A seated Dionysus holding a thyrsus (magic staff) and receiving a libation; he wears an ivy wreath, and is attended by a panther.

 

Roman, Neo-Attic, ca. 1st century CE.

 

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Farnese Collection (MANN inv. 6728).

Rome, Palazzo Massimo - Bronze, lost-wax method, Hadrianic or Antonine period - found in the Tiber river-bed.

London '23

The British Museum

 

Parthenon Sculptures (East Pediment D)

By Pheidias' Workshop, Athens, 442-438 BC

Statue of Dionysus holding a thyrsus the staff of which is treated with inverted, overlapping scales.

Roman sculpture after Greek originals of the 4th century BC, previously in the Bevilacqua Collection (Verona).

 

Marble sculpture

Glyptothek. Munich. Germany.

  

The hope of a happy existence in a Dionysian afterlife. Two chariots drawn by a couple of centaurs bring Dionysus and Ariadne toward the center of the scene. On the left a centaur plays a string instrument while, on the right, another one pours wine from a horn inside a kantharos. On both sides the second centaur supports an "imago clipeata" (image inserted in a “tondo”) of a deceased wife and his husband. Other mythological characters are carved inside the scene: Eros, Pan, satyrs etc.

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. The myth of Ariadne gave hope to the couples separated by death to find in the otherworld a life similar to that of the gods. 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 therefore 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.

 

Source: Zanker P. & Ewald BC., “Vivere con i Miti. L’iconografia dei sarcogagi Romani”

 

Marble sarcophagus

Height 87 cm; length 217 cm

Ca. 230 AC

Former Borghese collection

Paris, Musée du Louvre – (Ma 1013)

 

The Myth

The most famous part of his wanderings in Asia is his expedition to India, which is said to have lasted three, or, according to some, even 52 years. In those distant regions he did not meet with a kindly reception everywhere and had to fight against many peoples. But Dionysus and the host of Pans, Satyrs, and maenads, by whom he was accompanied, conquered his enemies, taught the Indians the cultivation of the vine and of various fruits, and the worship of the god; he also founded towns among them, gave them laws, and left behind him pillars and monuments in the happy land which he had thus conquered and civilized, and the inhabitants worshipped him as a god.

 

The Sarcophagus

This magnificent sarcophagus reports the Indian triumph of Dionysus. Dionysus appears at the far left end of the composition in his elephant-drawn chariot. The mythological composition owes a debt to imperial ceremony: the god receives from a winged Victory flying before him a laurel crown, identical to the headdress worn by Roman emperors during triumphal processions.

Several singing and dancing characters march in front of his chariot. The enthusiastic atmosphere of the procession of his worshippers is the favorite theme of Dionysus' iconography. The canonical repertoire includes centaurs, satyrs, maenads, Papposilenus, Pan. The main task of satyrs and maenads was to create the sounds and the rhythms of the exciting Dionysiac atmosphere by using the typical instruments of the thiasos: the maenads strike cymbals and tympana while satyrs and Pan are playing double flutes or syringes. Both are dancing unbridled. The not dancing characters, Sileni and centaurs, play stringed instruments. Several wild animals - lions, panthers, giraffes etc. – were admitted inside the parade during his Indian campaign.

This is a popular theme in late second-century AD sarcophagi, but here the carved relief is of especially high quality — complex but highly legible at the same time.

The-bas relief indicates that the family who commissioned the sarcophagus adhered to a mystery cult of Dionysus that focused on themes of decay and renewal, death and rebirth. The triumph of the deceased over death is the central message overcoming this particular episode in the life of Dionysus himself.

 

Marble sarcophagus

200 AD

Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano

 

The Theatre of Dionysus is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia. The theatre reached its fullest extent in the fourth century BC under the epistates of Lycurgus when it would have had a capacity of up to 25,000, and was in continuous use down to the Roman period. The theatre then fell into decay in the Byzantine era and was not identified, excavated and restored to its current condition until the nineteenth century.

 

Sanctuary and first theatre

The cult of Dionysus was introduced to Attica in the Archaic period with the earliest representation of the God dating to c. 580 BC. The City Dionysia (or Great Dionysia) began sometime in the Peisistratid era. and was reorganised during the Kleisthenic reforms of the 520s BC. The first dramatic performances likely took place in the Agora where it is recorded that the wooden bleachers set up for the plays (ikria) collapsed. This disaster perhaps prompted the removal of dramatic production to the Sanctuary of Dionysus on the Akropolis, which took place by the time of the 70th Olympiad in 499/496 BC. At the temenos the earliest structures were the Older Temple, which housed the xoanon of Dionysos, a retaining wall to the north and slightly further up the hill a circular terrace that would have been the first orchestra of the theatre. The excavations by Wilhelm Dörpfeld identified the foundations of this terrace as a section of polygonal masonry, indicating an archaic date. It is probable there was an altar, or thymele, in the centre of the orchestra. No formally constructed stone seating existed at this point; only ikria and the natural amphitheatre of the hill served as a theatron.

 

Besides the archaeological evidence, there is the literary testimonia of the contemporary plays from which there are clues as to the theatre's construction and scenography. For this earliest phase of the theatre there is the work of Aeschylus, who flourished in the 480–460s BC. The dramatic action of the plays does point to the presence of a skene or background scenery of some description, the strongest evidence of which is from the Oresteia that requires a number of entrances and exits from a palace door. Whether this was a temporary or permanent wooden structure or simply a tent remains unclear since there is no physical evidence for a skene building until the Periclean phase. However, the hypothesis of a skene is not contradicted by the known archaeology of the site. The Oresteia also refers to a roof from which a watchman looks out, a step to the palace and an altar.[19] It is sometimes argued that an ekkyklema, a wheeled trolly, was used for the revelation of the bodies by Clytemnestra at line 1372 in Agamemnon, amongst other passages. If so it was an innovation of Aeschylus' stagecraft. However, Oliver Taplin questions the seemingly inconsistent use of the device for the dramatic passages claimed for it, and doubts whether the mechanism existed in Aeschylus' lifetime.

