Portrayal of Pompeian Bacchus : Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 140

Tuotetiedot

This book is about the Portrayal of Bacchus in PomPeii. The topic is much studied, and the ancient texts and works of art are mainly well known. The intention of this study has been to collect the various factors together, not only some examples. This idea came from the need to understand better the wall Paintings and sculptures in the House of Marcus Lucretius (IX 3. 5.24). Dionysus-Liber-Bacchus was one of the most popular gods in the Graeco-Roman world. In Italy the domestic god of nature and fertility known as Liber took on the name Bacchus and the features of the Greek god Dionysus at an early stage. The original Dionysus was full of contradictions: gentle but murderous, the giver of wine but also demanding human sacrifices, a saviour from evil death but also the target of emotional religiosity – people in his sphere of influence were known to go into an ecstatic frenzy. Already in Greece, Dionysus was considered to be different from the other Olympian gods because of his many-sided nature; some considered him a mortal hero who had become one of these gods, others thought him to be simply another god among the others. Information about his origin and his birth were likewise conflicting in many ancient sources.