sparagmos
Dionysian body rending
Sparagmos is the ritual tearing apart of a living body, especially in ancient Greek religion where frenzied worshippers of Dionysus dismembered animals or, in myth, humans.
The term appears in discussions of Greek tragedy and comparative religion: The sparagmos of Pentheus in the Bacchae remains one of theater's most disturbing scenes.
By extension, any violent fragmentation or dismemberment.
Greek deity of wine
- OrpheusLegendary Greek musician
- EuripidesGreek tragic dramatist
- BacchicOf the wine god
- ecstasyOverwhelming intense delight
frenzy · possession · sacrifice · initiates · cult · mystery · Titans · dismemberment
Forcibly separating material
- rendingTearing apart forcefully
- limbsBody's major appendages
- fleshSoft body matter
- fragmentsIncomplete broken pieces
scattering · violence · body · raw · apart · severing · pulling · pieces
Disastrous or sorrowful event
- GreekOf Athenian origin
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
protagonist · suffering · destruction · hero · downfall · theatrical · narrative · climax
Dionysus
Greek deity of wine
ecstasy · frenzy · possession · sacrifice · initiates · cult · mystery · Titans · dismemberment · intoxication
tearing
Forcibly separating material
fragments · scattering · violence · body · raw · apart · severing · pulling · pieces · dispersion
tragedy
Disastrous or sorrowful event
catharsis · protagonist · suffering · destruction · hero · downfall · theatrical · narrative · climax · dissolution
- DionysusDionysus, maenad, bacchantes, bacchante, grape vines
sparagmoseuthanasia
Deliberate death for relief
lethal injection · vivisection · ritual sacrifice · execution · autopsy
sparagmosembalming
Preserving dead bodies chemically
mummification · preservation · entombment · anointing · laying out
sparagmosApollonian
Pertaining to reason, harmony
composure · self-possession · ataraxia · meditation · serenity