The Dionysiac Afterlife: a Mythical Hope - II
The Myth.
Ariadne was daughter of Minos, king of Crete, and Pasiphae. When Theseus arrived from Athens to kill the Minotaur, housed in the Labyrinth, Ariadne fell in love with him. She provided him with a ball of thread that guided him safely out of the Labyrinth once the Minotaur was dead, then fled with him to escape her father's anger. Theseus had promised to marry her and take her with him to Athens, but on the island of Dia, later called Naxos, he abandoned her – some say from choice, others on the command of the gods - and Ariadne awoke in the morning to find herself alone and to see her lover's ship speeding into the distance. She was desolate for long until the god Dionysus arrived in his chariot drawn by panthers, accompanied by his reveling entourage of Satyrs and maenads, and he carried Ariadne off to be his wife, giving her the gift of immortality. As a wedding present he also gave her a golden crown, made by Hephaestus, that was later set among the stars as the Corona Borealis. Ariadne bore him four sons, Oenopion, Staphylus, Thoas and Peparethus.
The theme of Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus and her rescue by Dionysus appears frequently in ancient art and literature, but was to prove even more inspirational for postclassical artists, in literature, the fine arts and music, especially opera, where she becomes a symbol of new life and hope after abandonment to despair and death.
Jennifer R. March. “Dictionary of Classical Mythology”
The Sarcophagus
The so-called "Wedding Scene" of Dionysus and Ariadne is the allegory of mutual love between husband and wife. It is an iconographic model passed down by two specimens of the highest quality: this sarcophagus and another one exhibited in Copenhagen.
At the center of the scene the two lovers are sitting on a rocky rise with relaxed pose. Their eyes, suggesting a state of ecstatic contemplation, express the intimate bond between husband and wife: the love between Ariadne and Dionysus is understood and represented as a blissful state out of time. Their heads are unfinished: they were intended to be reworked as portraits of the deceased.
The scene is framed by two bearded statues of Dionysus wearing a long chiton and portrayed in archaizing style; satyrs, maenads and Hermes watch the couple as a prodigious occurrence. Under the two protagonists, the artist has carved a small group of mythological characters representing the victory of Eros on the lascivious Pan. The not impartial arbiter of the competition is the old Silenus who is trying to lighten the effort of Eros with his fan.
According to the myth Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus on Naxos. In the world of Dionysus, Ariadne is no longer alone: the god is not a simple comforter, he dispenses happiness and serenity. This mythical metaphor would be very suitable to emphasize the transition from an earthly life full of troubles to another happy existence in a Dionysian afterlife. These images are therephore open to different interpretations. They can be read as a consolation for the relatives, in the event that the deceased woman has found peace in death, as Ariadne, after long suffering; as a celebration of the conjugal love; as an expression of nostalgia from her husband; as a wish for a blessed life after death; or as a picture of a possible reunion of two lovers.
The Lid
A "parapetasma" runs along the entire scene carved on the lid rise. The reclining figures of Ariadne and Dionysus are represented in a specular manner at center of the lid. Dionysus holding a cup with his left hand, bents his right arm above the head. Arianna reaches out her left hand holding a wreath, in the other hand she has a cup. An erote with a torch is fliing from left towards Dionysus while, in the opposite direction, Psyche holding a wreath flies towards Arianna.
On the left, behind Pan and Silenus raising his arm on the head, a double-flute player closes the scene. On the right corner of the scene, a semi-reclining satyr with a cup. Two heads of young satyrs are arranged as acroteria on the sides of the lid.
Source: Zanker P. & Ewald BC., “Vivere con i Miti. L’iconografia dei sarcogagi Romani”
Marble sarcophagus
Approx. 200 AD
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano
The Dionysiac Afterlife: a Mythical Hope - II
The Myth.
Ariadne was daughter of Minos, king of Crete, and Pasiphae. When Theseus arrived from Athens to kill the Minotaur, housed in the Labyrinth, Ariadne fell in love with him. She provided him with a ball of thread that guided him safely out of the Labyrinth once the Minotaur was dead, then fled with him to escape her father's anger. Theseus had promised to marry her and take her with him to Athens, but on the island of Dia, later called Naxos, he abandoned her – some say from choice, others on the command of the gods - and Ariadne awoke in the morning to find herself alone and to see her lover's ship speeding into the distance. She was desolate for long until the god Dionysus arrived in his chariot drawn by panthers, accompanied by his reveling entourage of Satyrs and maenads, and he carried Ariadne off to be his wife, giving her the gift of immortality. As a wedding present he also gave her a golden crown, made by Hephaestus, that was later set among the stars as the Corona Borealis. Ariadne bore him four sons, Oenopion, Staphylus, Thoas and Peparethus.
The theme of Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus and her rescue by Dionysus appears frequently in ancient art and literature, but was to prove even more inspirational for postclassical artists, in literature, the fine arts and music, especially opera, where she becomes a symbol of new life and hope after abandonment to despair and death.
Jennifer R. March. “Dictionary of Classical Mythology”
The Sarcophagus
The so-called "Wedding Scene" of Dionysus and Ariadne is the allegory of mutual love between husband and wife. It is an iconographic model passed down by two specimens of the highest quality: this sarcophagus and another one exhibited in Copenhagen.
At the center of the scene the two lovers are sitting on a rocky rise with relaxed pose. Their eyes, suggesting a state of ecstatic contemplation, express the intimate bond between husband and wife: the love between Ariadne and Dionysus is understood and represented as a blissful state out of time. Their heads are unfinished: they were intended to be reworked as portraits of the deceased.
The scene is framed by two bearded statues of Dionysus wearing a long chiton and portrayed in archaizing style; satyrs, maenads and Hermes watch the couple as a prodigious occurrence. Under the two protagonists, the artist has carved a small group of mythological characters representing the victory of Eros on the lascivious Pan. The not impartial arbiter of the competition is the old Silenus who is trying to lighten the effort of Eros with his fan.
According to the myth Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus on Naxos. In the world of Dionysus, Ariadne is no longer alone: the god is not a simple comforter, he dispenses happiness and serenity. This mythical metaphor would be very suitable to emphasize the transition from an earthly life full of troubles to another happy existence in a Dionysian afterlife. These images are therephore open to different interpretations. They can be read as a consolation for the relatives, in the event that the deceased woman has found peace in death, as Ariadne, after long suffering; as a celebration of the conjugal love; as an expression of nostalgia from her husband; as a wish for a blessed life after death; or as a picture of a possible reunion of two lovers.
The Lid
A "parapetasma" runs along the entire scene carved on the lid rise. The reclining figures of Ariadne and Dionysus are represented in a specular manner at center of the lid. Dionysus holding a cup with his left hand, bents his right arm above the head. Arianna reaches out her left hand holding a wreath, in the other hand she has a cup. An erote with a torch is fliing from left towards Dionysus while, in the opposite direction, Psyche holding a wreath flies towards Arianna.
On the left, behind Pan and Silenus raising his arm on the head, a double-flute player closes the scene. On the right corner of the scene, a semi-reclining satyr with a cup. Two heads of young satyrs are arranged as acroteria on the sides of the lid.
Source: Zanker P. & Ewald BC., “Vivere con i Miti. L’iconografia dei sarcogagi Romani”
Marble sarcophagus
Approx. 200 AD
Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano