Who is Liber Pater?
On March 17, the
ancient Romans celebrated the Liberalia in honour of Liber Pater and Libera.
Liber Pater is an
ancient Italic Fertility Deity that is closely related to the Greek God of Wine
ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ 【Dionysos】 or ΒΑΚΧΟΣ 【Bakkhos】. [I] Through Greek influence, Liber Pater was also commonly referred to
as Bacchus.
During the Imperial
period, He was typically depicted as a young man with a wreath of Ivy berries
and leaves on top of His head since He was a once hidden under some ivy leaves
to protect Him from His jealous stepmother Iuno. [II] By the way, artists of the renaissance period
and later often mistook the leaves and fruit on His head for grape leaves and
grapes, though ancient depictions of grapes in addition to Ivy berries in His
wreath exist too.
In His hands, Bacchus
often carries some grapes, a cantharus (Greek: ΚΑΝΘΑΡΟΣ 【kantharos】) filled with wine or a thyrsus (Greek: ΘΥΡΣΟΣ 【thyrsos】), which is a phallic staff with a pine cone or some vine leaves on top.
He often wears nothing
more than a shoulder cloth, a leopard skin or a deer skin.
Who is Libera?
Libera is an ancient
Italic Fertility Deity as well. As the consort of Liber Pater, She became
associated with a mortal girl from Greek mythology called ΑΡΙΑΔΝΗ 【Ariadnē】: Right after she was abandoned on the island Naxos by Theseus, the
slayer of the Minotaurus (Greek: ΜΙΝΩΤΑΥΡΟΣ【Minōtauros】. [III]
Bacchus found the
beautiful Ariadne, sobbing on the beach. He comforted Her, one thing led to
another and She ended up becoming His immortal consort. [IV]
Liber Pater’s retinue
Liber Pater and Libera
are often depicted in the company of the following creatures:
・ a string of female followers called the Maenades (Greek: ΜΑΙΝΑΔΕΣ 【Mainades】)
・ the Satyri (Greek: SATΥROI 【Satyroi】), a race of men with pointy ears and a horse tails
・ Silenus, the father of the
Satyri
As guests, we can
sometimes also see the Gods:
・ Faunus and
・ Hercules as they followed
Bacchus’ merry gang around during a certain period.
・ Here and there, Amor shows
up too, perhaps to symbolise Liber Pater’s love for Libera, or, more generally,
passionate emotions that are often experienced while under the influence of
wine.
・ And then finally, there’s
the large felines that help Bacchus and His friends to get from one place to
another.
What did the Romans
do on the Liberalia?
So how did the Romans
celebrate the Liberalia?
First of all, there
was the offering of liba, or honey cakes, to Liber Pater. Just like in
the followers of Dionysos in Greece, followers of Liber Pater were often women
and it was a priestess that presided over the ritual. According to Ovidius, it
had to be an older woman because they love wine more than young girls do. [V]
Secondly, there was an
important rite of passage for a number of freeborn boys every year on this day:
To symbolise the fact
that they were leaving boyhood behind, they took of their “bulla” which was
amulet that boys wore around their neck for protection. They would offer the
bulla to the household Deities called the Lares.) The striped toga called the toga
Praetexta was taken off and exchanged for a pure white toga virilis,
a symbol that they were now free, adult citizens. [VI] [VII] [V]
The age that was
considered appropriate for this rite of passage seems to have differed, but it
was generally between the age 13 and 18 years old. [VIII]
Sources:
[I] Mac Góráin,
Fiachra. "Dionysus in
Rome " in Vanda Zajko et al. (2017)
A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology: Wiley Blackwell.
[II] Ovidius. Fasti.
Book III 767.
[III] Ovidius. Metamorphoseon
Libri. Book VIII:152-182.
[IV] Ovidius. Fasti.
Book III: March 8.
[V] Ovidius. Fasti.
Book III 762.
[VI] Persius. Satires:
5.30-31]
[VII] Propertius
4.1.131-2.
[VIII] Olson, Kelly
(2017) Masculinity and Dress in Roman Antiquity. Taylor & Francis: p48.
