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Relief carving of Dionysus

Late 3rd-early 2nd century B.C.
Policoro, Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Siritide
Inv. 45275

 

At the opening to a rocky cavern, Dionysus - depicted as an old man with a cornucopia, symbol of abundance, in his left hand - holds out his phiale to a satyr, who is pouring wine into it from an oinochoe.

APPROFONDIMENTI

The cult of Dionysus

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.