pothos.org

Let's recall that we do not actually have a cremation: we have only a few percent of a cremation in terms of the amount of material (where is the rest?); we have a cist grave with a slot stated by the archaeologists to have accommodated a coffin, of which we have fragmentary decorations, and sugges...

The thing is that the other elements in that part are also pointing towards some form of portrayal of Dionysos or Dionysian ritual. Centaurs make the link just as clearly as if the figures are a satyr and a maenad, and one gets to the same conclusion if they are dancers too. The question for me is r...

My turn to pour cold water: as you say, it is a beardless centaur and there is nothing else to suggest that it is female and you have already demonstrated that female centaurs are rare. Therefore it is much more likely to be a young male centaur. I cannot see this diagonal garment. There is no bull...

So earliest examples of beardless or female centaurs. Could have knocked me down with a feather. Not saying Amphipolis is or is not, just seeking reasonable context in which to place a bull and two figures next to it. Two centaurs centauring. Obviously a male one on the right, less sure on the left ...

Agree there's clearly something around his neck which is cloak-like, although obviously quibbling over the exact nature of it would be normal. ;) Think there's also a beard there or he's got a very, very fat neck. Ignoring the lower body for the moment, the pose suggests to me he's holding something...

If the Pompeii bulls are pulling a carriage, then the "bling" is harness. Also one of the chest diagonals on one of the centaur examples above looks like a cloak rather than a strap or band. You can see the rest of it behind the creature's back. All tending to emphasise the difficulty in ...

Someone I follow on social media has posted an interesting little direct link, which has been made on this thread before but worth making the support, at least with some associations, for it a little more explicit. "How the greatest and dearest of the gods are present in our city! For the circu...

Just to add some more data: Crowning of bulls is the subject of coin illustrations already from 4th century BC as my friend has found, the "problem" is such coins are found exclusively in a Greek settlement at Campania in Italy. Still it may be interesting to see what is the origin of suc...

Maybe that is one indirect way to attribute a Dionysiac character to the Kastas monument. Fascinating to see that colour scheme, thanks Gepd. There's a theory with the Roman villa that whoever owned it/commissioned the frescoes was deliberately copying Greek and Hellenistic models. Agree it's worth...

That bull from Pompeii would appear to be a garlanded bull, rather than a bull with bling. The ribbons and flowers are clearly visible between its horns for example. The bulls (plural) are pulling the 'chariot'. Although I'm sure someone like Umberto Papparlado (director of excavations down there) ...

Problem is, with sculpture of bulls we have no way of knowing who the bull is meant to represent! Only clue I have that Dionysos was indeed represented in bull form is from Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris: True about sculpture. There's bulls with kantharoi balanced between their horns on some coins, b...

IF CENTAURS ... Definitely difficult to find other Greek images of centaurs to compare. Searching with the keywords "ancient Greece and centaurs" one finds mostly images of Chiron or battles against the centaurs. However, if one simply Googles "Dionysos Centaurs" then Google Ima...

I meant what I wrote Andrew. Your garland doesn't work as a shape. Whether there's a garland there or not outside of that... Corso's interpretation also includes Philip as a bull so I wouldn't place *too* much reliance on what he writes or that's going to make a rather curious little interlude for y...

Better because the amount of green fuzzes over the clear crescent shape and makes a U shape as I suggested to you a few pages back. :) But still doesn't work as the shape assumes the bull is being viewed front on. When you view a bull front on, you don't see its flank. The perspective is being misun...

Nice that some have managed to spot the diagonal strap now. Not a case of 'managed to spot'. More a case of whether it's there or not. As for portrayal of centaurs and things on their chests, here's Chiron with wee Achilles wearing clothes! The horror. https://atlanticreligion.files.wordpress.com/2...