Concerning Bacchanalia

Hello guys.

I would like to ask some questions concerning the "Ritual" of Bacchanalia, since Wikipedia isn't helping me much.

1). Where did it originate? I believe in Hellas, can anyone enlighten me on this?

2). Was the ritual divided into certain parts?

3). What was the level of social acceptance? How much was it accepted in society?

The Bacchanalia did permeate down from the Hellenes, yes, but whether it originated there I don't know - it's basically a later term to denote the festivals of the 'Wine God', i.e. Dionysus in the Greek pantheon.

I haven't done much looking over these sources, so I don't know if they're acceptable, but use them as a jumping off point.

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/MAENADS.html

http://keur.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/we.../6585/6585.pdf

http://www.hfac.uh.edu/mcl/classics/...uals_Dion.html