DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15094#0031
PLATE VII.
A vase, of an elegant oval form, with two upright massive handles;
it is ornamented all round with Bacchanalian figures, which are
executed in a style of incomparable excellence. The subject repre-
sents the celebration of the orgies of Bacchus by a number of
persons who imitate the dresses and characters of a Faun, a Satyr,
and male and female Bacchantes. The Faun has a thyrsus in his
right hand, and is covered with the skin of a panther ; the Satyr is
bearing an amphora of wine; the female Bacchantes are dressed in
thin transparent drapery which floats in the air; one of them, with
her hair dishevelled, (1) and her head bent forward, (2) is in the act
of brandishing a knife, while another is holding the hind limbs of a
kid.(3) The male Bacchantes are represented of different ages;
one, in the flower of youth, and of a beautiful form, is leaning on
the shoulders of a young female; he has a torch in his right hand,
' Mentis inops rapitur, quales audire solemus
Threiciaspassis Msenadas ire comis. Ovid. Fast. lib. iv. 457.
Saepe vagus Liber Parnassi in vertice summo
Thyadas effusis evantes crinibus egit. Catull. Carm. lxv. 390.
1 Hoi <Je~ xoptvuv, iroU x.o&httxvou TroStx,
K«i KPATA 2EISAI ttoAw ; Eurip. Bacch. v. 185.
-ventis dant colla, comasque. Virg. iEn. vii. 394.
Qui turn alacres passim lymphata mente furebant,
Evoe bacchantes, evoe capita inflectentes. Catull. Carm. lxv. 254.
3 The priestesses of Bacchus, during the celebration of the Dionysia, devoured the
raw flesh of different animals :
*AAAa» Si ix^aXxi Sutpopovv <rwoLpol.ypxiTi. Eurip. Bacch. v. 739.
Pars e divulso raptabant membra juvenco. Catull. Carm. lxv. 257-
And the festival itself, on this account, was called upotpxyia, : Awvva-ov poLivoXriv opyia^om
3a,a^ot, upoipxyiix. tw IcpofAavlxv ayovrii, x*« TtAiirxouo-j raf xpiuvopiois ruv qiovwv,
oLyi<rrtfjt.^.i]/oi to~? otpitnv, nroXoXvtyvTt; 'Euav. Clemen. Alex. Cohort ad Gent. p. 11«
edit. Potter.
Bacchanalia etiam prsetermittamus immania, quibus nomen Omophagiis Grsecum est: in
quibus furore mentito, et sequestrata pectoris sanitate, circumplicatis vos anguibus, atque
ut vos plenos dei numine ac majestate doceatis, caprorum reclamantium viscera cruentatis
oribus dissipatis. Arnob, lib. v.
A vase, of an elegant oval form, with two upright massive handles;
it is ornamented all round with Bacchanalian figures, which are
executed in a style of incomparable excellence. The subject repre-
sents the celebration of the orgies of Bacchus by a number of
persons who imitate the dresses and characters of a Faun, a Satyr,
and male and female Bacchantes. The Faun has a thyrsus in his
right hand, and is covered with the skin of a panther ; the Satyr is
bearing an amphora of wine; the female Bacchantes are dressed in
thin transparent drapery which floats in the air; one of them, with
her hair dishevelled, (1) and her head bent forward, (2) is in the act
of brandishing a knife, while another is holding the hind limbs of a
kid.(3) The male Bacchantes are represented of different ages;
one, in the flower of youth, and of a beautiful form, is leaning on
the shoulders of a young female; he has a torch in his right hand,
' Mentis inops rapitur, quales audire solemus
Threiciaspassis Msenadas ire comis. Ovid. Fast. lib. iv. 457.
Saepe vagus Liber Parnassi in vertice summo
Thyadas effusis evantes crinibus egit. Catull. Carm. lxv. 390.
1 Hoi <Je~ xoptvuv, iroU x.o&httxvou TroStx,
K«i KPATA 2EISAI ttoAw ; Eurip. Bacch. v. 185.
-ventis dant colla, comasque. Virg. iEn. vii. 394.
Qui turn alacres passim lymphata mente furebant,
Evoe bacchantes, evoe capita inflectentes. Catull. Carm. lxv. 254.
3 The priestesses of Bacchus, during the celebration of the Dionysia, devoured the
raw flesh of different animals :
*AAAa» Si ix^aXxi Sutpopovv <rwoLpol.ypxiTi. Eurip. Bacch. v. 739.
Pars e divulso raptabant membra juvenco. Catull. Carm. lxv. 257-
And the festival itself, on this account, was called upotpxyia, : Awvva-ov poLivoXriv opyia^om
3a,a^ot, upoipxyiix. tw IcpofAavlxv ayovrii, x*« TtAiirxouo-j raf xpiuvopiois ruv qiovwv,
oLyi<rrtfjt.^.i]/oi to~? otpitnv, nroXoXvtyvTt; 'Euav. Clemen. Alex. Cohort ad Gent. p. 11«
edit. Potter.
Bacchanalia etiam prsetermittamus immania, quibus nomen Omophagiis Grsecum est: in
quibus furore mentito, et sequestrata pectoris sanitate, circumplicatis vos anguibus, atque
ut vos plenos dei numine ac majestate doceatis, caprorum reclamantium viscera cruentatis
oribus dissipatis. Arnob, lib. v.