μανία ➚mania, fem. noun. 1. Madness. 2. Enthusiasm, inspired frenzy. 3. Passion.

Etymology

Abstract noun derived from the verb μαίνομαι + the Greek suffix -ία μαίνομαι: deponent verb meaning to be angry, to be furious, to be out of one's mind. Rarely to induce ecstasy. Derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- + -ye- (present tense mark) in deponent form (-tor) →*mn̥yétor. Cognates include the Sanskrit मन्यते (mányate) (think, believe, consider), Avestic mainiieite (to think,), Old Irish muinithir (to think), Old Church Slavonic мьнѣти (mĭněti) (to think, consider) and Lithuanian miniù (to commemorate, remember). -ία suffix: it is added to adjective roots and more rarely verbals to form feminine abstract nouns.

Related to terms such as μένος, μῆνις

Meanings

Plato in Phaedrus said that there are four types of μανία, each of them inspired by gods: telestic ➚, prophetic, erotic and poetic μανία.

Pl. Phdr. 265b Τῆς δὲ θείας τεττάρων θεῶν τέτταρα μέρη διελόμενοι, μαντικὴν μὲν ἐπίπνοιαν Ἀπόλλωνος θέντες, Διονύσου δὲ τελεστικήν, Μουσῶν δ’ αὖ ποιητικήν, τετάρτην δὲ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἔρωτος, ἐρωτικὴν μανίαν ἐφήσαμέν τε ἀρίστην εἶναι.

And we made four divisions of the divine madness, ascribing them to four gods, saying that prophecy was inspired by Apollo, the mystic madness by Dionysus, the poetic by the Muses, and the madness of love, inspired by Aphrodite and Eros, we said was the best. (transl. H. N. Fowler).

Throughout these meanings, we find associated significances in religious contexts, especially in telestic ➚ μανία. The following sections will focus on telestic ➚, erotic, and prophetic μανία.

1. Telestic μανία Plato (Phdr. 265b) associates Dionysus with telestic ➚ μανία. Different benefits are derived from this type of mania; for example, it could be linked to healing rituals.

Pl. Phdr. 244d-245a ἀλλὰ μὴν νόσων γε καὶ πόνων τῶν μεγίστων, ἃ δὴ παλαιῶν ἐκ μηνιμάτων ποθὲν ἔν τισι τῶν γενῶν ἡ μανία ἐγγενομένη καὶ προφητεύσασα, οἷς ἔδει ἀπαλλαγὴν ηὕρετο, καταφυγοῦσα πρὸς θεῶν εὐχάς τε καὶ λατρείας, ὅθεν δὴ καθαρμῶν τε καὶ τελετῶν τυχοῦσα ἐξάντη ἐποίησε τὸν ἑαυτῆς ἔχοντα πρός τε τὸν παρόντα καὶ τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον, λύσιν τῷ ὀρθῶς μανέντι τε καὶ κατασχομένῳ τῶν παρόντων κακῶν εὑρομένη.

Moreover, when diseases and the greatest troubles have been visited upon certain families through some ancient guilt, madness has entered in and by oracular power has found a way of release for those in need, taking refuge in prayers and the service of the gods, and so, by purifications and sacred rites, he who has this madness is made safe for the present and the after time, and for him who is rightly possessed of madness a release from present ills is found (Transl. H. N. Fowler).

Telestic ➚ μανία is also associated with ritualized contexts and altered states of consciousness (Pl. Phdr. 245a, see above). For example, Scyles, king of the Scythians, is initiated into the rite of Bacchus and participates in rituals where he is out of his mind and "does the Bacchus".

Hdt. 4, 79 Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦ βακχεύειν πέρι Ἕλλησι ὀνειδίζουσι· οὐ γάρ φασι οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους. Ἐπείτε δὲ ἐτελέσθη τῷ Βακχείῳ ὁ Σκύλης, †ἐπρήστευσε† τῶν τις Βορυσθενεϊτέων πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας λέγων· ῾ἡμῖν γὰρ καταγελᾶτε, ὦ Σκύθαι, ὅτι βακχεύομεν καὶ ἡμέας ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει· νῦν οὗτος ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον βασιλέα λελάβηκε, καὶ βακχεύει τε καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαίνεται. εἰ δέ μοι ἀπιστέετε, ἕπεσθε, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ δείξω᾽.

