Etruscan Studies
Journal of the Etruscan Foundation
Volume 10
Article 15
2007
Dionysiac Imagery in Archaic Etruria
Dimitris Paleothodoros
University of Thessaly
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Recommended Citation
Paleothodoros, Dimitris (2007) "Dionysiac Imagery in Archaic Etruria," Etruscan Studies: Vol. 10 , Article 15.
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Dionysiac Imagery
in Archaic Etruria
by D i m i t r i s Pa l e ot h od or o s
he emergence of Etruscan Dionysiac iconography was made possible by the adoption and imitation of prototypes found on imported Attic vases1. The first
Dionysiac images produced by Etruscan craftsmen date to 550 BC and are found
on black-figured vases by the Paris Painter, and the painters of the Ivy-Leaf and the La
Tolfa Groups. Between the mid 6th and mid 5th centuries BC, Etruscan artists decorate
almost 170 black-figured and added-red vases with Dionysiac images, 13% of the total production of figured vases.2 This group of images, supplemented by other pieces of evidence,
such as mirror engravings and bronze statuettes, forms the basis of the present study, which
is the preliminary report of a thorough investigation of Dionysus in archaic Etruria.
In the recent past, scholars have developed the concept of “Dionysism without
Dionysus,” to account for the paradox of the scarcity of Dionysus’ images in archaic
Etruria, in contrast to the great popularity of images of his followers, i.e. satyrs and maenads.3 According to this theory satyrs and maenads, once incorporated in the Italic repertoire, assumed an independent role, not linked to the patron god of the thiasus.
However, Dionysiac images on vases do not support this theory: under the influence of Attic vase painting, especially the work of the Amasis Painter, the painters of the
Ivy-Leaf Group produced a distinctive group of images of the Dionysiac thiasus in its full
form. One may find a very “Greek” Dionysus, with long beard and hair, dressed in chiton and himation and holding a drinking horn, a cantharus, an ivy leaf, or a vine, escorted by satyrs (Fig. 1)) and maenads.4 Another image of the Dionysiac thiasus that copyies
Attic prototypes appears on a fragmentary Pontic amphora once in Munich. The god is
seated on a throne, holding a huge cantharos, while satyrs and maenads approach him
from both sides.5 A much later amphora in Richmond,6 dating from the beginning of the
5th century BC, although Atticizing in style and composition, preserves an extraordinary
detail. Dionysus, flanked by a satyr and a maenad, is wearing winged boots.7
In total, Dionysus is found on 18 black-figure and added-red vases, half of which
T
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figure 1a – Cambridge G 58, amphora, drawing
of face B. Ivy-Leaf Group. After CVA
Cambridge 1, p. 22, fig. 2.
figure 1b – Cambridge G 58, amphora, drawing
of face B. Ivy-Leaf Group. After CVA
Cambridge 1, p. 22, fig. 2.
belonging to the earlier stage of Etruscan
black-figure vase painting. Thirteen times he
is escorted by satyrs and maenads, while on
five vases he is found in the company of other
gods or mortals. Beyond vase painting, the
figure of the god is much rarer. He appears in
the company of two satyrs on a painted tomb
in Tarquinia, with Oinopion on a stele from
San Ansano, and as a sole figure on three
gems, a statuette, and some less securely
identified monuments.8
The rarity of the god’s image is not an
Etruscan peculiarity. Rather it applies to all
archaic schools with the single exception of the
Attic one. In general, artists prefer to illustrate
the other members of the thiasus, the satyrs
and the maenads, who are the mythological
prototypes for reveling humans.9
Mythological images involving
Dionysus are rare in Etruria. The birth and
infancy of the god is not represented before
the third quarter of the 5th century BC.10
Ariadne and Semele appear at about the same
time11. The return of Hephaistus to Olympus
is the most popular Dionysiac myth in
Etruria, occurring on three amphorae by the
Ivy-Leaf Group and two unattributed
vases.12 The god is depicted with Oinopion
on the already mentioned stele from Ansano,
and appears side by side with Apollo on an
amphora from the Ivy-Leaf Group and an
added-red kyathos of the Praxias Group13.
The myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates appears
on a well-known hydria in Toledo.14
Dionysus appears once in the Gigantomachy,
on the group of the ridge-pole statues from
the late-archaic temple of Satricum.15
The Silenomachy is the only native
myth involving Dionysiac figures. In a classic
essay, Zancani Montuoro has demonstrated
that the motif of the battle between Herakles
and the satyrs threatening Hera was first
introduced on the metopes of Hera’s temple
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figure 2 – Orvieto, necropolis of Cannicella. Neck-amphora. After StEtr 14, 1941, pl. 31a-b
I at the Foce del Sele near Paestum. It was later transmitted to Etruscan art, to transform
eventually into a conflict between Herakles and Hera/Juno Sospita.16 Two of the metopes
from the Heraion show a pair of satyrs
throwing stones, while on a third, a man is
drawing his sword in order to protect a
woman.17 On bronzes from Vulci Herakles
and Juno are depicted opposing a couple of
satyrs, a subject which also appears on 6th
century vases.18
In vase painting the Silenomachy is
found on two vases by the Micali Painter. On
an amphora in Palermo, Herakles threatens a
group of satyrs, while on an amphora in the
Vatican, Hera is armed and Dionysus appears
leading a troop of satyrs.19 Images of
Herakles defending the goddess from a band
of aggressive satyrs appear in Attic art only in
the early 5th century and seem to be inspired
by a satyr play.20
Hundreds of vases, mirrors, small
bronzes and other works of art bear representations of satyrs. The earlier examples are disfigure 3 – Göttingen F 8, oinochoe. Manner of the
tinctively Attic, with human legs and feet and Micali painter. Photo Stephan Eckardt, courtesy
pronounced ithyphallism.21 Later, satyrs have of Göttingen Museum.
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either feet or hooves (an Ionian feature)22,
human or equine ears, and are with or without tails.23 Hairy satyrs are rarely depicted in
Etruscan art: an example is found on a gold
plaque from Vignanello.24 Beardless, adolescent and child satyrs are found in the work of
the Micali Painter, 30 years before their first
occurrence in Greek art.25 Elderly satyrs are
found in Etruscan art at the end of the 6th
century.26 Aged satyrs, with white hair, are
found on early 5th century amphorae by the
Painter of the Dancing Satyrs.27
Satyrs are linked to wine, dance,
music and sex. They dance around a krater
(Fig. 3, left), and drink wine from cups or
wineskins.28 Less frequently in vase painting,
but quite often on other media, they recline
holding a drinking horn in hands.29 Satyrs
playing or carrying musical instruments (the
double aulos, the lyre and the syrinx) are
numerous.30
figure 4 – Göttingen F8 oinochoe. Detail. Photo
Sexual scenes are rare and seem to
Stephan Eckardt, courtesy of Göttingen Museum.
derive from Attic prototypes. Intercourse is
shown on a Pontic amphora and a relief of
doubtful authenticity in the Louvre31. A unique scene of fellatio is shown on an amphora by
the Micali Painter in Würzburg, probably, closely matching the scene on an Attic red-figured
cup in the Louvre showing naked youths and hetairai.32 The Paris Painter has depicted a masturbating satyr on an amphora in Tarquinia, directly copying Attic images.33 By contrast, olisboi are found in Etruscan imagery only in relation to satyrs, while in Greek art, they are used
mainly by naked hetairai.34
Maenads are recognizable only from the iconographic context in which they appear.
The figure of the maenad wearing a sakkos, a chiton and leopard- or fawn-skin, and holding snakes, small animals, vases and the thyrsus, is rare in Etruscan vase-painting.35 This ritual costume, established in Attic art as early as 560 BC, is, however, quite frequently found
on late archaic mirror engravings36. Maenads are often shown dancing with satyrs.37 They
may play the crottala, as on an amphora by the Paris Painter in Copenhagen,38 and the double aulos, as on an early classical mirror39. In one example, two satyrs and a maenad are making wine, a well known theme in Attic vase painting.40
Apart from the mythological scenes of the Dionysiac thiasus, there are various
images that prove the existence of local expressions of Dionysiac cult from as early as the
mid 6th century.
