Mystis

Mystis ( Greek  Μύστις , "the initiate", but also: "the initiator") was the nurse and carer of the newborn Dionysus .

In the ancient literature that has survived, it appears only in the Dionysiacs of Nonnos of Panopolis ( Dionysiaka 9.22 ff.). There she teaches the young Dionysus the nocturnal rites: she shakes the rattle, strikes the cymbal , wields the torch, girds herself with snakes and dresses in deer skins. As a toy, she gives the young god the objects in his mystical basket.

Nonnos also mentions that the origin of the Mystis is Sidon in today's Lebanon and that she is a servant of Kadmos (from Phenicia ) , whom he brought to Greece.

In addition, Mystis is the title of a lost play by the Attic comedy poet Antiphanes .