 

Periclean theatre

The substantial changes to the theatre in the late fifth century BC are conventionally called Periclean since they coincide with the completion of the Odeon of Pericles immediately adjacent and the wider Periclean building programme. However, there is no strong evidence to say the theatre's reconstruction was of the same group as the other works or from Pericles’ lifetime. The new plan of the theatre consisted of a slight displacement of the performance area northward, a banking up of the auditorium, the addition of retaining walls to the west, east and north, a long hall south of the skene and abutting the Older Temple and a New Temple which was said to have contained a chryselephantine sculpture of Dionysus by Alkamenes. The seating during this phase was probably still in the form of ikria but it may be the case that some stone seating had been installed. Inscribed blocks, displaced but preserved in the retaining walls, with fifth-century BC epigraphy on them might indicate dedicated or numbered stone seats. The use of breccia in the foundations of the west wall and the long hall gives a terminus ante quem of the early fifth century BC, and a likely date of the last half of that century when its use was becoming common. Also the last recorded statue of Alkamenes was 404 BC, again placing the works in the late 400s. Pickard-Cambridge argues that the reconstruction was piecemeal over the last half of the century into the period of Kleophon.

 

From the evidence of the plays there is a larger corpus to draw upon during this most vital period of Greek drama. Sophocles, Aristophanes and Euripides were all performed at the Theatre of Dionysus. From these we can deduce that stock sets may have been in use to meet the requirements of the plays such that the Periclean reconstruction included post-holes built into the terrace wall to provide sockets for movable scenery. The skene itself was likely unchanged from the theatre's earlier phase, with a wooden structure of at most two floors and a roof. It is also possible that the stage building would have had three doors, with two in the projecting side-wings or paraskenia. Mechane or geranos were used for the introduction of divine beings or flights through the air as in Medea or Aristophanes' Birds.

 

One point of contention has been the existence or otherwise of the prothyron or columned portico on a skene that represents the interior spaces of temples or palaces. It is a supposition partly supported by the texts, but also from vase painting believed to be depictions of plays. Aeschylus Choēphóroi 966 and Aristophanes' Wasps 800-4 both refer directly to a prothyron, while the parodos-chant in Euripides’ Ion makes indirect reference to one. The mourning Niobe loutrophoros in Naples and the Boston volute krater, for example, both depict a prothyron. Pickard-Cambridge questions if this was permanent structure since interior scenes were rare in tragedy. The evidence from the plays for the use of an ekkyklema in this period is ambiguous; passages such as Acharnians 407 ff or Hippolytus 170-1 suggest but don't require the device. The argument for its use depends largely on reference to the ekkyklema in later lexographers and scholiasts.

 

Lycurgan theatre

Lycurgus was a leading figure in Athenian politics in the mid- to late-fourth century prior to the Macedonian supremacy, and controller of the state's finances. In his role as epistate of the Theatre of Dionysus he was also instrumental in transforming the theatre into the stone-built structure seen today. There is a question of how far up the hill the stone theatron of this phase went; either all the way up to the rock of the Akropolis (the kataome) or only as far as the peripatos. Since the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos of 320/319 BC required the rock face to be cut back such that it is likely that the epitheatron beyond the peripatos would have reached that point by then.

 

A coin of the Hadrianic period crudely suggests a division of the theatre into two sections, but only one diazoma, or horizontal aisle, and not two if the epitheatron went past the peripatos. The auditorium was divided by twelve narrow stairways into thirteen wedge-shaped blocks, kerkides, two additional staircases ran inside the two southern supporting walls. There is a slight slope to each step, the front edge is almost 10 cm lower than the back. The seats were 33 cm in depth and 33 cm in height with a forward projecting lip, with seventy-eight rows in total. The two fronts rows, still partially preserved today, consist of Pentelic stone chairs or thrones; these were the prohedria or seats of honour. Originally sixty-seven in number, the surviving ones each bear the name of the priest or official who occupied it, the inscriptions are all later than the fourth century, albeit with signs of erasure, and from the Hellenistic or Roman periods. The central throne, which is tentatively dated to the first century BC, belonged to the priest of Dionysus. Towards the orchestra there is a barrier from the Roman era, then a drainage channel contemporary with the Lycurgan theatre.

 

The skene of this phase was built back-to-back with the earlier long hall or stoa, the breccia foundations of which remain. It is evident that the new skene building consisted of a long chamber from which projected at either end northward two rectangular paraskenia. Whether there was also a distinct proskenion in the Lycurgan theatre is a subject of controversy, despite literary testimonia from the period there is no firm agreement where or of what form this took. This era is that of the new comedy of Menander and late tragedy of which it is sometimes supposed that the chorus disappeared from productions. It is further hypothesised that the decline in the use of the orchestra would imply, or permit, a raised stage where all the action would take place.

 

Hellenistic theatre

Amongst the innovations of the Hellenistic period was the creation of a permanent stone proskenion and the addition of two flanking paraskenia in front. The date of this construction is not secure, it belongs to some point between the third and first centuries BC. The proskenion was fronted with fourteen columns. Immediately above was the logeion, a roof to the proskenion, which perhaps functioned as a high stage. On this second storey and set back from the logeion is conjectured to be the episkenion whose facade was punctured with several thyromata or apertures where the pinakes or painted scenery would have been displayed. The date of this change devolves onto the question of the date at which the action of the drama transferred from the orchestra to the raised stage, and by analogy with other Greek theatres of the period and the direction of influence between Athens and the other cities. Wilamowitz argues that Dithyrambic contest ended with the choregia in 315, however, Pickard-Cambridge notes that the last recorded victory was in 100 AD. Clearly, the chorus was in decline during this period, so would have been the use of the orchestra. The theatres of Epidaurus, Oropos and Sikyon all have ramps up the logeion, their dates range from late fourth century to c. 250 BC. It remains an open question whether the existence of a logeion on these theatres implies a change in dramatic form at Athens.

 

Another feature of the Hellenistic stage that might have been used in Athens was the periaktoi, described by Vitruvius and Pollux, these were revolving devices for rapidly changing scenery. Vitruvius places three doors on the scaenae frons with a periaktos are the extreme ends which could be deployed to indicate that the actor coming stage-left or -right was at a given location in the dramatic context.

 

Roman period to present day

With the conquest of Greece by Sulla and the partial destruction of Athens in 86 BC The Theatre of Dionysus entered into a long decline. King Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia is attributed with the reconstruction of the Odeion and the presence of an honorary inscription to him found embedded in a late wall of the skene suggest he may have had a hand in the reconstruction of the theatre, There appears to have been a general refurbishment during the time of Nero whose name was erased from the entablature of an aedicule of the scaenae frons in antiquity. The skene foundation was underpinned with limestone blocks in this period, the orchestra was reduced in size and refloored in varicoloured marble with a rhombus pattern in the centre. A marble barrier was erected in 61 AD or later, enclosing the orchestra up to the parodoi. The object of this might have been to protect the audience during gladiatorial combats. The last phase of restoration was in the Hadrianic or Antonine era with the construction of the Bema of Phaidros, an addition to the Neronian high pulpitum stage.

 

After the late 5th century AD the theatre was abandoned: its orchestra became an enclosed courtyard for a Christian basilica (aithrion) which was built into the eastern parados, while its cavea served as a stone quarry. The basilica was subsequently destroyed and by the mid-eleventh century the Rizokastro wall crossed the bema and the parodos walls. Archaeological examination of the site began in earnest in the nineteenth century with the excavation of Rousopoulos in 1861. Subsequent major archaeological campaigns were Dörpfeld-Reisch, Broneer and Travlos.

 

Audience

Evidence points to the enormous popularity of theatre in ancient Greek society. From competition for scarce seating, the expanding number of festivals and performances to theatre lovers touring the Rural Dionysia. It is also clear from fragments of audience reaction that have come down to us that the public were active participants in the dramatic performance, and that there was reciprocal communication between performers and spectators. It is possible, for example, that laws were enacted in the late fifth century to curtail comic outspokenness such was the offence taken by some of the views expressed on the stage. One anecdote that illustrates the fraught nature of this highly partisan audience reaction is that recorded by Plutarch who writes that in 468 BC when Sophocles was competing against Aeschylus there was so much clamour Kimon had to march his generals into the theatre to replace the judges and secure Sophocles’ victory. While ancient drama undoubtedly excited passion in contemporary spectators, there remains the question of to what degree they valued or appreciated the work before them. Aristotle's Poetics remarks: “[h]ence there is no need to adhere at all costs to the traditional stories, around which tragedies are constructed. For to try to do this would be ridiculous, since even the well-known materials well-known only to a few, but nevertheless delights all.” This raises the question of how uniform the response to Greek drama was, and whether communicative comprehension and audience competence can be taken for granted.

 

While the plays of the time are addressed to the adult male citizen class of the city, it is apparent that metics, foreigners and slaves were also in attendance; the cost of tickets was underwritten by the Theoric Fund. Much more controversial is whether women were also present. All arguments on the subject are ex silentio since there is no direct evidence that women attended the Theatre of Dionysus. Jeffrey Henderson argues that since women participated in other rites and festivals they could certainly have attended the theatre. In contrast, Simon Goldhill maintains that the City Dionysia was a socio-political event similar to the courts or the assembly from which women were excluded. No definite answer to the problem has been put forward.

 

Acoustics

Due to the poor state of its preservation, the acoustics of the Theatre of Dionysus cannot be reconstructed. However, by analogy with other, similar Greek amphitheatres, some idea of the sound quality of the ancient theatre can be gleaned. Ancient theatres are long renowned for their excellent acoustics, but it is only recently that scientific analysis of this has taken place. The ERATO project in 2003–2006, Gade and Angelakis in 2006, and Psarras et al. in 2013 used omnidirectional source-receivers to make measured maps of strength, reverberation and clarity. Hak et al 2016, used a large number of source-receivers to make an even more detailed mapping. Their findings were that the speech clarity was best in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and that there is a greater degree of reverberation at Epidaurus due to reflection from the opposing seats.

 

Athens is a major coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, and it is both the capital and the largest city of Greece. With its urban area's population numbering over three million, it is also the eighth largest urban area in the European Union. Athens dominates and is the capital of the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. The city was named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom.

 

Classical Athens was one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece. It was a centre for democracy, the arts, education and philosophy, and was highly influential throughout the European continent, particularly in Ancient Rome. For this reason, it is often regarded as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy in its own right independently from the rest of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a huge cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2023, Athens metropolitan area and its surrounding municipalities (consisting the regional area of Attica) has a population of approximately 3.8 million.

 

Athens is a Beta-status global city according to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and is one of the biggest economic centers in Southeastern Europe. It also has a large financial sector, and its port Piraeus is both the 2nd busiest passenger port in Europe, and the 13th largest container port in the world. The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi). The Athens metropolitan area or Greater Athens extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits as well as its urban agglomeration, with a population of 3,638,281 (2021) over an area of 2,928.717 km2 (1,131 sq mi). Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland.

 

The heritage of the Classical Era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments, and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western culture. The city also retains Roman, Byzantine and a smaller number of Ottoman monuments, while its historical urban core features elements of continuity through its millennia of history. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1834, include the Hellenic Parliament and the Architectural Trilogy of Athens, consisting of the National Library of Greece, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and the Academy of Athens. Athens is also home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Benaki Museum, and the Byzantine and Christian Museum. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, making it one of five cities to have hosted the Summer Olympics on multiple occasions. Athens joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.

 

Etymology and names

In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι (Athênai, pronounced [atʰɛ̂ːnai̯] in Classical Attic), which is a plural word. In earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη (Athḗnē). It was possibly rendered in the plural later on, like those of Θῆβαι (Thêbai) and Μυκῆναι (Μukênai). The root of the word is probably not of Greek or Indo-European origin, and is possibly a remnant of the Pre-Greek substrate of Attica. In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddess Athena (Attic Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnâ, Ionic Ἀθήνη, Athḗnē, and Doric Ἀθάνα, Athā́nā) or Athena took her name from the city. Modern scholars now generally agree that the goddess takes her name from the city,[24] because the ending -ene is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names.