A group of 13 vases of the Ivy-Leaf Group shows men and women carrying an
enormous ivy leaf, the very attribute that gave the group its name. According to Werner’s
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recent treatment of the subject, this is the first
undisputed piece of evidence for the cult of
Dionysus in archaic Etruria.41 Later in date,
but equally illuminating, is the image of a
youth running towards a colossal satyr-mask.
Another mask appears in the zone below the
handle (Fig. 3-4). This scene cannot be taken
as evidence for the concept of the anodos of
Dionysus, as has been recently advocated,
nor does it refer to drama. It is iconographically linked to five Attic vases showing satyrs
and maenads worshipping enormous masks
of Dionysus or satyrs (Fig. 3-5).42 These
images are connected to the group of “colossal heads” of Dionysus and other deities
receiving worship by humans and demons
alike, on a well-known series of Athenian
vases.43 In Etruscan art, similar colossal figures of satyrs are found on late 5th and 4th
century stelae from Bologna, and are thought
to represent underworld demons.44 Plastic
representations of satyr heads are also used as
shield devices on two black-figured hydriae
and a pseudo red-figured column-krater.45
figure 5 – Munich n° inv. VAS 1874, Attic blackFurther support for the existence of figured lekythos. Courtesy of Munich; Staatliche
Dionysiac cult in Etruria is provided by an Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek
amphora from the Cannicella necropolis in
Orvieto (Fig. 2, right). The reverse shows two women dressed in long garments and himatia
dancing in front of a phallic idol which surmounts a column. The obverse (Fig, 2, left) is decorated with an ordinary scene of dancing satyrs, enforcing the Dionysiac connection.46 (Fig.
2) This is the most explicit testimony of phallic ceremonies in the Etruscan cult of Dionysus.
What is remarkably un-Greek is the solemn attitude of the women, in sharp contrast to the
naked hetairai worshipping phallic idols on Attic vases, who have been associated with the
festival of the Haloa.47
J.-R. Jannot has interpreted a group of scenes of satyrs and maenads as illustrating
a ritual ceremony involving a “dance and rape” choreography.48 The first stage is a ritual
“ballet”, the second stage, the abduction. According to this audacious reconstruction, this
ritual forms the basis of the “false etiology” of the myth of the rape of the Sabines. Whether
one accepts this conclusion or not, the images collected by Jannot, mainly small bronzes,
reliefs and terracotta antefixes, provide evidence for a distinct orgiastic ceremony in the
realm of Etruscan Dionysism. This group may be compared to a broader group of images
belonging to the Ionian milieu and representing a similar ceremony. The first stage is shown
on a relief pithos from Thasos, where a satyr is attacking a group of dancing maidens. The
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second stage, the rape, appears on
staters from the same city, East
Greek gems, stone reliefs from the
Siphnian treasure at Delphi, Attic
vases and Caeretan hydriae, all
depicting a satyr carrying off a
maenad.49
On a mirror in Florence
(Fig. 6) and an amphora in Dresden,
a satyr drags the sacrificial goat
before an altar. More explicitly, on a
series of bronze laminae from
Bomarzo, satyrs take part in a procession escorting sacrificial victims
to an altar set up before a deity,
while on two amphorae from
Chianciano Terme and Hannover, a
satyr drags a goat ductu cornu.50
This suggests that in a special kind of
festivals, the task of escorting the
figure 6 – Florence 646, mirror. After E. Gerhard,
sacrificial goat was reserved for men
Etruskische Spiegel 5, pl. 36
in satyr costume. Judging from the
scenes depicted on the reverse of the Dresden and Chianciano Terme amphorae, the festival may
have involved armed dances and boxing games as well. These activities, together with several
others (the pentathlon, pole-climbing, dances of women and naked youths, chariot races and
processions), also take place during the “Festa Etrusca” depicted on a famous amphora by the
Micali Painter in the British Museum51. Two out of the three fundamental parts of an Etruscan
festival, the pompa and the ludi, are shown. Only the sacrifice is absent. We may infer from the
presence of three pairs of satyrs in procession, that this part of the ritual was also reserved for
men dressed as satyrs.
Which deity is honoured? J.G. Szilágyi has pointed to the existence of primitive satyric
performances, included in the context of festivals, as is documented by the dressed satyrs on
vases by the Painter of the Dancing Satyrs. However, he has not raised the question of the recipient of the cult.52 L.B. Van der Meer concluded that “the frieze presents a Dionysiac festival, with
satyrical, triumphant elements, that was influenced by a comparable Panathenaic festival.” J.-M.
Thuillier has contested the association, pointing to the existence of satyric performances in
Roman contests in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus.53 In view of the satyr’s role in the sacrifice, I
am inclined to follow Van der Meer and to arrive to the conclusion that the festival depicted is
a Dionysiac festival. Finally, I believe that the three types of ceremonies (the “dance and rape,”
the sacrifice and the pompa- ludi theme) form part of a single type of festival.54
Two interpretations have dominated recent discussions on Dionysiac imagery in
Etruria. According to the first, satyrs are signs of some idea of rebirth, “creatures of betwixt
and between” with funeral allusions.55 The second interpretation sees satyrs as strongly
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alluding to celebration, a key feature of Etruscan iconography.56 The detailed analysis of the
iconographic data reveals a different picture: most scenes evoke the world of bliss, of the
mythological thiasus in illo tempo, and a few others refer to specific mythological narratives.
Those scenes are not far from their Greek prototypes. The group of cultic scenes, however,
reveals the existence of specific Dionysiac cults with orgiastic, as well as more regularized,
“civic” aspects, which bear evidence on a sophisticated Dionysiac religion in archaic Etruria.
The Dionysian phenomenon in archaic Etruria is not just a symptom of acculturation, but a
lively religious movement, fully integrated into the “polis religion.”
Dimitris Paleothodoros
Department of Archaeology, History and Social Anthropology,
University of Thessaly
Argonauton and Philellinon
Volos, GR-38221
palaio@uth.gr
NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The first imports of Attic Dionysiac images in Etruria date from around 580-570 BC.
Cf. a fragmentary dinos from Cortona: SE 40 (1972), pl. 64a. Attic Dionysiac images in
Italy: Paleothodoros, in press. On the role of Attic imagery in Etruria: Paleothodoros
2002, 139-160.
These statistics are based on a database of 1400 Etruscan black-figured and pseudo redfigured vases. Campanian black-figure, Caeretan hydriae, the Northampton Group, the
Campana dinoi and vases with floral patterns have been excluded. Accounts of Etruscan
Dionysiac iconography tend to neglect Etruscan black-figure: Cristofani 1986, 531-540,
pl. 419-427; Colonna 1, 117-135.
De Cazanove 1986, 177-197; Colonna 1991, 117 and 118.
Cambridge G58 (CVA 1, 22, fig. 2); Bonn 568 and Florence 377 (LIMC 3, pl. 423,
Dionysos/Fufluns 43-44); Würzburg HA 17 (CVA 3, pl. 39-40); Orvieto, Faina 2710
(Capelletti 1992, 72-73, n° 19). Cf. also the amphorae Göttingen Acc. Inv. III 5 and III
6 of the La Tolfa Group (CVA 2, pl. 35-36), with Dionysus amidst humans, a scene perhaps inspired by amphorae by the Amasis Painter: Scheibler 1987, 57-118; Isler-Kerényi
1990, 59-76.
Munich 924: SH, fig. 164. Compare the Attic stamnos Leyden PC 43: CVA 1, pl. 18.1-2.
Richmond 62.1.8, attributed to the Group of Munich 892 (Martelli, n° 135).
Compare the deities on the hydria Florence 4139, by the Micali Painter, who all wear
winged boots (Spivey, pl. 22, 23a).
Tomb: Steingräber 1986, 302, n° 59. Stela : Magi 1939-1940, 64, fig. 1. Other documents:
Cristofani 1986, nos 5-8. Additions: Colonna 1991, 117-118; Bruni 1991, 197-208; Bruni
1996, 67-88. The bearded comast standing on an altar and holding a cup and a bunch of
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
grapes on a bronze plectron in Frankfurt (Colonna 1991, 148, fig. 1) is not Dionysus,
but a comast. On similar comasts on Attic vases, cf. Bron 1988, 71-79.
Schöne 1987.
The most ancient representation of the subject appears on the added-red oinochoe
Louvre CA 5490 (Waiblinger 1980). For later images, cf. Bonfante 1993, 224-235.
Bonfante 1993, 228-234. The hypothesis of Simon 1973, 34-36, that Semele’s apotheosis
is depicted on the back wall of the Tomb of the Baron is not convincing. Cf. Walberg
1986, 51-59, pl. 20-21.
Würzburg HA 17 (supra, n. 4); Zurich ETH 14 (LIMC IV, Hephaistos/Sethlans 9, pl.
405); London market (Sotheby’s Sale Catalogue 12-6-1967, n° 145). The two other vases
are an olpe in the Vatican and a kyathos on the market: Albizzati 1939), pl. 28, n° 288
and Studia Antiqua 1-2 (2000), 18, fig. 17, respectively. Remarkably, a satyr is dressed in
chiton on the first vase. This feature appears in Attic vase painting only in the last decade
of the 6th century: cf. Boardman 1958, 6-10, pl. 1-2.
Berlin F 1676 and Louvre CA 3267 (LIMC 1, pl. 293, Apollon/Aplu 77 and 78).
Toledo 82.134 (Martelli, n° 130). Spivey and. Rassmussen 1986, 2-8; Harari 1988, 33-43.
Lulof 1996, 161.
Zancani Montuoro 1946-1948, 85-98.
Zancani Montuoro and Zanotti-Bianco 1954, 146-161. In a recent study, the exact
reconstruction has been contested, but the identification of the Silenomachy is retained:
Van Keuren 1989, 57-66.
London B 57 (Martelli, no 103); Cerveteri (Hemelrijk 1984, pl. 149).
Palermo 1498 (Spivey, pl. 55); Vatican, Astarita 35177 (BdA 56-57 [1989], 11, fig. 28-29).
On an added-red krater in Geneva, Herakles has attacked two satyrs (LIMC 5, pl. 182,
Herakles/Hercle 274). Compare the Attic black-figure lekythos Athens 516, showing
Herakles with arrested satyrs (ABV 508). These scenes seem to derive from satyr-plays
about Herakles, unconnected to the Silenomachy: S. Karouzou 1936, 52-57; Simon
1982, 136-139.
Cf. the Attic red-figured cup London E 65 (ARV² 370.13; Boardman 1975, fig. 252.1-2).
An earlier, unconnected image of satyrs threatening Hera is depicted on a black-figured
lekythos of the mid 6th century (ABL, pl. 5.2).
Satyrs with human feet appear e.g. on the vases of the Ivy-Leaf group (cited supra, n. 4
and 12), as well as on vases by the Paris Painter: Tarquinia RC 1979 (Hannestad 1974,
pl. 9); Fiesole 1132 (Galli 1914, 98, fig. 81).
Satyrs with horse legs: Hedreen 1993, 149, n. 104. Satyrs with human legs joined to
hooves are extremely rare in Attic black-figure, and completely absent from later
Athenian art, but appear often on Ionian, South Italian and Peloponnesian vases and
bronzes. Cf. Bulle 1893, 1-15.
Satyrs with human ears along with satyrs with equine ones: Munich 952 (SH, fig. 176).
Satyrs with hooves appear on vases by the Painter of Munich 833 (for example on the
amphora N.York 22.139.83: Martelli, fig. 120), on numerous vases by the Orvieto
Group and the Micali Painter and his followers, as well as on vases belonging to the 5th
century groups. Hoofed satyrs appear along with satyrs with human feet on Louvre E
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24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
703 (Hannestad 1974, pl. 29). A satyr without tail and with human ear, of the so called
“non equine” type (Hedreen 1993, 128-130), appears on the stemmed plate Berlin
1983.5, by the Tityos Painter (Zimmer 1995, 26, fig. 55).
Rome 44059: Brussels Exhibition, pl. 33, n° 61.
On the amphora Würzburg HA 18 (CVA 3, pl. 43), adult and bearded satyrs with long
hair appear side by side with satyrs without beards and short hair and with smaller
satyrs with long hair. Other images of beardless satyrs: amphora Würzburg HA 19
(LIMC 8, pl. 749-750, Silenoi 28b); kyathos in a private coll. (Hornbostel 1977, n° 386).
The earliest images of adolescent satyrs in Attic vase-painting are dated to 470 BC, while
young satyrs appear around a decade later: Brommer 1937, 24.
The type of the bald satyr appears on several late archaic mirrors, e.g. Copenhagen Aba
265 (CSE Denmark, n° 2) and Munich 420 (ES V, pl. 42, n° 2); and on a stele from
Fiesole (SE 6, 1932, pl. XII.3).
E.g. the amphorae in Paris and Boston: Prospettiva 24 (1981), 3, figs 1-2 and 5, fig. 5.
Dances around the krater: Munich 841 (SH, fig. 114), San Antonio 85.119.8 (Shapiro
1995, 71, n° 29), Viterbo 377/212 (Emiliozzi 1974, pl. 101-2, n° 200), Hamburg 1917.509
(SE 11 [1937], pl. 35.3-4), Orvieto, Cannicella (SE 14, (1940), pl. 31a-b). Satyrs around
a cup appear on the Pontic oinochoe Toronto 919.5.138 (Hannestad 1976, pl. 25); also
on the added-red column-krater Boston 80.595 (Bruni 1993, pl. 11). Satyrs carrying
kraters: Göttingen Hu 552 (CVA 2, pl. 45); with wineskins: Rome 15539 (SE 12 [1938],
pl. 53.2); carrying amphorae: Palermo 1485 (Bruni 1993, pl. 18). Drinking from a kantharos: Munich 877 (SH, fig. 189); drinking from a skyphos: Louvre CA 3185 (Spivey,
pl. 1); drinking directly from a wineskin: Munich 953 (SH, fig. 176).
Satyr reclining on a couch: Copenhagen 3794 (CVA 5, pl. 217, n° 4a). Reclining satyrs
appear on the reliefs Louvre 3603 and Berlin 1232: (Jannot, figs 107 and 602), on an
ivory plaque in the British Museum (Martelli 1985\, 213, fig. 16), as numerous bronze
statuettes (Andrén 1970, 73-77, pl. 19) and on the tympana of the tombs of the
Inscriptions and of Hunting and Fishing (RM 92 (1985), pl. 11, 20.1, 21.1).
Aulos-players: Munich 840 (SH, fig. 110); Louvre E 703 (Hannestad 1974, pl. 29);
Louvre CA 3185 (Spivey, pl. 1a-b), Tarquinia RC 6884 (Ginge 1987, pl. 27b), Orvieto,
Faina 2703 (Martelli, n° 125), Vulci 64443 (ArchClass 20 (1968), pl. 71.1) and on vases by
the Ivy Painter (supra, n. 4 and 12). Reliefs: Louvre 3603 (supra, n. 29) and Palermo 8382
(Jannot, fig. 108). Mirrors: London E 540 (ES 5, pl. 38). Lyre-players: Heidelberg E 34
(LIMC 8, pl. 546, Mainades 116); Heidelberg 64/4 (LIMC 8, pl. 751, Silenoi 28c); Rome
24868 (LIMC 8, pl. 546, Mainades 122, mirror of the end of the 6th century); a stele
from Fiesole (SE 6, 1932, pl. 7). The barbitos, the most popular stringed instrument in
Attic art, is very rare: see an amphora in the Louvre CA 6046 (Prospettiva 24 (1981), 3,
fig. 11-2) and the gem in New York 35.11.11 (Richter 1968, n° 758). Syrinx-players:
Numerous examples; e.g. a bronze statuette once in the Lucerne market (Ars Antiqua 5,
1964, n° 36), an amphora handle in Boston, inv. 99.464 (Tietz 1967, no 62) and the
famous Cortona lamp (Giglioli 1935, pl. 230).
