Maniae

Greek mythology recognised two goddesses of madness, the Maniae (Theoi Greek Mythology, n.d.; Vaughan, 1919), named Mania and Lyssa, and daughters of Nyx (goddess of the night). They had a sanctuary near Megalopolis in Arcadia (Smith, 1870). The former was the personification of insanity, while the latter was the goddess of rabies and mad rage. It was Lyssa who caused the dogs of Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus, the king of Thebes, to attack their master when he had spied on Artemis at her bath (Dixon-Kennedy, 1998; March, 1998; Osborn & Burgess, 2004; Smith, 1870). What is interesting about this differentiation between the two goddesses is that the ancient Greeks appear to have recognised that insanity did not necessarily mean mad to the extent of violence, and that if violence was evident in the mad, its causation was entirely different, being akin to rabid behaviour in animals.

An ancient depiction of the Actaeon myth, showing, from left to right, Zeus, Lyssa, Actaeon and Artemis.

References:

Dixon-Kennedy, M. (1998). Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio Inc.

March, J.R. (1998). Cassell’s dictionary of classical mythology. London, England: Cassell & Co.

Osborn, K., & Burgess, D.L. (2004). The complete idiot’s guide to classical mythology. (2^nd edition). New York, NY: Alpha Books.

Smith, W. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co.

Theoi Greek Mythology (n.d.). Maniai. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Maniai.html

Vaughan, A.C. (1919). Madness in Greek thought and custom. Baltimore, MD: J. H. Furst Company.