Hodiernus dies est ante diem IV Nonas Octobris; haec dies comitialis est.

"Minos aspired to the throne of Krete, but was rebuffed. He claimed,
however, that he had received the sovereignty from the gods, and to
prove it he said that whatever he prayed for would come about. So
while sacrificing to Poseidon, he prayed for a bull to appear from the
depths of the sea, and promised to sacrifice it upon its appearance.
And Poseidon did send up to him a splendid bull. Thus Minos received
the rule, but he sent the bull to his herds and sacrificed another.
Poseidon was angry that the bull was not sacrificed, and turned it
wild. He also devised that Pasiphae should develop a lust for it. In
her passion for the bull she took on as her accomplice an architect
named Daidalos...He built a woden cow on wheels...skinned a real cow,
and sewed the contraption into the skin, and then, after placing
Pasiphae inside, set it in a meadow where the bull normally grazed.
The bull came up and had intercourse with it, as if with a real cow.
Pasiphae gave birth to Asterios, who was called Minotauros. He had the
face of a bull, but was otherwise human. Minos, following certain
oracular instructions, kept him confined and under guard in the
labyrinth. This labyrinth, which Daidalos built, was a cage with
convoluted flextions that disorders debouchment." - Apollodorus, The
Library 3.8-11

"Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, became enamoured of the bull, and
Daidalos, by fashioning a contrivance in the shape of a cow, assisted
Pasiphae to gratify her passion. In explanation of this the myths
offer the following account: before this time it had been the custom
of Minos annually to dedicate to Poseidon the fairest bull born in his
herds and to sacrifice it to the god; but at the time in question
there was born a bull of extraordinary beauty and he sacrificed
another from among those which were inferior, whereupon Poseidon
becoming angry at Minos, caused his wife Pasiphae to become enamoured
of the bull. And by means of the ingenuity of Daidalos Pasiphae had
intercourse with the bull and gave birth to the Minotauros, famed in
the myth. This creature, they say, was of double form, the upper parts
of the body as far as the shoulders being those of a bull and the
remaining parts those of a man. As a place in which to keep this
monstrous thing Daidalos, the story goes, built a labyrinth, the
passage-ways of which were so winding that those unfamiliar with them
had difficulty in making their way out; in this labyrinth the Minotaur
was maintained and here it devoured the seven youths and seven maidens
which were sent to it from Athens, as we have already related." -
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.77.1

"He [Theseus] killed the Minotaur in the town of Cnossus." - Hyginus,
Fabulae 38

"The feast called Oschophoria, or the feast of boughs, which to this
day the Athenians celebrate, was then first instituted by Theseus. For
he took not with him the full number of virgins which by lot were to
be carried away, but selected two youths of his acquaintance, of fair
and womanish faces, but of a manly and forward spirit, and having, by
frequent baths, and avoiding the heat and scorching of the sun, with a
constant use of all the ointments and washes and dresses that serve to
the adorning of the head or smoothing the skin or improving the
complexion, in a manner changed them from what they were before, and
having taught them farther to counterfeit the very voice and carriage
and gait of virgins so that there could not be the least difference
perceived, he, undiscovered by any, put them into the number of the
Athenian maids designed for Crete. At his return, he and these two
youths led up a solemn procession, in the same habit that is now worn
by those who carry the vine-branches. Those branches they carry in
honour of Bacchus and Ariadne, for the sake of their story before
related; or rather because they happened to return in autumn, the time
of gathering the grapes. The women, whom they call Deipnopherae, or
supper-carriers, are taken into these ceremonies, and assist at the
sacrifice, in remembrance and imitation of the mothers of the young
men and virgins upon whom the lot fell, for thus they ran about
bringing bread and meat to their children; and because the women then
told their sons and daughters many tales and stories, to comfort and
encourage them under the danger they were going upon, it has still
continued a custom that at this feast old fables and tales should be
told. For these particularities we are indebted to the history of
Demon. There was then a place chosen out, and a temple erected in it
to Theseus, and those families out of whom the tribute of the youth
was gathered were appointed to pay tax to the temple for sacrifices to
him. And the house of the Phytalidae had the overseeing of these
sacrifices, Theseus doing them that honour in recompense of their
former hospitality." - Plutarch, Parallel Lives "Theseus"

