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The cult of Dionysus was not easily accepted into
the Roman religious system at first, creating
much consternation during the Bacchanalian
scandal of 186 B.C., and matching its legendary
initial negative reception among the Greeks, as
told in Euripides’ Bacchae. Evidently, the wild and
antinomian rites practiced by the devotees of
Dionysus concerned the more conservative
members of both Greek and Roman society when
the god’s cult first was introduced. The Romans
called Dionysus by his alternate name, Bacchus,
and would ultimately give his cult a place of
honor in the Roman pantheon just as the Greeks
did. His cult celebrated the god’s role in the
creation of wine and theater for humankind, as
well as his connection to fertility themes, as
witnessed by his association with the god Pan,
and his cult may have existed in Greece as far
back as the Archaic period.
This magnificent bronze sculpture depicts Bacchus crowned
with a grapevine headdress. Such an appliqué would have
once adorned a piece of furniture, like made of wood, which
has since deteriorated over the centuries, leaving behind
only its adornments. A fragment of the original inlaid glass
eye still survives, providing a rare glimpse into the original
appearance of this piece.
- (CK.0151)
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