Dionysos: The Cult Indulgence

Daniel Cartolin

Professor Rose

Origins of Western Art

17 November 2017

Dionysos: The Cult Indulgence

         The artwork being analyzed is a sculpture of the Greek God Dionysos. The sculptor is unknown however, it is known that the sculpture comes from the Hellenistic period around 150BCE. It currently resides at the Yale Museum Art Gallery in New Haven, CT.  The sculpture depicts Dionysos in a half nude, contrapposto pose with heavy drapery. The sculptor uses contrapposto to show Dionysos’ toned body, which to the Ancient Greeks symbolized beauty and power. The original Sculpture depicted Dionysos with his coveted wine glass in hand as well as his pinecone tipped staff. These items symbolize Dionysos role as God of wine, festivity, and wild frenzy. These items show that the function of the sculpture was for cult activity.

        The subject of this sculpture is Dionysos, the Greek god of wine, wild frenzy the harvest, and festivity. He has a couple of signature items, these include his crown of vines, his Thyrus which is an ivy pine cone tipped staff, and a Panther or panther skin.  Dionysos is an effeminately beautiful God. He is known for his look and ability to make women follow his command. Dionysos has a female cult following who call themselves “Bacchantes” or “Maenads”^[1].  The practices of his cult were out of the ordinary, Roman describes their actions as “wild revelries that included dancing, shrieking, and orgiastic and more violent elements, such as ripping apart animals and consuming raw flesh..”^[2] and  “Dionysus’s female worshippers would “go to the mountain” to celebrate his rites. The departure from the civilized space of the polis for the wilds is a key theme of Dionysiac worship..”^[3]. Dionysos was a vengeful god to those who wronged him however he rewarded those who accepted his divinity. Roman points out this major characteristic of Dionysos by presenting an example from Homeric Hymns: