Thesmophoria

Definition and stakes

Portrait of Aristophanes Aristophanes,  Aristophanes: The Eleven Comedies… (1912)

“ Very good, very good, 'tis perfect! Say on, say on.
PRAXAGORA
They are worth more than you are, as I shall prove. First of all they wash all their wool in warm water, according to the ancient practice; you will never see them changing their method. Ah! if Athens only acted thus, if it did not take delight in ceaseless innovations, would not its happiness be assured? Then the women sit down to cook, as they always did; they carry things on their head as was their wont; they keep the Thesmophoria, as they have ever done; they knead their cakes just as they used to
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Source: Wikisource

Portrait of John Caius John Caius,  The Epidemics of the Middle Ages

“ Now, every species of enthusiasm, every strong affection, every violent passion, may lead to convulsions—to mental disorders—to a concussion of the nerves, from the sensorium to the very finest extremities of the spinal chord. The whole world is full of examples of this afflicting state of turmoil, which, when the mind is carried away by the force of a sensual impression that destroys its freedom, is irresistibly propagated by imitation. ”
Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton,  What Dreams May Come

“ I am never intense except when I have the blues, and intensity, with my peculiar mental anatomy, is a thing to be avoided. In what is invariably the last chapter of those attacks of morbid dissatisfaction I shall some day feel an intense desire to blow out my brains, and shall probably succumb. I wonder if she will induce another rhyming attack to-night. Was that night a dream or a reality? Could I have had a short but sharp attack of brain fever? Perhaps the less I think about it the better; but it is decidedly hard to be gifted with the instincts of a poet and denied the verbal formulation. ”
Source: Gutenberg

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