 

According to the ancient Athenian founding myth, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, competed against Poseidon, the God of the Seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city; they agreed that whoever gave the Athenians the better gift would become their patron and appointed Cecrops, the king of Athens, as the judge. According to the account given by Pseudo-Apollodorus, Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a salt water spring welled up. In an alternative version of the myth from Vergil's poem Georgics, Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse. In both versions, Athena offered the Athenians the first domesticated olive tree. Cecrops accepted this gift and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens. Eight different etymologies, now commonly rejected, have been proposed since the 17th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος (áthos) or ἄνθος (ánthos) meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city". Ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- (tháō, thē-, "to suck") to denote Athens as having fertile soil. Athenians were called cicada-wearers (Ancient Greek: Τεττιγοφόροι) because they used to wear pins of golden cicadas. A symbol of being autochthonous (earth-born), because the legendary founder of Athens, Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect. In classical literature, the city was sometimes referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι (iostéphanoi Athânai), or as τὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ (tò kleinòn ásty, "the glorious city").

 

During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα. Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involving false splitting of prepositional phrases. King Alphonse X of Castile gives the pseudo-etymology 'the one without death/ignorance'. In Ottoman Turkish, it was called آتينا Ātīnā, and in modern Turkish, it is Atina.

 

History

Main article: History of Athens

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Athens.

Historical affiliations

Kingdom of Athens 1556 BC–1068 BC

City-state of Athens 1068 BC–322 BC

Hellenic League 338 BC–322 BC

Kingdom of Macedonia 322 BC–148 BC

Roman Republic 146 BC–27 BC

Roman Empire 27 BC–395 AD

Eastern Roman Empire 395–1205

Duchy of Athens 1205–1458

Ottoman Empire 1458–1822, 1827–1832

Greece 1822–1827, 1832–present

 

Antiquity

The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC). By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important centre of the Mycenaean civilization, and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos, it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pure Ionians with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in the Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region.

 

By the sixth century BC, widespread social unrest led to the reforms of Solon. These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy by Cleisthenes in 508 BC. Athens had by this time become a significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against Persian rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by the Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas, after both Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persians.

 

The decades that followed became known as the Golden Age of Athenian democracy, during which time Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece, with its cultural achievements laying the foundations for Western civilization. The playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides flourished in Athens during this time, as did the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the physician Hippocrates, and the philosopher Socrates. Guided by Pericles, who promoted the arts and fostered democracy, Athens embarked on an ambitious building program that saw the construction of the Acropolis of Athens (including the Parthenon), as well as empire-building via the Delian League. Originally intended as an association of Greek city-states to continue the fight against the Persians, the league soon turned into a vehicle for Athens's own imperial ambitions. The resulting tensions brought about the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta.

 

By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BC the armies of Philip II defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, The Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen, ordered the construction of a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

 

In the early 4th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire began to be governed from Constantinople, and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it. The Empire became Christianized, and the use of Latin declined in favour of exclusive use of Greek; in the Roman imperial period, both languages had been used. In the later Roman period, Athens was ruled by the emperors continuing until the 13th century, its citizens identifying themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire ("Rhomaioi"). The conversion of the empire from paganism to Christianity greatly affected Athens, resulting in reduced reverence for the city.[33] Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As the empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes.

 

The city remained an important center of learning, especially of Neoplatonism—with notable pupils including Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea and emperor Julian (r. 355–363)—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until the early 5th century. The sack of the city by the Herules in 267 and by the Visigoths under their king Alaric I (r. 395–410) in 396, however, dealt a heavy blow to the city's fabric and fortunes, and Athens was henceforth confined to a small fortified area that embraced a fraction of the ancient city. The emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529, an event whose impact on the city is much debated, but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. Athens was sacked by the Slavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperor Constans II (r. 641–668) in 662/3 and its inclusion in the Theme of Hellas.

 

Middle Ages

The city was threatened by Saracen raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings—but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time. In the great dispute over Byzantine Iconoclasm, Athens is commonly held to have supported the iconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by Empress Irene of Athens in the ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. A few years later, another Athenian, Theophano, became empress as the wife of Staurakios (r. 811–812).

 

Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three Komnenos emperors Alexios, John and Manuel, Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.

 

The Agora (marketplace) had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted the Venetians, and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town.

 

The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age of Byzantine art in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from the Latins before it was taken by the Ottoman Turks. It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century.

 

From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods, following the Crusades. The "Latins", or "Franks", were western Europeans and followers of the Latin Church brought to the Eastern Mediterranean during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudal fiefs, similar to the Crusader states established in Syria and on Cyprus after the First Crusade. This period is known as the Frankokratia.

 

Ottoman Athens

The first Ottoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under the Ottoman generals Yaqub Pasha and Timurtash. Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of Sultan Mehmed II. As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. The Parthenon was converted into the main mosque of the city.

 

Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" (Franz Babinger). From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of the Kizlar Agha, the chief black eunuch of the Sultan's harem. The city had originally been granted by Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from the city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha.

 

The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon and Propylaea. In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction. In 1687, during the Morean War, the Acropolis was besieged by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini, and the temple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode (26 September), and the building was severely damaged, giving it largely the appearance it has today. The Venetian occupation of Athens lasted for six months, and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in the looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure. During the Venetian occupation, the two mosques of the city were converted into Catholic and Protestant churches, but on 9 April 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens again to the Ottomans.

 

Modern history

In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again the ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew. At that time, the city (as throughout the Ottoman period) had a small population of an estimated 400 houses, mostly located around the Acropolis in the Plaka.

 

Following the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, Athens was chosen to replace Nafplio as the second capital of the newly independent Greek state in 1834, largely because of historical and sentimental reasons. At the time, after the extensive destruction it had suffered during the war of independence, it was reduced to a town of about 4,000 people (less than half its earlier population) in a loose swarm of houses along the foot of the Acropolis. The first King of Greece, Otto of Bavaria, commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert to design a modern city plan fit for the capital of a state.

 

The first modern city plan consisted of a triangle defined by the Acropolis, the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos and the new palace of the Bavarian king (now housing the Greek Parliament), so as to highlight the continuity between modern and ancient Athens. Neoclassicism, the international style of this epoch, was the architectural style through which Bavarian, French and Greek architects such as Hansen, Klenze, Boulanger or Kaftantzoglou designed the first important public buildings of the new capital. In 1896, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games. During the 1920s a number of Greek refugees, expelled from Asia Minor after the Greco-Turkish War and Greek genocide, swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was most particularly following World War II, and from the 1950s and 1960s, that the population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual expansion.

 

In the 1980s, it became evident that smog from factories and an ever-increasing fleet of automobiles, as well as a lack of adequate free space due to congestion, had evolved into the city's most important challenge.[citation needed] A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of the city's infrastructure (including the Attiki Odos motorway, the expansion of the Athens Metro, and the new Athens International Airport), considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city. In 2004, Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics.

 

Geography

Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as the Athens Basin or the Attica Basin (Greek: Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής). The basin is bounded by four large mountains: Mount Aigaleo to the west, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pentelicus to the northeast and Mount Hymettus to the east. Beyond Mount Aegaleo lies the Thriasian plain, which forms an extension of the central plain to the west. The Saronic Gulf lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (1,413 m (4,636 ft)), and has been declared a national park. The Athens urban area spreads over 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Agios Stefanos in the north to Varkiza in the south. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator.

 

Athens is built around a number of hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills of the city proper and provides a view of the entire Attica Basin. The meteorology of Athens is deemed to be one of the most complex in the world because its mountains cause a temperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the Greek government's difficulties controlling industrial pollution, was responsible for the air pollution problems the city has faced. This issue is not unique to Athens; for instance, Los Angeles and Mexico City also suffer from similar atmospheric inversion problems.

 

The Cephissus river, the Ilisos and the Eridanos stream are the historical rivers of Athens.

 

Environment

By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek Minister of Culture, Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated." A series of measures taken by the authorities of the city throughout the 1990s resulted in the improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (or nefos as the Athenians used to call it) has become less common.

 

Measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the 1990s have improved the quality of air over the Attica Basin. Nevertheless, air pollution still remains an issue for Athens, particularly during the hottest summer days. In late June 2007, the Attica region experienced a number of brush fires, including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha, considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round. Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city.

 

The major waste management efforts undertaken in the last decade (particularly the plant built on the small island of Psytalia) have greatly improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers.

 

Parks and zoos

Parnitha National Park is punctuated by well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves dotting the protected area. Hiking and mountain-biking in all four mountains are popular outdoor activities for residents of the city. The National Garden of Athens was completed in 1840 and is a green refuge of 15.5 hectares in the centre of the Greek capital. It is to be found between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings, the latter of which maintains its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the City Centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called the Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens, which has also gathered funding from the EU to help enhance the project. The landmark Dionysiou Areopagitou Street has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. The route starts from the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis near Plaka, and finishes just beyond the Temple of Hephaestus in Thiseio. The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of the Parthenon and the Agora (the meeting point of ancient Athenians), away from the busy City Centre.

 

The hills of Athens also provide green space. Lycabettus, Philopappos hill and the area around it, including Pnyx and Ardettos hill, are planted with pines and other trees, with the character of a small forest rather than typical metropolitan parkland. Also to be found is the Pedion tou Areos (Field of Mars) of 27.7 hectares, near the National Archaeological Museum. Athens' largest zoo is the Attica Zoological Park, a 20-hectare (49-acre) private zoo located in the suburb of Spata. The zoo is home to around 2000 animals representing 400 species, and is open 365 days a year. Smaller zoos exist within public gardens or parks, such as the zoo within the National Garden of Athens.

 

Climate

Athens has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). According to the meteorological station near the city center which is operated by the National Observatory of Athens, the downtown area has an annual average temperature of 19.2 °C (66.6 °F) while parts of the urban agglomeration may reach up to 19.8 °C (67.6 °F), being affected by the urban heat island effect. Athens receives about 433.1 millimetres (17.05 in) of precipitation per year, largely concentrated during the colder half of the year with the remaining rainfall falling sparsely, mainly during thunderstorms. Fog is rare in the city center, but somewhat more frequent in areas to the east, close to mount Hymettus.

 

The southern section of the Athens metropolitan area (i.e., Elliniko, Athens Riviera) lies in the transitional zone between Mediterranean (Csa) and hot semi-arid climate (BSh), with its port-city of Piraeus being the most extreme example, receiving just 331.9 millimetres (13.07 in) per year. The areas to the south generally see less extreme temperature variations as their climate is moderated by the Saronic gulf. The northern part of the city (i.e., Kifissia), owing to its higher elevation, features moderately lower temperatures and slightly increased precipitation year-round. The generally dry climate of the Athens basin compared to the precipitation amounts seen in a typical Mediterranean climate is due to the rain shadow effect caused by the Pindus mountain range and the Dirfys and Parnitha mountains, substantially drying the westerly and northerly winds respectively.

 

Snowfall is not very common, though it occurs almost annually, but it usually does not cause heavy disruption to daily life, in contrast to the northern parts of the city, where blizzards occur on a somewhat more regular basis. The most recent examples include the snowstorms of 16 February 2021 and 24 January 2022, when the entire urban area was blanketed in snow.

 

Athens may get particularly hot in the summer, owing partly to the strong urban heat island effect characterizing the city. In fact, Athens is considered to be the hottest city in mainland Europe, and is the first city in Europe to appoint a chief heat officer to deal with severe heat waves. Temperatures of 47.5°C have been reported in several locations of the metropolitan area, including within the urban agglomeration. Metropolitan Athens was until 2021 the holder of the World Meteorological Organization record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe with 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) which was recorded in the areas of Elefsina and Tatoi on 10 July 1977.

 

Administration

Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion, which was the provisional capital from 1829. The municipality (City) of Athens is also the capital of the Attica region. The term Athens can refer either to the Municipality of Athens, to Greater Athens or urban area, or to the entire Athens Metropolitan Area.

 

The large City Centre (Greek: Κέντρο της Αθήνας) of the Greek capital falls directly within the Municipality of Athens or Athens Municipality (Greek: Δήμος Αθηναίων)—also City of Athens. Athens Municipality is the largest in population size in Greece. Piraeus also forms a significant city centre on its own within the Athens Urban Area and it is the second largest in population size within it.

