Lycurgus (Thrace)

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Lycurgus (also Lykurgos, Lykourgos) was a King of the Edoni in Thrace, and the son of Dryas, the "oak" (Iliad vi). He banned the cult of Dionysus. When Lycurgus heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned Dionysus' followers, the Maenads. Dionysus fled, taking refuge with Thetis the sea nymph. Dionysus then sent a drought to Thrace.

Going insane, Lycurgus mistook his father Dryas for a mature trunk of ivy, which is holy to Dionysus, and killed him, pruning away his nose and ears, fingers and toes. Zeus, to whom the oak is sacred, struck him blind (Iliad vi). An oracle then predicted that the land would stay dry and barren as long as Lycurgus was alive, so his people had him dismembered by wild horses. With Lycurgus dead, Dionysus lifted the curse.

In some versions the story of Lycurgus and his punishment by Dionysus is placed in Arabia rather than in Thrace. The tragedian Aeschylus, in a lost play, depicted Lycurgus as a beer-drinker and hence a natural opponent of the wine god: Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 447c (Dalby 2005, pp. 65-71, 153).

[edit] Bibliography

• Dalby, Andrew (2005), The Story of Bacchus, London: British Museum Press, ISBN 0714122556 (US ISBN 0520227891)