Dionysus, together with his slave Xanthias, observes from a hidden place the choir of initiates in the Eleusinian mysteries. Probably at the sight of the girls in the procession, the servant whispers:

Ξανθίας
ὦ πότνια πολυτίμητε Δήμητρος κόρη,
ὡς ἡδύ μοι προσέπνευσε χοιρείων κρεῶν.
Διόνυσος
οὔκουν ἀτρέμ᾽ ἕξεις, ἤν τι καὶ χορδῆς λάβῃς;

KSANTIAS: O highly honored lady, daughter of Demeter, how delightfully it smelled of piglet meat! DIONISOS: Couldn't you keep quiet? You might catch some sausage.

The passus contains an obscene joke based on the ambiguity of the word χοῖρος - "pig"/"female sexual organ" contained in Xanthias' statement. The question of Dionysus, as noted by Seager (1981: 250), evidently alludes to the same sphere of associations, although the word χορδή - "Kish", "sausage" is nowhere attested in the sense of "penis". Unclear, but of little relevance here, seems to be the meaning of this statement. Perhaps Dionysus means onanism or, as commentators (Sommerstein 1996: ad loc.; del Corno 1987: ad loc.) wish, homoerotic intercourse.

From the point of view of the study of ritual, the association of the choir of initiates in the Eleusinian mysteries with the meat of a pig seems obvious at first glance. This is confirmed by two other places in Aristophanes (Ach. 739-814; Pax 374-375), where piglets are mentioned in a similar context - the low price of three drachmas mentioned in Peace indicates that it is a young animal. Additional confirmation of the above formulation is found in iconography. Especially in southern Italy and Sicily there are widespread vivid statuettes found in Demeter sanctuaries, depicting a woman (goddess?) with a small pig in her arms (cf. Burkert 1983: 257). With all the caution necessary when reading conventional representations it is hard to resist the impression that real proportions between the sizes of human and animal figures were preserved here. In other words, the art probably reflects the consistent use of very young pigs in the ritual.

The course of the ritual and its meaning have long been the subject of speculation among scholars. Piglets (also in the Eleusinian context) were often used for purification, which involved piercing an artery in the neck of the animal and pouring its blood on the person or place subject to purification. We do not know what happened next with the body of the pig beaten in such a way, but it seems almost certain that through symbolic and physical (or almost physical) contact with impurity it became impure (cf. e.g. Parker 1983: 229-230). Therefore, no

It was eaten, but removed to a place where it did not pose a threat. The author of the medical treatise De morbo sacro (184) mentions that catharmata, and thus some kind of by-products of purification (perhaps, but not necessarily, dead animals) were buried, left in the mountain wilderness or thrown into the sea. Although there are no unequivocal accounts on the subject, it seems natural that the use of piglets in the initial phase of the ritual of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries may have had a cathartic function, preparing the mystics for the main part of the rites. Such a hypothesis was formulated by Foucart (1914: 294; it was considered attractive by, among others, Moulinier 1952: 126 and Mylonas 1961: 249-250) has been rejected by most scholars (Nilsson 1941: 95, note 3; Burkert 1983: 257; Parker 1983: 283; Scarpi 2002: 505-506) solely on the basis of the message contained in the passage from the Frogs discussed here, for the place seems to suggest that the meat of the piglets was eaten during the rite rather than thrown away. This would indicate that it was (more or less) a typical thysia-type sacrifice. Burkert (1983: 258.284) goes so far as to describe this as a substitute sacrifice "for the initiate," citing the words of the scholion to the Acharnaeans by Aristophanes (747: ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν μυουμένων ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ἔθυεν - "each of the mystas sacrificed for himself") and interpreting the phrase ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ as "in his stead". This was pointed out to him by Parker (1983: 283), pointing out that better translate it "on behalf of himself".

Therefore there is no reason to think that the pig, as Burkert wanted, was a substitute for a human being, and its killing freed the mysta from death. Moreover, it should be noted that the passus in question, as the only source supporting the idea that the initiates ate the meat of pigs, is a very uncertain source.

It is true that Xanthias mentions the smell not of a piglet, but of its meat, but this does not necessarily mean that the mystics themselves ate it. If the slaughtered animals performed a cathartic function, this would have involved abandoning their corpses, and the so-called megara, i.e. pits located in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the telesterion at Eleusis, may have been a specially designated place (Evans 2002: 241-242). Eating meat abandoned in such a place seems unappetising, it could have been violation of ritual norms, perhaps threatened with disgrace. However, there are many references in Greek literature to the fact that the poor, for pragmatic reasons, and the contesters - symbolic, reached for food intended for deities at the crossroads and for abandoned katharmata (Ar. Plut. 594-597 cum schol.; D. 54.39; Thphr. Char. 16.14; Call. Cer. 114-115; Luc. Dial. Mort. 1.1; Catapl. 7). It is not without significance that we are dealing here with a passus from a comedy, and the speaker is a slave whose name, Xanthias ("Rudy"), points to his non-Greek origin (Ehrenberg 1951: 173). It may be, then, that this is a joke, the meaning of which can be summed up by the formula: meat abandoned ritually by some is a delicacy for others. It seems, therefore, that the passus does not unambiguously indicate that the initiates ate piglets. Thus, its value as a source turns out to be very limited. The only thing we can deduce from it (and it is not the only source) is that there is a clear connection between initiations into Eleusinian mysteries and the ritual use of piglets. The way they were used, unfortunately, remains impossible to be unambiguously determined.

In response to Aeschylus' agitated question, Dionysus turns towards the stage building, demanding that a sacrificial animal be brought to him to appease the anger of Typhon, the god of the whirlwinds, to whom he implicitly compares the tragic poet. The passus is a two-line interjection, clearly intended to break the stage illusion. The rest of the text indicates that no one responded to the summons, which fits perfectly into the convention of comedy.

Διόνυσος
ἄρν᾽ ἄρνα μέλανα παῖδες ἐξενέγκατε:
τυφὼς γὰρ ἐκβαίνειν παρασκευάζεται.

DIONISOS: Baran, baran, boys, bring out the black, because a Typhoon is about to come crashing down on us.

ἄρνα - the noun ἀρήν, depending on the context, can mean a lamb or an adult sheep, and the sex of the animal is signaled In the present case, since there is no genitive, the key form would be the adjective. In this place, since there is no genitive, the adjectival form would be crucial. Unfortunately, the manuscripts convey it in two ways: μέλανα (m) or μέλαιναν (f). The former variant is additionally supported by scholia (ad loc. ), so it seems to be preferable, especially as it is in accordance with the rule, according to which the sex of the sacrificed animal was usually (though not always) the same as that of the addressee of the ritual. Dover (1993: ad loc.) and Sommerstein (1996: ad loc.) in their commentaries cite two passages from the Aeneid as parallels to the quoted passage - 3.120: "nigram Hiemi pecudem, Zephyris felicibus albam" ("for Zephyris a black sheep, for Zephyris a white one" - it should be noted that the sex of the animal is not known in this case); 5.772: "Tempestatibus agnam" ("Tempestatibus agnam") - The word "Tempestatibus agnam" is of female gender, while the word "tempest" is also feminine.) It is characteristic that the first of the quoted passages suggests that the colour of the animal depended on the kindness of the addressee of the sacrifice: a threatening deity, as in Aristophanes, should receive a black sheep, a kind one - a white one. On the other hand, another interpretation is also possible, raised by Sommerstein (1996: ad loc. ), according to which winds were treated in the cult as chthonic deities, and therefore it would have been expected to offer them black sacrifices (so Stengel 1920: 126-127, 151). This statement, however valuable, requires some additions, especially in the light of Scullion's (1994) findings. Parallels provided e.g. by the cult of Eumenides (Paus. 8.34; cf. Scullion 1994: 91) indicate that the chthonic deities, depending on their attitude to humans (or: the attitude of humans to them), were treated as threatening, gloomy forces, against whose influence one had to protect oneself with ritual means (e.g. with sacrifices of the sphagia or holocaustos type). In certain circumstances, however, the same beings could be treated as friendly, surrounding them with joyful worship (a thysia type offering). This scheme corresponds perfectly with the above-quoted passus from the Aeneid (3.120), in which the dangerous winter winds receive a black sacrifice (associated with the chthonic sphere), and the gentle and warm ones - a white one (associated with the Olympian sphere).

The discussed scene in Aristophanes probably refers to this scheme. The author of the book is an example of the kind of a thinking man, at the same time indicating that he was so deeply rooted in the ideas of Athenians of the classical period, that the laconic mention, which lacks even an explicative explanation that it is about a sacrifice, seems to be fully understandable.

Passus from a statement by Aeschylus, in which the tragicist names four cultural poetes-heros (Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, and Homer), briefly explaining what each has given to humans.

Αἰσχύλος
Ὀρφεὺς μὲν γὰρ τελετάς θ᾽ ἡμῖν κατέδειξε φόνων τ᾽ ἀπέχεσθαι,

Orpheus taught us mysteries and to keep away from murder.

Orpheus is a legendary singer who was credited with author-a number of works known in the classical period and later, as well as "invention" of a specific religious doctrine. Leaving aside the complex issue of the actual origin of particular texts and ideas, it is worth noting that Aristophanes in the discussed place refers to something that (1) at least within the framework of beliefs prevalent in his time, was closely related to Orphism, and (2) was generally regarded as a valuable achievement of civilization.

Since it is known that there was a stereotype according to which the Orphics considered it appropriate to abstain from (some?) flesh foods as unclean and from killing animals in sacrifice (cf. E. Hipp. 953-955; Pl. Lg. 782c), one gets the impression that this is what Aristophanes means by "abstaining from murder". An important caveat is that there is no indication that the passus in question contains a judgment in any way contrary to the views of the majority of the audience. Considering, in turn, that criticism of blood sacrifice or any form of animal slaughter certainly appealed to only a few, it seems that the passus contains a reference to some other form of civilizing activity attributed to Orpheus (cf. Trzcionkowski 2013: 369-373, 403; Dover 1993: ad loc.; Sommerstein 1996: ad loc.). This may also be indicated by the use of the noun φόνος, which in most contexts refers to bloodshed humanity and the murder of its victims.

The passus is therefore goday noted primarily to emphasize that, contrary to appearances, it most likely does not include data on blood sacrifice. The literature on the subject is abundantly cited by Bernabé (2005: ad 510T; 547T; 626T).

The passus is a fragment of the poetic agon between Euripide and Aeschylus. In order to prove to his opponent the repetition of metrical patterns, Aeschylus again and again interrupts the recitation by throwing in the metre-matching fixed phrase ληκύθιον ἀπώλεσεν ('he lost a bottle', or rather: a small lekyt, 'an oil jug'). Perhaps this is not an entirely random sequence of words, for as Whitman (1975, cf. Griffith 1975) has suggested, it probably evoked obscene associations. Euripides quotes one and a half lines from the unpreserved tragedy Meleager. The passage contains a reference to ritual.

Εὐριπίδης
Οἰνεύς ποτ᾽ ἐκ γῆς πολύμετρον λαβὼν στάχυν
θύων ἀπαρχάς
Αἰσχύλος
ληκύθιον ἀπώλεσεν.
Διόνυσος
μεταξὺ θύων; καὶ τίς αὔθ᾽ ὑφείλετο;

EURYPIDES: "Oineus once from the earth took a rich ear to lay down the primroses.... AJSCHYLOS: „... and lost the bottle." DIONISOS: At the time of the sacrifice? Who stole it from him?