 

Athens Urban Area

The Athens Urban Area (Greek: Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών), also known as Urban Area of the Capital (Greek: Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Πρωτεύουσας) or Greater Athens (Greek: Ευρύτερη Αθήνα), today consists of 40 municipalities, 35 of which make up what was referred to as the former Athens Prefecture municipalities, located within 4 regional units (North Athens, West Athens, Central Athens, South Athens); and a further 5 municipalities, which make up the former Piraeus Prefecture municipalities, located within the regional unit of Piraeus as mentioned above.

 

The Athens Municipality forms the core and center of Greater Athens, which in its turn consists of the Athens Municipality and 40 more municipalities, divided in four regional units (Central, North, South and West Athens), accounting for 2,611,713 people (in 2021) within an area of 361 km2 (139 sq mi). Until 2010, which made up the abolished Athens Prefecture and the municipality of Piraeus, the historic Athenian port, with 4 other municipalities make up the regional unit of Piraeus. The regional units of Central Athens, North Athens, South Athens, West Athens and Piraeus with part of East and West Attica regional units combined make up the continuous Athens Urban Area, also called the "Urban Area of the Capital" or simply "Athens" (the most common use of the term), spanning over 412 km2 (159 sq mi), with a population of 3,059,764 people as of 2021. The Athens Urban Area is considered to form the city of Athens as a whole, despite its administrative divisions, which is the largest in Greece and the 9th most populated urban area in Europe.

 

Demographics

The Municipality of Athens has an official population of 643,452 people (in 2021). According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, The four regional units that make up what is referred to as Greater Athens have a combined population of 2,611,713 . They together with the regional unit of Piraeus (Greater Piraeus) make up the dense Athens Urban Area which reaches a total population of 3,059,764 inhabitants (in 2021).

 

The municipality (Center) of Athens is the most populous in Greece, with a population of 643,452 people (in 2021) and an area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi), forming the core of the Athens Urban Area within the Attica Basin. The incumbent Mayor of Athens is Kostas Bakoyannis of New Democracy. The municipality is divided into seven municipal districts which are mainly used for administrative purposes.

 

For the Athenians the most popular way of dividing the downtown is through its neighbourhoods such as Pagkrati, Ampelokipoi, Goudi, Exarcheia, Patisia, Ilisia, Petralona, Plaka, Anafiotika, Koukaki, Kolonaki and Kypseli, each with its own distinct history and characteristics.

 

Safety

Athens ranks in the lowest percentage for the risk on frequency and severity of terrorist attacks according to the EU Global Terrorism Database (EIU 2007–2016 calculations). The city also ranked 35th in Digital Security, 21st on Health Security, 29th on Infrastructure Security and 41st on Personal Security globally in a 2017 The Economist Intelligence Unit report. It also ranks as a very safe city (39th globally out of 162 cities overall) on the ranking of the safest and most dangerous countries. As May 2022 the crime index from Numbeo places Athens at 56.33 (moderate), while its safety index is at 43.68.Crime in Athens According to a Mercer 2019 Quality of Living Survey, Athens ranks 89th on the Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranking.

 

Economy

Athens is the financial capital of Greece. According to data from 2014, Athens as a metropolitan economic area produced US$130 billion as GDP in PPP, which consists of nearly half of the production for the whole country. Athens was ranked 102nd in that year's list of global economic metropolises, while GDP per capita for the same year was 32,000 US-dollars.

 

Athens is one of the major economic centres in south-eastern Europe and is considered a regional economic power. The port of Piraeus, where big investments by COSCO have already been delivered during the recent decade, the completion of the new Cargo Centre in Thriasion, the expansion of the Athens Metro and the Athens Tram, as well as the Hellenikon metropolitan park redevelopment in Elliniko and other urban projects, are the economic landmarks of the upcoming years.

 

Prominent Greek companies such as Hellas Sat, Hellenic Aerospace Industry, Mytilineos Holdings, Titan Cement, Hellenic Petroleum, Papadopoulos E.J., Folli Follie, Jumbo S.A., OPAP, and Cosmote have their headquarters in the metropolitan area of Athens. Multinational companies such as Ericsson, Sony, Siemens, Motorola, Samsung, Microsoft, Teleperformance, Novartis, Mondelez and Coca-Cola also have their regional research and development headquarters in the city.

 

The banking sector is represented by National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, and Piraeus Bank, while the Bank of Greece is also situated in the City Centre. The Athens Stock Exchange was severely hit by the Greek government-debt crisis and the decision of the government to proceed into capital controls during summer 2015. As a whole the economy of Athens and Greece was strongly affected, while data showed a change from long recession to growth of 1.4% from 2017 onwards.

 

Tourism is also a leading contributor to the economy of the city, as one of Europe's top destinations for city-break tourism, and also the gateway for excursions to both the islands and other parts of the mainland. Greece attracted 26.5 million visitors in 2015, 30.1 million visitors in 2017, and over 33 million in 2018, making Greece one of the most visited countries in Europe and the world, and contributing 18% to the country's GDP. Athens welcomed more than 5 million tourists in 2018, and 1.4 million were "city-breakers"; this was an increase by over a million city-breakers since 2013.

 

Tourism

Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the past decade, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part because of its successful bid to stage the 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek Government, aided by the EU, has funded major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, the expansion of the Athens Metro system, and the new Attiki Odos Motorway

 

Education

Located on Panepistimiou Street, the old campus of the University of Athens, the National Library, and the Athens Academy form the "Athens Trilogy" built in the mid-19th century. The largest and oldest university in Athens is the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Most of the functions of NKUA have been transferred to a campus in the eastern suburb of Zografou. The National Technical University of Athens is located on Patision Street.

 

The University of West Attica is the second largest university in Athens. The seat of the university is located in the western area of Athens, where the philosophers of Ancient Athens delivered lectures. All the activities of UNIWA are carried out in the modern infrastructure of the three University Campuses within the metropolitan region of Athens (Egaleo Park, Ancient Olive Groove and Athens), which offer modern teaching and research spaces, entertainment and support facilities for all students. Other universities that lie within Athens are the Athens University of Economics and Business, the Panteion University, the Agricultural University of Athens and the University of Piraeus.

