thyrsus

[ thur-suh s ]

/ ˈθɜr səs /

Botany. a thyrse.

Greek Antiquity. a staff tipped with a pine cone and sometimes twined with ivy and vine branches, borne by Dionysus and his votaries.

Origin of thyrsus

1585–95; < Latin < Greek thýrsos Bacchic staff, stem of plant

Then occurs another outflow from the thyrsus and cup, and another round of the Bacchantes to the sound of drums and cymbals.

Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography |Albert A. Hopkins
He is an idealist reveling in color: a Platonist brandishing the thyrsus of the Menads.

Amiel's Journal |Henri-Frdric Amiel
Their heads were helmeted with triple brass, and impenetrable to the heaviest blows of the thyrsus of Bacchus.

The Golden Dog |William Kirby
In the center of the temple Bacchus is seen standing, holding a thyrsus in his left hand and a cup in his right.

Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions Including Trick Photography |Albert A. Hopkins

Sometimes the thyrsus is replaced by ivy leaves, which, like the fig, are symbolic of the triple creator.

Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism |Thomas Inman

thyrsus

/ (ˈθɜːsəs) /

Greek myth a staff, usually one tipped with a pine cone, borne by Dionysus (Bacchus) and his followers

a variant spelling of thyrse

C18: from Latin, from Greek thursos stalk