[txt] Origins of Carnival - www.comune.venezia.it
The [Venice] Carnival has its roots in many traditions, from the Latin feast of Saturnalia to the Greek feast of Dionysian cults celebrating the start of spring, when masks were used for symbolic representation. It signalled a time in which everything was permitted in an apparent incarnation of the world turned on its head. In fact, the Carnival was a means of rigidly controlling the impulses. The tendency to excess was merely a benevolent concession for a prescribed period of time. In the strictly hierarchical Venetian society, it was deemed necessary to give the most humble classes the illusion of becoming similar to the more powerful classes, albeit wearing a mask: the aim was to diminish social tensions and maintain consensus.
[img] Carnevale a Venezia - Renata e Guilherme on flickr.com
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