KISSOS (Gr. Kiao-60, ` hy,' is mentioned only once, and that in the Apocrypha (2 Maccab. vi. 7), where the Temple is described'as being desecrated by the Gentiles, and the Jews forced to depart from the laws of their fathers : And when the feast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.' The term Kto-cros or ICITT6g seems to have been applied by the Greeks in a. general sense, and to have included many plants, and, among them, some climbers, as the conva/vu/ns, besides the common ivy, which was especially dedicated to Bacchus, and which was distinguished by the name of Hedera poetica, Dionysia aut Bacchica, quod ex ea poetarum coronae consuerentur.' It is well known that in the Dionysia, or festivals in honour of Dionysus, and in the processions called Olao-ot, with which they were celebrated, women also took part, in the disguise of Bacch, Naiades, Nymphx, etc., adorned with garlands of ivy, etc. : thus Ovid (Fasti, iii. 766) :— Cum hedera cincta est ? hedera est gratissima Paccho.
Bacchus is generally thought to have been edu cated in India, and the Indian Baghes has been supposed to be the original of the name. The fact of Baghes being a compound of two words signify ing tiger and master or lord, would appear to con firm the identity, since Bacchus is usually repre sented as drawn in his chariot by a tiger and a lion, and tigers, etc., are described as following him in his Indian journey. As the ivy, however, is not a plant of India, it might be objected to its being characteristic of an Indian god. But in the mountains which bound India to the north, both the ivy and the vine may be found, and the Greeks were acquainted with the fact that Mount Mero is the only part of India where ivy was produced. Indeed, Alexander and his companions are said to have crowned themselves with ivy in honour of Bacchus. The ivy, Hedera Helix, being a native of most parts of Europe, is too well known to require special notice.—J. F. R.