In ancient Greece today was the celebration of the Oschophoria. The
Oschophoria was a festival celebrated in Attica, according to some
writers celebrated in honour of Athena and Dionysus, according to
others Dionysus and Ariadne. Said to have been instituted by
Theseus, this was a vintage festival, its name derived from the word
for a branch of a vine with grapes.

The Greek myth states that when Theseus left Athens, he took with him
three girls and two boys dresses as girls. After he killed the
Minotaur in the Labyrinth and returned to Athens he was crowned with a
wreath of olive leaves. However, because his father died he put the
crown on his staff and not on his head. The festival of Dionysus was
being commemorated when he returned, and he placed the two boys that
were dressed like women at the front of the procession. Consequently,
in the procession during the Oschophorian celebrations, two men
dressed like women carried vine-branches from the temple of Dionysus
to the temple of Athena Skira. They were accompanied by a herald with
a wreath wrapped around his staff. Also in the procession were women
who carried the sacred foods for the feast. Some of the meat became a
burnt offering for the gods, with the remainder eaten or divided up
for the participants to take home. When the procession reached the
temple, stories were told and many songs sung. The women usually
prepared the dinner and narrated myths. Athletic games were also
played during the Oschophoria.

Valete bene!

Cato



SOURCES

Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, Hyginus, Plutarch, Wikipedia

Hodiernus dies est ante diem V Idus Octobris; haec dies nefastus publicus est.

"Nowhere was there ever a general who endeared himself more to his
soldiers by cheerfully sharing every duty with the humblest of his men
In the military sports when the soldiers got up contests of speed and
strength among them- selves he was equally ready to win or to lose,
and never thought any man unworthy to be his antagonist. He showed
practical kindness as circumstances required; in his language he was
not less mindful of other men's liberty than of his own dignity, and
what made him most popular was that he displayed the same qualities in
discharging the duties of his office which he had shown as a candidate
for it. Following up their commander's words, the whole army marched
out of camp with extraordinary alacrity. In no battle that was ever
fought did men engage with strength more equally matched, or more
assured hopes of victory on both sides, or a stronger spirit of
self-confidence unaccompanied, however, by any feeling of contempt for
their opponents. The fighting temper of the Samnites was roused by
their recent achieve- ments and the double victory won a few days
previously; the Romans on the other hand were inspired by their
glorious record of four centuries of victory reaching back to the
founda- tion of the City. But each side felt some anxiety at meeting a
new and untried foe. The battle was an index to their feelings; for
some time they fought so resolutely that neither line showed any signs
of giving way. At length the consul, seeing that the Samnites could
not be repulsed by steady fighting, determined to try the effect of a
sudden shock and launched his cavalry at them. This made no
impression, and as he watched them wheeling round in the narrow space
between the opposing armies after their ineffective charge, having
utterly failed to penetrate the enemy's line, he rode back to the
front ranks of the legions, and after dismounting said: `Soldiers,
this task belongs to us infantry. Come on! Wherever you see me making
my way through the enemy's lines with my sword follow, and each of you
do his best to cut down those in front. All that ground which is now
glittering with uplifted spears you shall see cleared by a vast
carnage.' During those words the cavalry, at the consul's order,
retired an both flanks, leaving the centre clear for the legions. The
consul led the charge, and slew the first man he engaged with. Fired
at the sight, every man, right and left, charged straight forward and
began a fight to be re- membered. The Samnites did not flinch, though
they were receiving more wounds than they inflicted.