Amphora once in a private coll. in Kiel (Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Basel, Auction
19.2.1980, n° 49). The relief, Louvre 3603, 3609, 3610 is thought to be fake by Briquel
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32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
1972, 847-887. By contrast Jannot, 23-25, thinks that the relief is genuinely ancient, at
least in part.
Würzburg HA 19 (LIMC 8, pl. 749-750); Louvre G 13 (ARV² 86; CVA Louvre 19, pl.
68.1-2).
Tarquinia RC 1979 (Hannestad 1974, pl. 9). The satyr is squatting frontally, like the
satyrs on the aryballos New York 26.49, by Nearchos (ABV 83.4; AJA 36 (1932) 272275).
On Würzburg HA 19 (LIMC 8, pl. 749-750), a satyr is about to seat on a phallus. A
similar image appears on a candelabrum on the market (J.-D. Cahn, Auktion 2, Basel 2225 Juni 2000, pl. 64, n° 214). See also an amphora once in the market (Münzen und
Medaillen AG, Auction 22, Basel 13.5.1961, pl. 64, no 195), showing satyrs and women
menaced by “phallic” birds. Compare an Attic skyphos of c. 460 BC, depicting a satyr
menaced by a phallus bird: Boston 01.8.31c (LIMC 8, pl. 767, Silenoi 122). The neckamphora Louvre CA 3185 (supra, n. 30), represents a satyr brandishing an olisbos. In
Attic red-figured vase painting of the late 6th century and the first quarter of the 5th,
satyrs are usually associated with phallus-birds and huge phalloi, but not with olisboi:
Lissarrague 1990, 53-81; Boardman 1992, 227-242.
Maenads in animal skins: Würzburg HA 17 (supra, n. 4); handling snakes: Heidelberg
E 34 (above [n. 30]), carrying thyrsi: Tarqunia 3223 (Ginge 1987, pl. 60-61a).
Berlin Fr 24 (LIMC 8, pl. 545, Mainades 108). Cf. also e.g. ES 1, pl. 97, 102; CSE
Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2, 152, n° 21c. The maenadic costume is seen on the
famous sarcophagus lid from Tarquinia, British Museum 1838.6-8.9 (LIMC 8, pl. 545,
Mainades 114) Satyrs are also dressed in panther-skins: ES 1, pl. 31, 38; ES 2, pl. 102, ES
4, 313, 314; Andrén 1939, pl. 10, n° 33 (antefix from Cerveteri). Satyrs holding thyrsi:
added-red calyx-krater in Bonn (Himmelmann 1973, n° 22).
Satyrs and maenads appear on 40 black-figured vases, dating mostly from the 5th century BC. Cf, also the mirrors London E 540 (ES 5, pl. 38), Bruxelles R 1270 (CSE, no
20), Berlin (ES 1, pl. 102) and Göttingen M 57 (ES 5, pl. 37).
Copenhagen 13437: Spivey, pl. 32b. The amphora Louvre E 755 (MEFRA 99 (1987), 85,
fig. 11), shows on one side a dancing woman holding crottala and on the other side a hegoat. It is tempting to connect the two sides, and recognize in the woman a maenad:
compare an Attic red-figured cup in Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg inv. 2700 (ARV² 63.93;
Bruhn 1943, figs 20-22), showing a maenad reclining and playing the crottala, in front
of two dancing goats.
ES 5, pl. 47.
Boston 1903.991 (ES 4, pl. 313). For Attic versions, cf. Sparkes 1976, 47-64. A Dionysiac
vintage scene appears also on a Caeretan hydria in the Villa Giulia (Hemelrijk 1984, pl.
48-49, no 9).
Werner 2005. Cf. also Drukker 1986, 39-48. Two satyrs dance around a huge ivy leaf on
a skyphos of doubtful authenticity once in the Norbert Schimmel collection: Tietz 1967,
n° 32.
