previous next
ὄργι-α , ίων, τά,
A.secret rites, secret worship, practised by the initiated, a post-Hom. word ; used of the worship of Demeter at Eleusis, h.Cer.273,476. Ar.Ra.386, Th.948 ; of the rites of the Cabeiri and Demeter Achaia, Hdt.2.51,5.61; of Orpheus, Id.2.81; of Eumolpus, App.Anth.1.318 ; of Cybele, E.Ba.78 (lyr.): most freq. of the rites of Dionysus, Hdt.2.81, E.Ba.34, al., Theoc.26.13.
II. generally, rites, sacrifices, SIG57.4 (Milet., v B. C.), A.Th.179 (lyr.), S.Tr.765, Ant.1013 ; “ὄργια Μουσῶν” Ar.Ra.356.
2. metaph., mysteries, without reference to religion, “ἐπιστήμης” Hp.Lex5 ; “τοῖς τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ὀ. εἰλημμένον” Ar.Lys.832, cf. Ach.Tat.4.1; “τὰ Ἐπικούρου θεόφαντα ὄ.” Metrod.38.—The sg. ὄργιον is rare, Jahresh.13Beibl.29 No.3 (Erythrae, iv B. C.), Luc.Syr.D.16, Orph.H.52.5. (Prob. cogn. with ἔρδω, ῥέζω, cf. ἔργον, ὀργεών.）
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

hide Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
Search for in
How to enter text in Greek:
hide References (17 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (17):
    • Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, 179
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 356
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 386
    • Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae, 948
    • Euripides, Bacchae, 34
    • Euripides, Bacchae, 78
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.51
    • Herodotus, Histories, 2.81
    • Herodotus, Histories, 5.61
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 2 to Demeter, 273
    • Homeric Hymns, Hymn 2 to Demeter, 476
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 1013
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 765
    • Aristophanes, Lysistrata, 832
    • Hippocrates, Lex, 5
    • Lucian, De Syria dea, 16
    • Achilles Tatius, Leucippe et Clitophon, 4.1
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: