Cotyttia

Scene on a third-century A.D. sarcophagus depicting an orgia

Cotyttia (Greek: Κοτύττια, Kotuttiā) was an orgiastic, nocturnal religious festival of ancient Greece and Thrace in celebration of Kotys, the goddess of sex, that some considered an aspect of Persephone.

Celebration

Cotyttia was a nocturnal festival in ancient Greece, "in honour of Cotytta, or Cotyttis, goddess of wantonness. It was observed by the Athenians, Corinthians, Chians, Thracians, and others; and celebrated with such rites as were most acceptable to the goddess, who was thought to be delighted with libidinous excess." Another people who celebrated the festival were the Edones. In Sicily a festival of the same name was held as a celebration of the rape of Persephone. Throughout Thrace it was celebrated secretly in the hills at night, and was notorious for its obscenity and insobriety.

Through influence of trade and commerce, the Edonian form of the festival spread to Athens, Corinth, and Chios, where its mark became so pronounced that "companion of Cotytto" became synonymous with "slut".

References

  1. 1 2 Simpson, D. P. (1968). Cassell's Latin Dictionary. U.S.A.: Macmillan Publishing Co. p. 156. ISBN 0-02-522570-7.
  2. 1 2 3 Bell, John (2003). Bell's New Pantheon or Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi Gods, Heroes. Kessinger Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 0-7661-7834-X.
  3. 1 2 Peck, Harry Thurston (1897). Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. New York: Harper & Brothers Pub. pp. 421–422.
  4. ↑ Verity, A. Wilson (1891). Milton's Arcades and Comus. New York: Macmillan and Co. p. 94.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, Charles Rann (1856). The Orations of Demosthenes Against Leptines, Midias, Androtian, and Aristocrates. London: Henry G. Bohn. p. 276.
  6. 1 2 Gow, James (1895). Q.horati Flacci Epodon liber. Cambridge: J. and C. F. Clay. p. 52.
  7. 1 2 "Kotys". Theoi Greek Mythology. 2008. Retrieved Feb 4, 2009.