THEOS EGENOU EX ANTROPOU. Dionysian and Aphrodisian Aspects of the Underworld
THEOS EGENOU EX ANTROPOU. Dionysian and Aphrodisian Aspects of the Underworld

Summary/Abstract: One of the thematic threads in the vase painting of Southern Italy during the 4th century BC is the depiction of connotative images relating to the underworld and posthumous human existence. The painters made use of decorative motifs which can be perceived as a system of codes that are clear in the context of the local religious beliefs. Images of Dionysus and the chthonic Aphrodite, together with two figures connected with the goddess, Eros and Nike, entered the iconography of the scenes on vases intended as grave furnishings, as did a range of symbols related to the Dionysian-Aphrodisian sphere. Belief in divine protection and participation in the Dionysian, or Orphic, mysteries, which is borne out by the inscriptions on the gold tablets found by the dead, gave the deceased the hope of rebirth after death and the attainment of divine status.

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