Now the Scythians reproach the Greeks for this Bacchic revelling, saying that it is not reasonable to set up a god who leads men to madness. So when Scyles had been initiated into the Bacchic rite, some one of the Borysthenites scoffed at the Scythians: “You laugh at us, Scythians, because we play the Bacchant and the god possesses us; but now this deity has possessed your own king, so that he plays the Bacchant and is maddened by the god. If you will not believe me, follow me now and I will show him to you” (transl. A. D. Godley)

According to Plato, this type of rites in which mortals are deprived of all reason was introduced by Dionysus because of Hera's punishment (see also Apollod. 3, 5).

Pl. Lg. 672b λόγος τις ἅμα καὶ φήμη ὑπορρεῖ πως ὡς ὁ θεὸς οὗτος ὑπὸ τῆς μητρυᾶς Ἥρας διεφορήθη τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν γνώμην, διὸ τάς τε βακχείας καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν μανικὴν ἐμβάλλει χορείαν τιμωρούμενος: ὅθεν καὶ τὸν οἶνον ἐπὶ τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ δεδώρηται.

There is a secret stream of story and report to the effect that the god Dionysus was robbed of his soul's judgment by his stepmother Hera, and that in vengeance therefor he brought in Bacchic delirium rites and all the frenzied choral dancing, and with the same aim bestowed also the gift of wine (tr. Bury 1968, with variations).

This irrational behaviour finds a special place in Christian authors' criticism of pagan rituals. Clement of Alexandria, for example, states that, moreover, in these rituals dedicated to "the delirious Dionysus” (Διόνυσον μαινόλην), raw meat was consumed and the participants shared out the flesh of their victims.

Cl. Al. Prot. 2, 12, 2 Διόνυσον μαινόλην ὀργιάζουσι Βάκχοι ὠμοφαγίᾳ τὴν ἱερομανίαν ἄγοντες καὶ τελίσκουσι τὰς κρεονομίας τῶν φόνων ἀνεστεμμένοι τοῖς ὄφεσιν, ἐπολολύζοντες Εὐάν, Εὔαν ἐκείνην, δι' ἣν ἡ πλάνη παρηκολούθησεν· καὶ σημεῖον ὀργίων βακχικῶν ὄφις ἐστὶ τετελεσμένος.

The Bacchi perform orgiastic rites to the delirious Dionysus, celebrate the sacred insanity by eating raw meat and distribute the flesh of the victims crowned with snakes to the cry of 'evai', that 'evai', for which the stray came. For the symbol of the orgiastic rites is a consecrated serpent.

Also in a critical manner, Augustine speaks of a Liber that deprives of judgement, whose worship is reserved to a few initiates, and in honour of whom public rites are celebrated.

Líber: Aug. Hipp. Ep. 17, 4. primo illud abs te quaero, quo modo oblitus sis Liberium illum, quem paucorum sacratorum oculis committendum putatis. Deinde tu ipse iudicas nihil aliud te agere voluisse, cum publicam sacrorum vestrorum celebrationem commemorares, nisi ut nobis decuriones et primates civitatis per plateas vestrae urbis bacchantes ac furentes ante oculus quasi specula poneremus. In qua celebritate si numine inhabitamini, certe videtis quale illud sit, quod adimit mentem

Let me first ask you how you could have forgotten your Bacchus, whom you consider it right to exhibit only to the eyes of the few who are initiated. You, however, think that, in making mention of the public celebration of your sacred rites, you intended only to make sure that we would place before our eyes the spectacle presented by your magistrates and the chief men of the city when intoxicated and raging along your streets; in which solemnity, if you are possessed by a god, you surely see of what nature he must be who deprives men of their reason. (J.G. Cunningham)

The importance of these rituals among the Greeks and Thracians is manifested among them in the celebration of regular rites:

D. S. 4, 3, 2 καὶ τοὺς μὲν Βοιωτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας καὶ Θρᾷκας ἀπομνημονεύοντας τῆς κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν στρατείας καταδεῖξαι τὰς τριετηρίδας θυσίας Διονύσῳ, καὶ τὸν θεὸν νομίζειν κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ποιεῖσθαι τὰς παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιφανείας. διὸ καὶ παρὰ πολλαῖς τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων διὰ τριῶν ἐτῶν βακχεῖά τε γυναικῶν ἀθροίζεσθαι, καὶ ταῖς παρθένοις νόμιμον εἶναι θυρσοφορεῖν καὶ συνενθουσιάζειν εὐαζούσαις καὶ τιμώσαις τὸν θεόν· τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας κατὰ συστήματα θυσιάζειν τῷ θεῷ καὶ βακχεύειν καὶ καθόλου τὴν παρουσίαν ὑμνεῖν τοῦ Διονύσου, μιμουμένας τὰς ἱστορουμένας τὸ παλαιὸν παρεδρεύειν τῷ θεῷ μαινάδας.

And the Boeotians and other Greeks and the Thracians, in memory of the campaign in India, have established sacrifices every other year​ to Dionysus, and believe that at that time the god reveals himself to human beings. Consequently in many Greek cities every other year​ Bacchic bands of women gather, and it is lawful for the maidens to carry the thyrsus and to join in the frenzied revelry, crying out "Euai!" and honouring the god; while the matrons, forming in groups, offer sacrifices to the god and celebrate his mysteries and, in general, extol with hymns the presence of Dionysus, in this manner acting the part of the Maenads​ who, as history records, were of old the companions of the god. (transl. C.H.Oldfather).

The epithets βάκχιος and βακχεῖος place Dionysus as the god of the Bacchantes. These terms derive from βάκχος ➚ and βάκχη ➚ which refer to the state of exaltation of the Dionysian followers from archaic and classical times. However, until the 5th century BC this epithet was only used to refer to the main figure of the procession (Santamaría 2013, 41 n. 16). See also (Ex. Gr. S. OT. 211; E. Hipp. 560-561, It. 164, IA 1061; Ba 623, 1020). 1.1. Dionysus μαινόμηενος In a well-known passage from the Iliad, which is also the first literary mention of Dionysus, Lycurgus harasses the god's female followers and they drop their thyrsus to the ground. Dionysus, seized by fear, plunges into the sea under the protection of Thetis. Zeus then punishes the Thracian hero by blinding him. Dionysus is called μαινόμενος not because he is portrayed as a mad deity, but because he induces his female followers to μανία and accompanies them, who seem to be performing a ritual carrying the thyrsus (Henrichs 199: 92).

Il. 6, 130-140
οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ Δρύαντος υἱὸς κρατερὸς Λυκόοργος
δὴν ἦν, ὅς ῥα θεοῖσιν ἐπουρανίοισιν ἔριζεν:
ὅς ποτε μαινομένοιο Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας
σεῦε κατ᾽ ἠγάθεον Νυσήϊον: αἳ δ᾽ ἅμα πᾶσαι
θύσθλα χαμαὶ κατέχευαν ὑπ᾽ ἀνδροφόνοιο Λυκούργου
θεινόμεναι βουπλῆγι: Διώνυσος δὲ φοβηθεὶς
δύσεθ᾽ ἁλὸς κατὰ κῦμα, Θέτις δ᾽ ὑπεδέξατο κόλπῳ
δειδιότα: κρατερὸς γὰρ ἔχε τρόμος ἀνδρὸς ὁμοκλῇ.
τῷ μὲν ἔπειτ᾽ ὀδύσαντο θεοὶ ῥεῖα ζώοντες,
καί μιν τυφλὸν ἔθηκε Κρόνου πάϊς: οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔτι δὴν
ἦν, ἐπεὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἀπήχθετο πᾶσι θεοῖσιν:

Nay, for even the son of Dryas, mighty Lycurgus, lived not long, seeing that he strove with heavenly gods—he that on a time drave down over the sacred mount of Nysa the nursing mothers of mad Dionysus; and they all let fall to the ground their wands, smitten with an ox-goad by man-slaying Lycurgus. But Dionysus fled, and plunged beneath the wave of the sea, and Thetis received him in her bosom, filled with dread, for mighty terror got hold of him at the man's threatenings. Then against Lycurgus did the gods that live at ease wax wroth, and the son of Cronos made him blind (tr. A. T. Murray 1924).

