Dionysos in the Vase Painting of the Classical Art
How painting reflects the life of Dionysos in the Classical Period? In
art, the Classical Period includes the Early Classical period (479-450
BC), High Classical Period (450-425 BC), Period of the "Rich Style"
(425-380 BC), and Late Classical Period (380-323 BC). The son of Zeus
and the mortal Semele, Dionysos or Dionysus, is a nature God. The
mythological story of Dionysos reveals that Semele was incinerated by
the divine radiance of Zeus when he appeared to her. Zeus rescued his
unborn Dionysos by "sewing him within his thigh" ("Hermes and the Infant
Dionysos"). When Dionysos was born, Zeus ordered Hermes, his son, to
hide the infant Dionysos from his wife, Hera, by taking him to the
mountains to be raised by the nymphs. When Dionysos grew, he became the
God of wine, pleasure, fertility, vegetation, and theater. In classical
art, the representation of Dionysos shows remarkable changes in his
appearance. Classical vase-painting emphasizes the life of Dionysos from
his birth to a mature God.
The representation of Dionyse's birth is a common theme for painters in
the Classical Period. According to Isler-Kerėnyi, the author of the book
"Dionysos in Classical Athens," some paintings of Dionysos refer to the
"motif of the infant Dionysos handed over by his father" (100). They
emphasize "Dionysos' birth from the thigh of his father" (Isler- Kerėnyi
100). The scene from the lekythos attributed to Alkimachos Painter
(Figures 1a, b) unusually depicts the birth of Dionysos. While Zeus
seats, and Hermes, a son of Zeus, waits "to carry Dionysos off to be
raised by nymphs" ("Oil flask (lekythos) with the birth of Dionysos"),
the head of Dionysos raises from the leg of his father, Zeus. The same scene appears
Figure 1. a, b. Oil flask (lekythos) with the birth of Dionysos
attributed to the Alkimachos Painter, 460 B.C. ceramic, Red Figure
technique, height: 42,8 cm (16 7/8 in.); diameter: 14,5 cm (5 11/16
in.), Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Birth of Dionysos from the thigh of
Zeus.
on a fragment of a calyx krater attributed to
Dinos Painter (Figure 2) thirty years later. In the painting, Zeus is
sitting and holding his sway. Dionysos raises from the thigh of his
father while he stretches out his arms "towards a figure about to
receive him" (Isler-Kerėnyi 101).
The vase-painting of the Classical Period shows different scenes of the
infant Dionysos. The krater attributed to the Phiale Painter (Figure 3)
shows Hermes, who brings the infant Dionysos to Papasilenos to keep him
safe from Hera, who was "jealous over an illegitimate child fathered by
Zeus" (O'Donnell 3). The painting has outlined figures, few colors, and
some "three-dimensional effects of perspective and shading" (O'Donnell
3), but the whole scene shows poor artistic development.
Figure 2. Fragment of a krater, artist from the sphere of the
Dinos Painter, Bonn, Akademisches Kunstmuseum.
Figure 3. Attic white-ground calyx krater attributed to the
Phiale Painter, c. 440 BCE. 12 15⁄16 in (32.8 cm). Vatican,
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco Vaticano 559. Hermes bringing the
infant Dionysos to Papasilenos. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
Another painting attributed to the Syleus Painter (Figure 4) shows Zeus
holding his scepter in his right hand while handing the infant Dionysos
to a woman who sits on a folding chair. Another woman who has a scepter
in her left hand is looking at the scene. The sitting woman wears a
diadem and a beautifully folded garment. She has "an ivy branch"
(Isler-Kerėnyi 102-103) in her left hand. The woman looks young, and she
has her arms extended as if she is ready to take the infant Dionysos
from his father, Zeus, to take care of him. The painting shows infant
Dionysos having an ivy branch in his left hand. He touches the right
hand of a sitting woman showing that he agrees to be taken by the seated
woman.
Figure 4. Kalpis, Syleus Painter, Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de
France, Cabinet des Medailles 440 (Arafat 1990, pl. 11a).
The images on the painted vase in the Classical Period show Dionysos as
a youthful God. Dionysos appears in the company of a woman who may be
Ariadne, his Cretan princess, and his wife. Being a symbol of happiness,
the mythical marriage of Dionysos with a mortal is subject in the
painting of the Classical Period. A krater attributed to Dinos Painter
(Figures 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e) located at Benaki Museum depicts the
"ritual celebration" (Sabetai 138) of Dionysos' marriage. "The krater is
important, for it highlights the complex relationship between late
classical Dionysiac imagery and cultural values that find expression in
the context of Dionysiac religiosities, such as bliss within the frame
of the legitimate marriage, an institution highly valorized in the
Periclean polis" (Sabetai 139).
Figure 5. a. Attic red-figure krater by the Dinos Painter (ca.
420-405 B.C.). Side A. Dionysiac hierogamy. Athens, Benaki
Museum 43847
Figure 5. b. Attic red-figure krater by the Dinos Painter (ca.
420-405 B.C.). Detail of side A (Dionysiac hierogamy). Athens,
Benaki Museum 43847
Figure 5.c. Attic red-figure krater by the Dinos Painter (ca.
420-405 B.C.). Side B. Dionysiac thiasos. Athens, Benaki Museum
43847
Figure 5. d. Attic red-figure krater by the Dinos Painter (ca.
420-405 B.C.). Handle side A of the krater. Altar. Athens,
Benaki Museum 43847
Figure 5. e. Attic red-figure krater by the Dinos Painter (ca.
420-405 B.C.). Handle side B of the krater. Door. Athens, Benaki
Museum 43847
The focal point of the krater is Dionysos and Ariadne. Both Dionysos and
Ariadne wear festive garments and wreaths, and they "are depicted at
equal height, gazing into each other's eyes" (Sabetai 139). The
composition shows symmetry, privacy, and harmony. They look into each
other's eyes and show love and happiness. While the youthful Dionysos
holds a kantharos in his right hand, Ariadne holds an ivy branch in her
right hand.
The bride Ariadne shows wealth and special bridal features as she starts
a new life. All the women in the scene wear jewelry. Between Dionysos
and Ariadne, there is Eros. Both Ariadne and Eros have the same colors
to show the influence of Ariadne's love on Dionysos. The scene shows a
satyr figure on the left side, Dionysos, who drinks, and Ariadne, who
seems to identify her presence with Eros. In front of them, there is a
big krater for wine, a tray with food, and food offerings. On the
krater's reversal side (Figure 5 c) are the members of Dionysos'
worshippers, who move towards the altar, above the handle of the krater
(Figure 5 d). A woman who holds a thyrsus leads the Dionysos' worshipers
towards the altar. A wreathed drum player and a satyr that wears a
himation follow the draped woman. He salutes Dionysos and Ariadne while
he dances and looks back towards them. "The divine symposion is
suggested by the presentation of Dionysos as reclining banqueter, the
satyr-pais, the food-bearer, as well as the vessels appropriate for
drinking and for libations: the bridal Ariadne, Eros, and the love-gifts
point to the couple’s happy marriage. This fusion of sympotic and
erotic-nuptial elements appears in a sacred ambiance indicated by the
altar and the door" (Sabetai 141). Dionysos facing Ariadne in an
intimate space is a sacred scene where the feast seems to be usual to
the Gods. The whole painting emphasizes their happy marriage. The door
(Figure 5e) found near the handle of the krater suggests an intimate
space. In the companion of women, Dionysos appears as a God of women. He
seems to be surrounded by many women who are not of the same status.
Only Ariadne seems to face Dionysos in the vase paintings.
Figure 6. Attic red-figure hydria (480/470 B.C.). Dionysos and Ariadne
(on the right), while Athena is sending away Theseus. Berlin,
Antikensammlung SMB.
On a hydria located in Berlin (Figure 6), Dionysos appears to be
reluctant in the companion of Ariadne, and Athena seems to take Theseus
away from the scene. As Dionysos appears as a "paradigmatic husband" in
art, his marriage with Ariadne "was considered the paradigm of an
emotionally and sexually blissful marriage" (Moraw 235). The women who
appear with Dionysos on vase paintings are not ordinary women as they
appear in the presence of God and the satyrs who are mythological
figures. The women in the vase painting may symbolize the union of Gods
with humans. As they appear in ritual scenes near the God and the
satyrs, the women may bring divinity to the rituals that seem to be a
combination between natural and divinity.
Towards the end of the Classical Period, Dionysos seems to be more and
more accompanied by one or more satyrs that may suggest some religious
influences. On a bell krater from about 440 - 430 BC attributed to
Kleophon Painter (Figure 7), a satyr figure who carries a chair on his
left shoulder and has an ivy branch in his right hand follows Dionysos.
A woman that holds a torch and a thyrsus in her hands leads the
procession. While she moves forward, "she looks back at the God"
(Isler-Kerėnyi 138). Being between the two figures, Dionysos holds an
ivy branch and a kantharos in his left hand. The satyr figure has an ivy
branch in his right hand that seems to be like Dionysos' ivy branch. In
the painting, the satyr figure appears as a servant of Dionysos as he
carries the chair. As the ivy branches are the same, they may show
Dionysos' closeness to the satyr figure. Also, Dionysos appears to be a
servant of the woman who leads the procession.
Figure 7-Side A
Figure 7-Side B
Figure 7, side A, B. Bell krater, Kleophon Painter (?), Collection S. Rosignoli,
London (photograph Nik Burgin, reproduced with the kind permission of
Jean-David Cahn).
The God Dionysos seems to be familiar to the Greeks in the Classical
Period as he appears on vase painting from his birth to his adult life.
The vase painting of Classical art emphasizes the story of Dionysos
through images showing Dionysos in different stages of his life. In
Classical Art, the vase painting highlights the transformation of
Dionysos during his life. The painters of Classical Art depict Dionysos
as an infant, a child, a youthful, and an adult. Dionysos is the God of
wine, the God of women, a nature God, a God of happiness and pleasure,
and the God of the theatre. As the vase painting emphasizes Dionysos in
the presence of the mortals rather than immortal, he seems to be the God
of the citizens who associate the afterlife with eternal pleasure and
feast. Dionysos' marriage with a mortal suggests the aspirations of
Greeks in the Classical period to divinity and eternal life. Dionysos'
marriage symbolizes a perfect human marriage as he appears in the vase
painting in the presence of a woman who seems to be Ariadne. As Ariadne
appears in the vase painting in the companion of Dionysos, she
symbolizes the relationship between humans and God. The satyrs appear in
the vase painting to dance and sing, and they may emphasize the
symposium where the mortal males were meeting to discuss and drink. As a
God of wine, Dionysos may symbolize death and rebirth.