The battle had now gone on for a considerable time; there was a
terrible slaughter round the Samnite standards but no signs of flight
anywhere, so resolved were they that death alone should be their
conqueror. The Romans began to find their strength failing through
fatigue and not much daylight remained, so goaded on by rage and
disappointment they flung themselves madly upon their foe. Then for
the first time the Samnites were seen to be giving ground and
preparing to flee; they were being taken prisoners and killed in all
directions, and not many would have survived had not night put an end
to what was becoming a victory rather than a battle. The Romans
admitted that they had never fought with a more obstinate enemy, and
when the Samnites were asked what it was that first turned them, with
all their determination, to flight, they said that the eyes of the
Romans looked like fire, and their faces and expression like those of
madmen; it was this more than anything else which filled them with
terror. This terror showed itself not only in the result of the battle
but also in their hurrying away in the night. The next day the Romans
took possession of their empty camp, and all the popula- tion of Capua
came out there to congratulate them." - Livy, History of Rome 7.33


"Octobri mense Meditrinalia dies dictus a medendo, quod Flaccus flamen
Martialis dicebat hoc die solitum vinum novum et vetus libari et
degustari medicamenti causa; quod facere solent etiam nunc multi cum
dicunt: 'Novum vetus vinum bibo: novo veteri morbo medeor'."
(The day of the Meditrinalia in month October was named from 'mederi'
[to be healed], as Flamen Martialis Flaccus used to say that on this
day it was the custom to make a libation of new and old wine and to
taste it in order to be healed. Many are accustomed to do this even
now when they say: "Wine new and old I drink, of illness new and old
I'm cured.") - Varro, De Lingua Latina 6.21


"Si deus si dea es qui Meditrinaliae tutelam habet, quod tibi hodie
fieri oportet libationem vini novi et veteri, eius rei ergo macte hoc
vino novo et veteri pollucenda esto." (Be you god or goddess who has
the tutelage of the Meditrinalia, as it is proper to offer to you
today a libation of wine new and old, for sake of this shall you be
honoured by this offering of wine new and old.)- A. Gryllus Graecus
(NR) in honor of the Meditrinalia

Today is the first day of the Meditrinalia; the celebration of the new
wine harvest. In drinking the new wine it was customary to pronounce
the words: "vetus novum vinum bibo, novo veteri morbo medeor." It is
thought that this celebration was initially dedicated to Iuppiter
Himself, although a shadowy "Meditrina" ("healer") was associated with
the festival by the 2nd century grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus, on
the basis of which she is asserted to be the Roman goddess of health,
longevity and wine in some modern sources. Iuppiter's involvement can
be construed from Ovid's words in the Fasti describing the Vinalia of
a.d. IX Kal. Maius:

"And so did Aeneas, and addressed Jove:
'The enemy's pledged his vine-crop to the Tyrrhenian king:
Jupiter, you shall have the wine from the Latin vines!'
The nobler prayer succeeded: huge Mezentius died,
And struck the ground, heart filled with indignation.
Autumn came, dyed with the trodden grapes:
The wine, justly owed to Jupiter, was paid."

There were several other Roman festivals associated with the
cultivation of the vine and the production of wine. The Liberalia
(a.d. XVI Kal. Apr.) honored Liber Pater and his consort Libera,
Italian deities associated with fertility of the fields and the
cultivation of the vine, though not necessarily with the production of
wine. The Vinalia Priora (a.d. IX Kal. Maius), also known at the
Vinalia Urbana, celebrated the production of wine by opening casks
from the previous year and pouring a libation (calpar) to Iuppiter.
The Vinalia Rustica (a.d. XIV Kal. Sept.), also known as the Vinalia
Altera, celebrated the start of the grape harvest, in which the first
grapes were broken off the vine by the flamen dialis.

Valete bene and IO MEDITRINALIA!

Cato



SOURCES

Livy, Ovid, Wikipedia, and (www.ancientworlds.net)