This episode is particularly relevant for our analysis in a scholium by Eumelus (Eumel. 27 [Sch. [D] Hom. Il. 6, 131]). The author tells a similar story, but with a marked ritual dimension, since Lycurgus' attack takes place while Dionysus is celebrating the teletai, the mystical rites, in the company of his nurses. This story does not call Dionysus μαινόμενος but it does clearly indicate the participation of the followers in the ritual, which is why it is commonly accepted that, also in the Iliad passage, the female followers are equated with the Maenads, and the maenadic behaviour of their followers is projected onto Dionysus himself. According to Henrichs (1994: 45), the outburst of psychosomatic energy of the ritual expressed by μαινόμενος corresponds in analogy to the μαίνεσθαι / μένος ➚ of the Homeric warrior. Moreover, the term μαινόμενος and the others etymologically related to it (μαίνεσθαι οr μανία), when taken to the extreme, become a destructive and uncontrollable force. In Apollodorus' version of the Lycurgus myth mentioned above, it is Dionysus who drives Lycurgus mad and causes the latter to murder his son, thinking he is cutting off a branch of a vine.

Apollod. 3, 5, 1 αὖθις δὲ αἱ Βάκχαι ἐλύθησαν ἐξαίφνης, Λυκούργῳ δὲ μανίαν ἐνεποίησε Διόνυσος. ὁ δὲ μεμηνὼς Δρύαντα τὸν παῖδα, ἀμπέλου νομίζων κλῆμα κόπτειν, πελέκει πλήξας ἀπέκτεινε, καὶ ἀκρωτηριάσας αὐτὸν ἐσωφρόνησε. τῆς δὲ γῆς ἀκάρπου μενούσης, ἔχρησεν ὁ θεὸς καρποφορήσειν αὐτήν, ἂν θανατωθῇ Λυκοῦργος. Ἠδωνοὶ δὲ ἀκούσαντες εἰς τὸ Παγγαῖον αὐτὸν ἀπαγαγόντες ὄρος ἔδησαν, κἀκεῖ κατὰ Διονύσου βούλησιν ὑπὸ ἵππων διαφθαρεὶς ἀπέθανε.

But afterwards the Bacchanals were suddenly released, and Dionysus drove Lycurgus mad. And in his madness he struck his son Dryas dead with an axe, imagining that he was lopping a branch of a vine, and when he had cut off his son's extremities, he recovered his senses. But the land remaining barren, the god declared oracularly that it would bear fruit if Lycurgus were put to death. On hearing that, the Edonians led him to Mount Pangaeum and bound him, and there by the will of Dionysus he died, destroyed by horses (transl. J. G. Frazer).

Dionysus acts, therefore, in an ambivalent way: on the one hand, he inspires and infuses μανία, causing ritual ecstasy and, on the other, he is the victim of the very madness which he imposes as punishment. This twofold path can also be observed on the two sides of ritual μανία: the positive and the negative. 1.2. Healthy and dark μανία. 1.2.1. Healthy μανία In some testimonies, μανία causes a state of positive enthusiasm and unbounded liberation that enables its followers to free themselves from everyday worries. This effect, which Dodds (1960 [1951]: 79-83) framed within "The Blessings of Madness", has a favourable consideration and impact on people who experience it, and the epithets Λύσιος, Λυσεύς οr Λυυαῖος associated with Dionysus often reflect this (see Jiménez San Cristóbal 2021: 181, n. 53 for references). Ecstatic dances, mountain ascent, along with ivy eating and are some of the main paths to a liberating state (see also E. Ba. 114-119). Sophocles tells how the Thyades, followers of Dionysus, ascend to the Delphic Parnassus and celebrate the god in a state of delirium (μαινόμεναι) with dances that last all night.

S. Ant. 1147-1152
Ἰὼ πῦρ πνεόντων
χοράγ᾽ ἄστρων, νυχίων
φθεγμάτων ἐπίσκοπε,
Ζηνὸς γένεθλον, προφάνηθ᾽,
ὦναξ, σαῖς ἅμα περιπόλοις
Θυίαισιν, αἵ σε μαινόμεναι πάννυχοι
χορεύουσι τὸν ταμίαν Ἴακχον.

O Leader of the chorus of the stars whose breath is fire, overseer of the chants in the night, son begotten of Zeus, appear, my king, with your attendant Thyiads, who in night-long frenzy dance and sing you as Iacchus the Giver! (transl. R. Jebb)

According to Pausanias, the Thyades, driven mad by Dionysus, fall prey to delirium (μαίνονται) on the summits of Mount Parnassus.

