Telete
goddess of initiation into the Bacchic rituals.
In Greek mythology, Telete was the daughter of Dionysus and Nicaea.
Concerning Telete's birth, it is related that Nicaea was ashamed of having been made pregnant by Dionysus, and even attempted to hang herself; nevertheless, in due time a daughter was born to her.
The Horae were said to have served as midwives at Telete's birth. Telete was destined by Dionysus to become a follower of himself and his son Iacchus, her half-brother.
Pausanias mentions a statue of Telete in the sanctuary of the Heliconian Muses in Boeotia. Her image was next to that of Orpheus.
Telete was associated with nighttime festivities and ritual dances in honor of Dionysus, and has been interpreted as a goddess of initiation into the Bacchic rites.
(Sources: Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 16. 392-400 and 400-402, Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 48. 884-885, Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9. 30. 4)
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