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(back to the Phallus costume) I found today that
the word comedy comes from the Greek komos and "is a communal ritual
carouse: on a small scale it is the ancient equivalent of
party-crashing and bar-hopping rolled into one, but as part of a
communal festival of Dionysus it recalls modern carnivals such as
that of Mardi gras (although the ancient rites were usually more
carefully scripted and ordered) — a time when normal social rules
and inhibitions are cast aside and people party in the streets,
singing, dancing, and (often) drinking. The ancient komos often
involved masks and costumes, as does Mardi gras, but was marked by
another practice foreign to most festivals in modern North America:
aischrologia or the ritual abuse of individuals. Another distinctive
feature, found in many Dionysiac rites and no doubt in some komoi,
was the phallos: an imitation penis, often too large for one person
to lift with ease, carried on a pole or cart."
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