Paus. 10, 32, 7 τὰ δὲ νεφῶν τέ ἐστιν καὶ αἱ Θυιάδες ἐπὶ τούτοις τῷ Διονύσῳ καὶ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι μαίνονται.

The heights are above the clouds, and the Thyiad women rave there in honour of Dionysus and Apollo (transl. W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod).

Plutarch highlights how the consumption of ivy and its “breath of madness” (πνεῦμα μανίας) leads women to a state of joy and drunkenness during the Bacchic festivities of the Agrionia and Nyctelia in which wine, proper to the rituals celebrated by men, is absent.

Plu. Quaest. Rom. 291 A Ἀγριωνίοις δὲ καὶ Νυκτελίοις (i. e. ὁ κιττός), ὧν τὰ πολλὰ διὰ σκότους δρᾶται, πάρεστιν. ἢ καὶ τοῦτο συμβολικὴ θιάσων καὶ βακχευμάτων ἀπαγόρευσις ἦν; αἱ γὰρ ἔνοχοι τοῖς βακχικοῖς πάθεσι γυναῖκες εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὸν κιττὸν φέρονται, καὶ σπαράττουσι δραττόμεναι ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ διεσθίουσαι τοῖς στόμασιν· ὥστε μὴ παντελῶς ἀπιθάνους εἶναι τοὺς λέγοντας, ὅτι καὶ πνεῦμα μανίας ἔχων ἐγερτικὸν καὶ παρακινητικὸν ἐξίστησι καὶ σπαράττει, καὶ ὅλως ἄοινον ἐπάγει μέθην καὶ χαρὰν τοῖς ἐπισφαλῶς πρὸς ἐνθουσιασμὸν ἔχουσι.

But it has its place in the Agrionia and the Nyctelia, the rites of which are for the most part performed at night. Or was this also a symbolic prohibition of Bacchic revels and orgies? For women possessed by Bacchic frenzies rush straightway for ivy and tear it to pieces, clutching it in their hands and biting it with their teeth. So that not altogether without plausibility are they who assert that ivy, possessing as it does an exciting and distracting breath of madness, deranges persons and agitates them, and in general brings on a wineless drunkenness and joyousness in those that are precariously disposed towards spiritual exaltation. (transl. F. C. Babbitt)

1.2.2 Dark μανία There is often a violent side to the μανία, which Otto (1997 [19482]: 78-90) calls der Finstere Wahnsinn, ‘the dark madness’. In the mythological milieu, dark μανία is usually the result of the god's anger towards those who do not recognise him or reject his worship (see above Apollod. 3, 5, 1 ). In Antigone, Sophocles presents a Lycurgus seized by madness (μανίαις) who harasses the women possessed by the god (ἐνθέοι γυναῖκες), i.e. the maenads, attacks him, and teases the flute-loving Muses.

S. Ant. 955-965
ζεύχθη δ' ὀξύχολος παῖς ὁ Δρύαντος,
Ἠδωνῶν βασιλεύς, κερτομίοις ὀργαῖς,
ἐκ Διονύσου πετρώ-
δει κατάφαρκτος ἐν δεσμῷ.
οὕτω τᾶς μανίας δεινὸν ἀποστάζει
ἀνθηρόν τε μένος. κεῖνος ἐπέγνω μανίαις
ψαύων τὸν θεὸν ἐν κερτομίοις γλώσσαις.
παύεσκε μὲν γὰρ ἐνθέους
γυναῖκας εὔιόν τε πῦρ,
φιλαύλους τ' ἠρέθιζε Μούσας.

And Dryas's son, the Edonian king swift to rage, was tamed in recompense for his frenzied insults, when, by the will of Dionysus, he was shut in a rocky prison. There the fierce and swelling force of his madness trickled away. That man came to know the god whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries. For he had sought to quell the god-inspired women and the Bacchanalian fire, and he angered the Muses who love the flute (tranls. R.Jebb.).

