In ancient Greece and Rome the plural orgia was a sacral word that applied to any ceremonies practiced in the worship of various deities, with or without implication of extravagance. Orgia became, in addition, the technical term to designate mystery cults and rites connected with festivals in honor of Dionysos that were usually characterized by an ecstatic or frantic attitude and were celebrated with dancing, singing, and drinking. It is probably this latter meaning that gradually led to a derogatory usage (see, for example, Plato, Laws 910), which, however, is a modern one. From the eighteenth century onwards, in fact, the term orgy has been used to refer to wild or dissolute revels marked by license or debauchery; in this sense it is currently employed in religious studies to refer to collective behavior (comprehensive of indulging in excessive bodily...