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The god Dionysos, holding a kantharos (two-handled drinking cup) in his right hand and a grapevine in his left. Side A of an Attic red-figure amphora attributed to the Berlin Painter and dated between 490 and 480 BCE. Found at Vulci; now in the Louvre.
Polychrome terracotta sculpture of the god Dionysos, holding an egg and a rooster. The unusual attributes may hint at a connection to Orphism, which held that the first deity, Phanes or Protogonos ("First-Born"), was hatched from a cosmic egg. Adherents of Orphism saw humankind as the descendants of Dionysos (under the name "Zagreus"), created when the Titans devoured the young Zagreus and were then struck by Zeus' thunderbolt. Artist unknown; created in Tanagra, Boeotia (an important center of terracotta production) ca. 350 BCE. Now in the British Museum.
A satyr plays the double reed instrument known as an aulos to entertain Dionysus, who is crowned with ivy and holds his characteristic thyrsus (staff topped with a pinecone). Interior of an Attic red-figure kylix (drinking cup) by the potter Hieron and the painter Makron; 480s BCE. Found at Vulci, Italy; now in the Altes Museum, Berlin. Photo credit: ArchaiOptix/Wikimedia Commons.
A mystic scene. The deity Kabeiros, worshiped (normally as part of a group, the Kabeiroi) on the Aegean island of Samothrace, is shown identified with Dionysos in his chthonic aspect. He reclines as at a symposium; in his left hand is an egg, suggesting rebirth, while his right hand holds a kantharos (two-handled drinking cup), from which a snake drinks. The snake itself is a common chthonic symbol: its ability to shed its skin was often understood as symbolic of the "death" and rebirth of initiates into mystery cults. Side A of a red-figure krater by the Mystai Painter, late 5th century BCE. From Boeotia; now in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo credit: Zde/Wikimedia Commons.
The god Hesperus sits on a throne and holds a tall torch. Around him are Apollo-Helios (identifiable by his halo), Aphrodite (crowned), and other deities. Wall painting in the Fourth Style from the exedra of the House of M. Gavius Rufus (VII.2.16) at Pompeii; now in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Photo credit: ArchaiOptix/Wikimedia Commons.
The god Dionysos, holding his thyrsos and riding his chariot drawn by panthers, returns in triumph from his conquest of India. Handle (silver and gold) from a Roman serving dish, artist unknown; early 3rd cent. CE (Severan period). Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.
Bacchus Discovering Ariadne, Jacob Jordaens, between 1645 and 1650
Marble statuette of the god Dionysus. Artist unknown; early 3rd cent. BCE (Hellenistic). Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Drachma of the Sicilian polis of Naxos. On the obverse, the head of Dionysus, bearded and wreathed with ivy; on the reverse, a bunch of grapes with two leaves and the inscription NAXION. Artist unknown; minted ca. 530-510 BCE. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com
Dionysus holding a kantharos (wine-cup). Interior from an Attic black-figure plate by the painter Psiax; ca. 520-500 BCE. Found at Vulci, Italy; now in the British Museum.
Dionysus and satyrs press grapes. Black-figure amphora, artist unknown; ca. 530-500 BCE. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse. Photo credit: Zde/Wikimedia Commons.
Bronze appliqué depicting Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 367-283 BCE), Macedonian general and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, as the god Dionysus. Artist unknown; 3rd cent. BCE. Now in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Photo credit: Walters Art Museum.
Bacchus, Jan van Dalen, 1648
I sing Dionysus, lord of wine and Madness - he comes! Hurry To the double flute! Hurry, revelers, To the drums and rattles - let their clatter Fill the air! Everywhere grow the ivy And the grape, entwining the doorposts, The lintel - the air is thick With the god today! Already I can hear The approach of his chariot, Drawn by sleek panthers and spotted leopards - Before him and behind Are ranks of satyrs, Silenus With his drooping horse-tail: feel The earth shudder under their dancing! Thyrsi held high, Maenads shriek: Euie! Euie! Io Bromie! Water and wine gush out Of the rocks; heavy is the scent of myrrh… Where is the god? Do you See him? Does he come as he came Once to Ariadne, When cruel Theseus had left her Lying on Naxos’ shore, in iron Bands of sleep? She woke in fear… The god! A young man In fawnskin robes, long black locks Falling down his shoulders - see Them shake! “Come, Minos’ daughter, To the stars, the endless revel! No death nor age, only the gleam Of wine in ladles, poured from fire to fire Through the black sky, where you and I Will mingle in love, forever.” Now just as then, appear, Bacchic king! I taste you in the wind - Down from Nysa’s craggy slopes descend! Fill my legs with dancing, My heart make pound in my chest, Until I run mad through hill and glen With the god in my brain, the god in my guts - Full to bursting with Dionysus Who rules the wine-cup. Hail to you, Bromius - ever will you bubble Onto my lips, even as I turn to another song.
Dionysus discovers Ariadne. Fresco from the Casa dei Capitelli Colorati, Pompeii; now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Photo credit: Sailko/Wikimedia Commons.
Dionysus with his thiasos (retinue of satyrs and Maenads). Upper tier of an Attic black-figure krater-psykter (wine-cooler), attr. to the circle of the Antimenes Painter; ca. 525-500 BCE. Now in the Louvre. Photo credit: © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.5.
Dionysus in his panther-drawn chariot. Side A of an Attic red-figure pelike, attr. to the Pasithea Painter; ca. 380-370 BCE. From Cyrene; now in the Louvre.
Detail from a square panel from the Monnus Mosaic, showing a personification of October/Bacchus. Originally from a Roman domus in Augusta Treverorum (Trier); now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier. Photo credit: Carole Raddato.