Here the μανία shows itself as an offence against divine authority, an act of ὕβρις ➚, but it is susceptible to extinguishment (ἀποστάζει ➚) and it is Dionysus himself who orders Lycurgus' confinement in a prison. The aggressor, in turn, realises (ἐπέγνω ➚) the insult he has committed. 2. Prophetic μανία μανία is a gift that the gods bestow on the prophets and the priets of the oracles, who, in a state of delirium, perform their prophecies:

Pl. Phdr. 244a-b: ἥ τε γὰρ δὴ ἐν Δελφοῖς προφῆτις αἵ τ’ ἐν Δωδώνῃ ἱέρειαι μανεῖσαι μὲν πολλὰ δὴ καὶ καλὰ ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἠργάσαντο, σωφρονοῦσαι δὲ βραχέα ἢ οὐδέν· καὶ ἐὰν δὴ λέγωμεν Σίβυλλάν τε καὶ ἄλλους, ὅσοι μαντικῇ χρώμενοι ἐνθέῳ πολλὰ δὴ πολλοῖς προλέγοντες εἰς τὸ μέλλον ὤρθωσαν.

For the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when they have been mad have conferred many splendid benefits upon Greece both in private and in public affairs, but few or none when they were in their right minds; and if we should speak of the Sibyl and all the others who by prophetic inspiration have foretold many things to many persons and thereby made them fortunate afterwards. (transl. H. N. Fowler, modified).

3. Passion Both mortals and gods fall victims of the passion of Eros:

Ibyc. PMG fr. 5
ἐµοὶ δ’ ἔρος . . .
οὐδεμίαν κατάκοιτος ὥραν. . . .
ἀίσσων παρὰ Κύπριδος ἀζαλέ
αις μανίαισιν ἐρεμνὸς ἀθαμβὴς
ἐγκρατέως πεδόθεν φυλάσσει
ἡμετέρας φρένας.

Eros does not allow me any time of rest; . . . shooting from Cypris with cruel madnesses, dark, unabashed, he forcefully shakes our minds to their very bottom.

Apollo, driven mad by the passion of Eros, pursues Dafne

Anacreont. 60. 24-25.
ἄγε, θυμέ, πῆι μέμηνας
μανίην μανεὶς ἀρίστην

Come on, heart, how have you gone mad,
taken by the greatest passion?

Hera asks Lyssa, personification of mad rage, to move Herakles to madness to kill his children

E. HF 833-835.
ἀλλ’ εἶ’ ἄτεγκτον συλλαβοῦσα καρδίαν,
Νυκτὸς κελαινῆς ἀνυμέναιε παρθένε,
μανίας τ’ ἐπ’ ἀνδρὶ τῶιδε…

Come now, virgin daughter of the dark Night, gather up your relentless heart, disturb his mind, send madness to this man…

4. Poetic μανία According to Plato, the μανία inspired by the muses is what makes poets better.

Pl. Phdr. 245a: τρίτη δὲ ἀϖὸ Μουσῶν κατοκωχή τε καὶ µανία, λαβοῦσα ἁπαλὴν καὶ ἄβατον ψυχήν, ἐγείρουσα καὶ ἐκβακχεύουσα κατά τε ᾠδὰς καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην ποίησιν, µυρία τῶν παλαιῶν ἔργα κοσμοῦσα τοὺς ἐπιγιγνομένους παιδεύει· ὃς δ’ ἂν ἄνευ μανίας Μουσῶν ἐπὶ ποιητικὰς θύρας ἀφίκηται, πεισθεὶς ὡς ἄρα ἐκ τέχνης ἱκανὸς ποιητὴς ἐσόμενος, ἀτελὴς αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ ποίησις ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν μαινομένων ἡ τοῦ σωφρονοῦντος ἠφανίσθη

And a third kind of possession and madness comes from the Muses. This takes hold upon a gentle and pure soul, arouses it and inspires it to songs and other poetry, and thus by adorning countless deeds of the ancients educates later generations. But he without the divine madness comes to the doors of the Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madman (transl. H. N. Fowler).

Aristophanes describes Aeschylus rolling his eyes wrapped in an intense delirium,in a state proper to poets possessed by the Muses, as opposed to the restrained and rational Euripides:

Ar. Ra. 814–817
Xo. ἦ που δεινὸν ἐριβρεμέτας χόλον ἔνδοθεν ἕξει,
ἡνίκ’ ἂν ὀξύλαλόν περ ἴδῃ θήγοντος ὀδόντα
ἀντιτέχνου· τότε δὴ μανίας ὑπὸ δεινῆς
ὄμματα στροβήσεται.

Surely the dreadful thunderer will feel wrath within him
as he looks at the rival whetting his babbling tusk.
Then his eyes will spin with awful madness (transl. M. Dillon).