Completed Project: Thyrsus

 Back in Ancient Greece, when women celebrated the Festivals of Dionysus, they would hike up a mountain with a thyrsus, which is a staff covered with ivy and topped with a pine cone. At my university, we have a tradition where once a year, we hike up a mountain and perform skits in crazy costumes. However, none of carry a thyrsus...until now, that is. Quick fact: I'm a Classics major. After learning about Dionysus festivals, I wanted to make a thyrsus for the Classics Department for the mountain hike and Eta Sigma Phi initiations. 

The staff is a natural branch that I found in the woods, dried and de-bugged, then whittled of the top bark. To keep the natural look, I didn't saw down any stumps. After sanding and sealing, I circled the staff with plastic ivy bought at Michael's and adhered it to the staff with industrial glue. With same glue, I attached the pine come to the top.  Once the glue dried, the thyrsus was complete.

This is the height of the thyrsus. I stand at 5'8", so my guestimation is that it stands at around 7'0". I could be wrong, but the point is that it's really long. Needless to say, I tried to use it for its intended purposes, only to be thwarted on the day that the university was supposed to climb the mountain because it rained. But I used it for the backup plan (walk around campus) and went so far as to climb Senior Rock, shouting, "Ehoi Bacchoi (Huzzah Bacchae)!"