Symbol of the grapevine and, as a dying and reviving god, of vegetation, Dionysus is a complex divinity, linked in some ways to the underworld. Originally, he was depicted in the guise of animals - the bull, the snake, the panther - which later became his attributes. In very ancient times his image was that of a bearded god with long curly hair, reclining on a kline. Starting in the 5th century B.C., he was instead represented by the figure of an effeminate, drunken, youth always recognizable by his attributes: the kantharos, the grape vine, the thyrsus, the nebris, ivy tendrils and the panther.

In Greek mythology, satyrs were the assistants of Dionysus. Creatures of the woods, they resembled humans with some animal features, such as tails and cleft hooves. Lovers of excess, they are described and depicted intent on getting drunk to release their wild instincts. Priestesses of Dionysus, the maenads - literally, "the possessed", so called for their behaviour - played the flute and danced during Dionysian processions. Music and dance were essential elements of the symposium.