Göttingen F 8 (CVA 2, pl. 44). Attic documents showing the veneration of a huge
Dionysiac mask: Munich 1874 (ABL 223.36, pl. 31.1); Himera H-63-617-1 (N. Allegro
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43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
et al., Himera II, Rome 1976, pl. 23.1). Paleothodoros 2003, 60-62. The anodos of
Dionysus is evoked by Spivey and Stoddart 1990, 120-121 Two vases by the Micali
Painter showing heads (one male, one female) emerging from the ground, have also been
linked to the Dionysiac anodos by Spivey 1988a, 19-20, but this idea was refuted with
pertinent arguments by Ambrosini 1998, 343-361. A male head placed next to birds and
branches appears on a Pontic oinochoe in Würzburg: inv. HA 261 (CVA 3, pl. 37.5-7).
Bérard 1974, 43-45. A pertinent document, not cited by Bérard, is the early 4th century
Attic red-figured pelike, Bucarest V 10010, with a colossal satyr head, approached by a
young male votary (ARV² 1433.41; LIMC 8, pl. 774, Silenoi et satyroi 186).
Mastrocinque 1991, 277-285. Compare also the frontal masks on a mirror in Berlin
(Zimmer 1995, 26, fig. 54) and a cup in a private collection (Cherici 1989, pl. 71).
London B 61 (Spivey 1988b, 597, fig, 6); Naples 2781 (Bronson 1966, 34-37, pl. 14-16); column-krater Florence V 9 (Bruni 1993, pl. 20). A satyr in silhouette is the blazon of a warrior’s shield on a terracotta plaque from Satricum (Andrén 1939, 464, fig. 62). Full images
of a satyr and a maenad dancing decorate the interior of a shield on a fragmentary hydria
of the Praxias Group once in Castle Ashby (RM 84 (1978), pl. 27). Cf. Paleothodoros 2001.
Orvieto, attributed to the Group of Munich 883 (SE 14 (1940), pl. 31a-b.
Rome 50404 and Berlin VI 3206 (M.F. Kilmer, Greek Erotica [London 1993], R 607 and
R 695). A dressed woman holding a huge phallus is shown on a cup by Douris in the
Guarini collection, inv. 153 (Fedele 1984, pl. 48, n° 3). A phallic idol set up in a rustic context is worshipped by a group of satyrs on the black-figure lekythos Athens 9690 (Bérard
1984, fig. 18, while two padded comasts are dancing before a phallus on the Corinthian
plastic vase Corinth IP 1708 (Hesperia 28 (1959), pl. 71 a, b).
Jannot, 324-332; Jannot 1992, 131-155, pl. 1-6.
BCH 124 (2000), 107-109 (relief pithos); LIMC 8, pl. 593, Nymphai 45 (Siphnian treasure); 46 (gem); 47a (Thasian stater). Attic vases: Florence 4209 (ABV 76.1; Furtwängler
and Reichold, 1909], pl. 1-3); Caeretan hydria in the Villa Giulia (Hemelrijk 1984, no
40). In 5th century Attica, similar ritual dances involve a different scenario of seduction,
involving the frenetic dance of a man disguised in satyr costume before a seated woman:
Délavaud-Roux 1994, 45-58.
Florence 646: ES 5, pl. 36; Dresden ZV 1653 (Martelli 1992, pl. 73.3-4, 74); Chiusi, from
Chianciano Terme (MEFRA 110 (1998): 636, figs 1-2); Hannover 1968.81 (KestnerMuseum Jahrsbericht 1968-1970, 309, n° 5). On the bronze plaques from Bomarzo, cf .
Bovini 1941, 73-97, pl. 7-9. Cf. in general Cristofani 1995, 114-115, pl. 19-20.
London B 64 (Beazley 1947, pl. 2-2a).
Van der Meer 1986, 439-445; Szilágyi 1981. See also Schauenburg 1980, 439-443, pl. 8083. Men dressed as satyrs sometimes wear a perizoma (e.g. Munich 840, 841 and 877:
SH, fig. 110, 114 and 189), a costume normally used by comasts. Cf. Rizzo 1994.
Thuiller 1997, 381-382 (on the evidence of a passage of Dion. Halic., Rom. Antiq. 7.7273). According to Jolivet 1993, the amphora London B64 presents a funeral ceremony.
Cf. also Jannot 1998.
Spivey 1988a, 16-17.
Strandberg Olofsson 1996.
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