrated on Greek vases. In the symposium the women are dancing and singing for entertainment. Ariadne probably performed without wine while the men drank wine in the symposium. Wine might have been given to the women so they would dance in in a more wild manner. Ariadne performed in the day while the symposium was held at night when the orgies were supposedly held.
Hesiod does not mention maenads but he does connect Dionysus and Ariadne, Theogony, line 947 "Golden-haired Dionynus made blonde Ariadne, Minos' daughter, his vigorus wife; Cronus' son made her immortal and ageless for his sake." In the Works and Days, line 614 of wine Hesiod says, "the gift of much-cheering Dionysus".
Homer uses the word for maenad in the Iliad to describe Andromache and her waiting maids when they learn of Hector's death, "ὣς φαμένη μεγάροιο διέσσυτο μαινάδι* ἴση" line 460. This may be the earliest use of the term but this is not a use consistent with the worship of Dionysus. Hesiod and Homer may have been familiar with the worship of Dionysus and they use terms that relate to aspects of that worship. But the descripition of Maenads in the context in which they are familiar must await Euripides.
The information presented here supports the idea that the worship of Dionysus has its roots in the Minoan Religion. This may conflict the general notion that the religion of Minoa was goddess oriented. Even the worship of the bull is thought to relate to the fact that a physical vagina resembles the head of a bull. What seems more likely is that the priestesses in the Minoan culture were very important but that the deities may have been of both sexes. It seems that when Theseus went to Minoa he stopped the practice of human sacrifice, but he did not destroy the deities. He seems to have brought back to Athens the worship of Athena, Aphrodite, Hera, and Artemis. One wonders how they could be interpreted as Maenads, but they could have danced their way into the heart of Theseus.
The worship that the Maenads exhibit can be explored further. The belief that rent animals give up a life force is quite similar to the notions of sacrifice and sacrament. It is identical to the acquisition of manna. Christians and others rejected this practice on theological grounds. But today persons who may reject Christianity and are seeking other alternatives cannot explore rending as a theological alternative. Modern science has revealed that the eating of raw flesh often involves the ingestion of parasites that can be quite harmful. Descartes came up with a philosophy in the 17th Century treating animals as automatons that would have approved of rending animals. Now it is no longer felt to be a humane treatment of animals.
The description of Meanads by Euripides in his Bacchae is an extreme portrayal that plays on the fear of the Athenian male that women are basically uncontrolable. In this play Dionysus has forced the women of Thebes to become Maenads as he says,
"Yea, I have bound upon the necks of them The harness of my rites. And them all The seed of womankind from hut and hall Of Thebes, hath this my magic goaded out."
Eventually the maenads rend Pentheus. But it is not a physical act as Euripides states,
Round his left arm she put Both hands, set hard against hi side her foot, Drew...and the shouldered severed!--Not by might Of arm, but easily, as the God made light Her hand's essay.
So this cannot be a model for regular practice. It strikes me that the lightning strike of Semele would allow her body to be rent easily. This would be another option to the rending of the victim by the bull mentioned earlier.
Lyssa's name means "canine madness," and she is the Greek underworld goddess who drove her dogs through the world proding the divine intoxication of the Maenads to destructive fury. She is the daughter of Nyx.
Possible names of Maenads:
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