HTH

Sheila


When ever I found meaning of the name Tirso it would say -Greek origin, means "crowned with vine leaves-
But then after doing a bit of research I found the Latin word thyrsus -i m. [the stalk of a plant; a wand , as carried by Bacchus and his attendants].

So, I guess the name Tirso comes from the Latin word thyrsus, which indeed means "crowned with vine leaves".

Pls, correct me if I'm wrong :o)

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THYRSUS (qu/rsoj), a pole carried by Dionysus, and by Satyrs, Maenades, and others who engaged in Bacchic festivities and rites (Athen. xiv. 631, a; Vell. Pat. ii.82). [DIONYSIA, p411a] It was sometimes terminated by the apple of the pine, or fir-cone (kwnofo/roj, Brunck, Anal. i.421), that tree (peu/kh) being dedicated to Dionysus in consequence of the use of the turpentine which flowed from it, and also of its cones, in making wine (Walpole, Mem. on Eur. and As. Turkey, p235). The monuments of ancient art, however, most commonly exhibit instead of the pine-apple a bunch of vine or ivy-leaves (Ovid. Met. xi.27, 28; Propert. iii.3.35) with grapes or berries, arranged into the form of a cone. The following woodcut, taken from a marble ornament (Mon. Matth. ii. tab. 86), shows the head of a thyrsus composed of the leaves and berries of the ivy, and surrounded by acanthus-leaves. Very frequently also a white fillet was tied to the pole just below the head, in the manner represented in the woodcut on p136b, where each of the figures holds a thyrsus in her hand. See also the woodcuts to FUNAMBULUS and VANNUS (Statius, Theb. vii.654). [INSTITA.] The fabulous history of Bacchus relates that he converted the thyrsi carried by himself and his followers into dangerous weapons, by concealing an iron point in the head of leaves (Diod. iii.64, iv.4; Macrob. Sat. i.19). Hence his thyrsus is called "a spear enveloped in vine-leaves" (Ovid. Met. iii.667), and its point was thought to incite madness (Hor. Carm. ii.19.8; Ovid. Amor. iii.1.23, iii.15.17, Trist. iv.1.43; Brunck, Anal. iii.202; Orph. Hymn. xlv.5, 1.8).

This is what a tirso is - there will be an English equivalent, but I don't know what it is...

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Note added at 2003-09-20 16:34:38 (GMT)
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Amy and Sheila are right: \"El tirso, un bastón coronado de hiedra, está consagrado a Dioniso\".