Mythes, fêtes et rites de la déraison dans la Rome antique. Une archéologie du sens : sens perdu, sens recouvert, sens découvert, sens retrouvé
Myths, Feasts and Frenzy Rites in Ancient Rome

Summary/Abstract: During Antiquity, daily life in Rome was punctuated by very numerous feasts and games, which often had a commemorative function. However, since the event which founded the commemorative act had come out of the collective memory, the rite which preserved the recollection appeared to have lost all meaning. It is therefore necessary to trace back the founding event of the feast or game in order to discover, under the apparent nonsense (anoètos), the mythic affabulation (mythos) giving a sense (logos) or restoring a meaning to incongruous ritual gestures. Three cases are here considered: Lupercalia, Bacchanalia (with their particular extension, Matralia) and Saturnalia.

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