Editing Iacchus (section)

==Herodotus' "Iacchus"==
Possibly the oldest testimony related to Iacchus, is given by the 5th-century Greek historian [[Herodotus]].<ref>Versnel, p. 23; Kerényi 1967, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ds1Wg01wzeYC&pg=PA7 pp. 7&ndash;10];  Harrison, [https://archive.org/stream/prolegomenatostu00harr#page/542/mode/2up p. 542]; [[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.65 8.65]. Versnel describes the Herododean passage as the "oldest testimony". However, Encinas Reguero, p. 350, says only that it "could be the oldest". Though the event described by Herodotus supposedly took place prior to the [[Battle of Salamis]] in 480 BC, as Encinas Reguero points out, it is not known whether Herodotus wrote before or after the reference made to Iacchus in Sophocles' ''Antigone'' (c. 442–441 BC). Also possibly older testimony are the two lekythoi vases (c. 500 BC) mentioned above, as well as certain inscriptions from [[Berezan Island|Berezan]] and [[Olbia]] ("possibly as early as the 6th century BC") noted by Jiménez San Cristóbal 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zmgXMbOtX9cC&pg=PA127 p. 127].</ref> According to Herodotus, Dicaeus an Athenian exile told the story that, he and the former [[Sparta]]n king [[Demaratus]], who had become an advisor to the Persian king  [[Xerxes I]], witnessed a miraculous event which Dicaeus interpreted as predicting the defeat of the Persian fleet at the [[Battle of Salamis]] (480 BC), during the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]:

:Dicaeus son of Theocydes, an Athenian exile who had become important among the Medes, said that at the time when the land of Attica was being laid waste by Xerxes' army and there were no Athenians in the country, he was with Demaratus the Lacedaemonian on the Thriasian plain and saw advancing from Eleusis a cloud of dust as if raised by the feet of about thirty thousand men. They marvelled at what men might be raising such a cloud of dust and immediately heard a cry. The cry seemed to be the “Iacchus” of the mysteries, and when Demaratus, ignorant of the rites of Eleusis, asked him what was making this sound, Dicaeus said, “Demaratus, there is no way that some great disaster will not befall the king's army. Since Attica is deserted, it is obvious that this voice is divine and comes from Eleusis to help the Athenians and their allies. If it descends upon the Peloponnese, the king himself and his army on the mainland will be endangered. If, however, it turns towards the ships at Salamis, the king will be in danger of losing his fleet. Every year the Athenians observe this festival for the Mother and the Maiden, and any Athenian or other Hellene who wishes is initiated. The voice which you hear is the ‘Iacchus’ they cry at this festival.” To this Demaratus replied, “Keep silent and tell this to no one else. If these words of yours are reported to the king, you will lose your head, and neither I nor any other man will be able to save you, so be silent. The gods will see to the army.” Thus he advised, and after the dust and the cry came a cloud, which rose aloft and floated away towards Salamis to the camp of the Hellenes. In this way they understood that Xerxes' fleet was going to be destroyed. Dicaeus son of Theocydes used to say this, appealing to Demaratus and others as witnesses.<ref>[[Herodotus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.65 8.65].</ref>

However, while the "cloud of dust" and the ritual cry "Iacchus" are apparent references to the Eleusinian procession, no explicit reference is made by Herodotus to Iacchus' statue, nor in fact to the god himself&mdash; either here or elsewhere.<ref>Versnel, p. 23; Jiménez San Cristóbal 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zmgXMbOtX9cC&pg=PA126 p. 126], [https://books.google.com/books?id=zmgXMbOtX9cC&pg=PA127 p. 127].</ref> Some scholars have taken this passage as evidence that, for Herodotus, Iacchus was not yet a god.<ref>Jiménez San Cristóbal 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zmgXMbOtX9cC&pg=PA127 p. 127]; see for example Foucart, [https://archive.org/stream/lesmystresdl00foucuoft#page/110/mode/2up p. 110]: ''Au temps des guerres médiques, il n'avait pas encore de personnalité, il désignait les chants et les acclamations poussées par le cortège des mystes, lorsqu'il se rendait d'Athènes a Éleusis. C'est le sens qu'il a très nettement dans le récit qu'Hérodote a fait du prodige qui annonça le désastre des Perses à Salamine. Dans la plaine déserte de Thria, un exilé athénien, au service du Grand Roi, aperçut un nuage de poussière, comme celui qu'aurait soulevé une troupe de trente mille hommes, et il entendit un grand bruit de cris qui lui semblèrent être le Iacchos mystique, xαί οἱ φαίνεσθαι τὴν φωνὴν εἶναι τὸν μυστιxὸν ἴαxχον.''</ref> This story, associating Iacchus with such an important Greek victory, presumably led to an increase in his fame, popularity and importance throughout Greece,<ref>Mylonas, p. 255; Farnell, [https://archive.org/stream/cultsofgreekstat03farnuoft#page/n167/mode/2up p. 147].</ref> and so conceivably, helped to establish Iacchus as a god.