pothos.org

Even if one doesn't buy that this is Dionysos in bull form, bull sacrifice was known as part of the Dionysian cult - in fact, the reverse of one of the vases Andrew posted, displaying a bull being sacrificed by a woman (actually a wingless Nike according to the British Museum if I remember correctly...

I am showing ancient bull sacrifices. There is no great distinction to be drawn between Roman period bull sacrifices and Hellenistic bull sacrifices. I am a bit puzzled that Zebedee can now see a crescent shaped wreath, but cannot see that it is a complete ring in that it goes behind the bull's rel...

Why are you posting (unattributed) Roman exemplars Andrew? They're nice, they're lovely in fact. But they don't even show what you want them to. To be clear : the point being made is that a crescent shaped garland attached by a piece of string around a bull's neck is weird to the point of being imag...

Shall miss his humour and pointed logic greatly. Learned a great deal from his posts on aspects of history I'd never considered before.

Thoughts with his family and friends.

I already did show an ancient bull sculpture with a large garland around its neck in a post a few pages above. This one? http://www.thebiblejourney.org/content/pages/uploaded_images/194.jpg Do you want me to attribute this for you? This is from Constantine's Baths in Ephesus, correct? Which would p...

It is not the actual sacrifice it is the run up. There is nothing unusual about this garlanded bull in the range of garlanded bulls. The archaeologists appear to agree that it is a sacrificial bull. Your idea that this bull is a god-sacrifice won't wash. You are exactly right that the archaeologist...

The bull is not Dionysus nor any god (if it were a god, it would be Poseidon, since this scene is clearly connected with the sea). The reason is that it would be impious to depict a god garlanded for sacrifice and even Corso agrees that the bull is garlanded now. Look at bulls in clear sacrificial ...

Corso puts forward Dionysos in his bull form as one of his two interpretations, and that's where I'd be looking towards as well - even should the associated figures be 'dancers'. Just the context of the overall decoration of the tomb kind of pushes one towards Orphic ideas (in particular the Perseph...

:D I'm sure there are examples, I just am under the impression they're not very common, and I'm not sure on the gender of the right one whatsoever. The point you made on topless dancing for a female would certainly seem to rule out a female dancer at the very least. ---- The picture of Lefantzis' at...

This is kind of what I'd be thinking of if they're centaurs. http://ancientrome.ru/art/artwork/glyptics/cameos/c0042.jpg (Sardonyx cameo of Dionysos on his chariot, c.1st century BC, Alexandria, currently at the Hermitage) But obviously no chariot visible whatsoever etc. So very aware this is not an...

I have to confess I'm assuming both are male unless otherwise most certainly proven to the contrary! Female centaur would be amazing enough. Is there a surviving portrayal of a female centaur from the Hellenistic era? Roman, a couple are known sure. That Greek portrayals existed, yeah. But I can't t...

So far the 'evidence' for Samothrace are shared, generic elements which can be found across the Greek speaking world. Unless one wishes to claim that every time a bull is sacrificed next to a tripod it's a reference to the mysteries there? And that's assuming it is a bull being sacrificed - the 'gar...

Regarding centaurs, a simple google search gives immediately this result which you may have seen: http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/venus-crowned-by-two-female-centaurs-detail-of-a-mosaic-uncovered-in-picture-id182126979 on the center is supposed to be Venus. This was found in Tunisia, dates to t...

A grave and a peribolos surrounding it tends to point towards a heroon. Don't think Philip is plausible during his lifetime either. Founder cult would likely be within the city walls, and, as Andrew points out, this seems to be built around and upon a grave.

When reconstructing an ancient vase from shattered and incomplete fragments, the way that you know that you are right is that the scene that you have reconstructed is self consistent. That is why it is part of the evidence here that a Samothracian initiate is a strong candidate for the owner of the...