 

There are overall ten state-supported Institutions of Higher (or Tertiary) education located in the Athens Urban Area, these are by chronological order: Athens School of Fine Arts (1837), National Technical University of Athens (1837), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1837), Agricultural University of Athens (1920), Athens University of Economics and Business (1920), Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (1927), University of Piraeus (1938), Harokopio University of Athens (1990), School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (2002), University of West Attica (2018). There are also several other private colleges, as they called formally in Greece, as the establishment of private universities is prohibited by the constitution. Many of them are accredited by a foreign state or university such as the American College of Greece and the Athens Campus of the University of Indianapolis.

 

Culture

The city is a world centre of archaeological research. Alongside national academic institutions, such as the Athens University and the Archaeological Society, it is home to multiple archaeological museums, taking in the National Archaeological Museum, the Cycladic Museum, the Epigraphic Museum, the Byzantine & Christian Museum, as well as museums at the ancient Agora, Acropolis, Kerameikos, and the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum. The city is also the setting for the Demokritos laboratory for Archaeometry, alongside regional and national archaeological authorities forming part of the Greek Department of Culture.

 

Athens hosts 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes which promote and facilitate research by scholars from their home countries. As a result, Athens has more than a dozen archaeological libraries and three specialized archaeological laboratories, and is the venue of several hundred specialized lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as dozens of archaeological exhibitions each year. At any given time, hundreds of international scholars and researchers in all disciplines of archaeology are to be found in the city.

 

Athens' most important museums include:

 

the National Archaeological Museum, the largest archaeological museum in the country, and one of the most important internationally, as it contains a vast collection of antiquities. Its artefacts cover a period of more than 5,000 years, from late Neolithic Age to Roman Greece;

the Benaki Museum with its several branches for each of its collections including ancient, Byzantine, Ottoman-era, Chinese art and beyond;

the Byzantine and Christian Museum, one of the most important museums of Byzantine art;

the National Art Gallery, the nation's eponymous leading gallery, which reopened in 2021 after renovation;

the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 2000 in a former brewery building;

the Numismatic Museum, housing a major collection of ancient and modern coins;

the Museum of Cycladic Art, home to an extensive collection of Cycladic art, including its famous figurines of white marble;

the New Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, and replacing the old museum on the Acropolis. The new museum has proved considerably popular; almost one million people visited during the summer period June–October 2009 alone. A number of smaller and privately owned museums focused on Greek culture and arts are also to be found.

the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, a museum which displays artifacts from the burial site of Kerameikos. Much of the pottery and other artifacts relate to Athenian attitudes towards death and the afterlife, throughout many ages.

the Jewish Museum of Greece, a museum which describes the history and culture of the Greek Jewish community.

 

Architecture

Athens incorporates architectural styles ranging from Greco-Roman and Neoclassical to Modern. They are often to be found in the same areas, as Athens is not marked by a uniformity of architectural style. A visitor will quickly notice the absence of tall buildings: Athens has very strict height restriction laws in order to ensure the Acropolis Hill is visible throughout the city. Despite the variety in styles, there is evidence of continuity in elements of the architectural environment throughout the city's history.

 

For the greatest part of the 19th century Neoclassicism dominated Athens, as well as some deviations from it such as Eclecticism, especially in the early 20th century. Thus, the Old Royal Palace was the first important public building to be built, between 1836 and 1843. Later in the mid and late 19th century, Theophil Freiherr von Hansen and Ernst Ziller took part in the construction of many neoclassical buildings such as the Athens Academy and the Zappeion Hall. Ziller also designed many private mansions in the centre of Athens which gradually became public, usually through donations, such as Schliemann's Iliou Melathron.

 

Beginning in the 1920s, modern architecture including Bauhaus and Art Deco began to exert an influence on almost all Greek architects, and buildings both public and private were constructed in accordance with these styles. Localities with a great number of such buildings include Kolonaki, and some areas of the centre of the city; neighbourhoods developed in this period include Kypseli.

 

In the 1950s and 1960s during the extension and development of Athens, other modern movements such as the International style played an important role. The centre of Athens was largely rebuilt, leading to the demolition of a number of neoclassical buildings. The architects of this era employed materials such as glass, marble and aluminium, and many blended modern and classical elements. After World War II, internationally known architects to have designed and built in the city included Walter Gropius, with his design for the US Embassy, and, among others, Eero Saarinen, in his postwar design for the east terminal of the Ellinikon Airport.

 

Urban sculpture

Across the city numerous statues or busts are to be found. Apart from the neoclassicals by Leonidas Drosis at the Academy of Athens (Plato, Socrates, Apollo and Athena), others in notable categories include the statue of Theseus by Georgios Fytalis at Thiseion; depictions of philhellenes such as Lord Byron, George Canning, and William Gladstone; the equestrian statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis by Lazaros Sochos in front of the Old Parliament; statues of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Rigas Feraios and Adamantios Korais at the University; of Evangelos Zappas and Konstantinos Zappas at the Zappeion; Ioannis Varvakis at the National Garden; the" Woodbreaker" by Dimitrios Filippotis; the equestrian statue of Alexandros Papagos in the Papagou district; and various busts of fighters of Greek independence at the Pedion tou Areos. A significant landmark is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma.

 

Entertainment and performing arts

Athens is home to 148 theatrical stages, more than any other city in the world, including the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus, home to the Athens Festival, which runs from May to October each year. In addition to a large number of multiplexes, Athens plays host to open air garden cinemas. The city also supports music venues, including the Athens Concert Hall (Megaro Moussikis), which attracts world class artists. The Athens Planetarium, located in Andrea Syngrou Avenue, in Palaio Faliro is one of the largest and best equipped digital planetaria in the world. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, inaugurated in 2016, will house the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera. In 2018 Athens was designated as the World Book Capital by UNESCO.

 

Restaurants, tavernas and bars can be found in the entertainment hubs in Plaka and the Trigono areas of the historic centre, the inner suburbs of Gazi and Psyrri are especially busy with nightclubs and bars, while Kolonaki, Exarchia, Metaxourgeio, Koukaki and Pangrati offer more of a cafe and restaurant scene. The coastal suburbs of Microlimano, Alimos and Glyfada include many tavernas, beach bars and busy summer clubs.

 

The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the Athenian serenades (Αθηναϊκές καντάδες), based on the Heptanesean kantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') in revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes that were dominating Athens' theatre scene.

 

In 1922, following the war, genocide and later population exchange suffered by the Greek population of Asia Minor, many ethnic Greeks fled to Athens. They settled in poor neighbourhoods and brought with them Rebetiko music, making it also popular in Greece, and which later became the base for the Laïko music. Other forms of song popular today in Greece are elafrolaika, entechno, dimotika, and skyladika. Greece's most notable, and internationally famous, composers of Greek song, mainly of the entechno form, are Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis. Both composers have achieved fame abroad for their composition of film scores.

 

The renowned American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas spent her teenage years in Athens, where she settled in 1937. Her professional opera career started in 1940 in Athens, with the Greek National Opera. In 2018, the city's municipal Olympia Theatre was renamed to "Olympia City Music Theatre 'Maria Callas'" and in 2023, the Municipality inaugurated the Maria Callas Museum, housing it in a neoclassical building on 44 Mitropoleos street.

 

Sports

The Panathenaic Stadium of Athens (Kallimarmaron) dates back to the fourth century BC and has hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

 

Agia Sophia Stadium

Athens has a long tradition in sports and sporting events, serving as home to the most important clubs in Greek sport and housing a large number of sports facilities. The city has also been host to sports events of international importance.

 

Athens has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1896 and 2004. The 2004 Summer Olympics required the development of the Athens Olympic Stadium, which has since gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, and one of its most interesting modern monuments. The biggest stadium in the country, it hosted two finals of the UEFA Champions League, in 1994 and 2007. Athens' other major stadiums are the Karaiskakis Stadium located in Piraeus, a sports and entertainment complex, host of the 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, and Agia Sophia Stadium located in Nea Filadelfeia.

 

Athens has hosted the EuroLeague final three times, the first in 1985 and second in 1993, both at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, most known as SEF, a large indoor arena, and the third time in 2007 at the Olympic Indoor Hall. Events in other sports such as athletics, volleyball, water polo etc., have been hosted in the capital's venues.

 

Athens is home to three European multi-sport clubs: Panathinaikos, originated in Athens city centre, Olympiacos, originated in the suburb of Piraeus and AEK Athens, originated in the suburb of Nea Filadelfeia. In football, Panathinaikos made it to the 1971 European Cup Final, Olympiacos have dominated domestic competitions, while AEK Athens is the other member of the big three. These clubs also have basketball teams; Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are among the top powers in European basketball, having won the Euroleague six times and three respectively, whilst AEK Athens was the first Greek team to win a European trophy in any team sport.

 

Other notable clubs within Athens are Athinaikos, Panionios, Atromitos, Apollon, Panellinios, Egaleo F.C., Ethnikos Piraeus, Maroussi BC and Peristeri B.C. Athenian clubs have also had domestic and international success in other sports.

 

The Athens area encompasses a variety of terrain, notably hills and mountains rising around the city, and the capital is the only major city in Europe to be bisected by a mountain range. Four mountain ranges extend into city boundaries and thousands of kilometres of trails criss-cross the city and neighbouring areas, providing exercise and wilderness access on foot and bike.

 

Beyond Athens and across the prefecture of Attica, outdoor activities include skiing, rock climbing, hang gliding and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Athens Chapter of the Sierra Club, which leads over 4,000 outings annually in the area.

 

Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on 5 September 1997 in Lausanne, Switzerland, after having lost a previous bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, to Atlanta, United States. It was to be the second time Athens would host the games, following the inaugural event of 1896. After an unsuccessful bid in 1990, the 1997 bid was radically improved, including an appeal to Greece's Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome with 66 votes to 41. Prior to this round, the cities of Buenos Aires, Stockholm and Cape Town had been eliminated from competition, having received fewer votes. Although the heavy cost was criticized, estimated at $1.5 billion, Athens was transformed into a more functional city that enjoys modern technology both in transportation and in modern urban development. The games welcomed over 10,000 athletes from all 202 countries.

"Dionysus with bunches of grapes, in the background Mount Vesuvius. The snake "agathodemone" (=bringer of happiness) slithers towards offerings such as a fir cone, eggs and fruit" (62-79 AD) - from Pompeii, House of the Centenary - Exhibition "Myth and Nature" at Archaeological Museum of Naples, until September 30, 2016

 

www.flickr.com/groups/napolinobilissima/discuss/721576667...

www.flickr.com/groups/birdsphotos/discuss/721576309000763...

www.flickr.com/groups/volcans-du-monde/discuss/7215763331...

Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807)

Oil on canvas

EKM VM 313

Kadriorg Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia.

 

According to the museum labels:

========================================================

These two paintings, with their revealing titles, focus on a young woman clad in white: Beauty.

 

The first painting depicts a virtuous choice of Beauty: she resolutely pushes aside Folly, portrayed as a sensual follower of Dionysus, and stands with the motherly Prudence.

 

In the second painting, Beauty, having maintained her sensibility, is wreathed by the handsome youngster Perfection.

 

The titles of the paintings were selected by Koffmann herself; the characters are made even more recognisable through their attributes.

 

For instance, there is a mirror in Prudence's lap, which shows the true nature of things; there is also a bridle, which symbolises self-control and sensibility.

 

The pair of paintings was commissioned by Ann Bryer, the widow of the English publisher Henry Bryer, who had the pictures engraved by Jean-Marie Delattre (1745- 1840) and published them in l78l/84.

 

The prints made Kauffann's, Beauty and Prudence widely known and thus they became two of the best-loved subjects in 19th century applied art, particularly based on the products of a Vienna porcelain factory.

===================================================

The labels go on to say:

 

Angelika Kauffmann was one of the most interesting and distinguished women artists of the 18th century. She lived and worked in the decades that Europe remembers as the awakening of the bourgeoisie, of the Great French Revolution, and of the era of the Enlightenment.

 

Enlightened Europe admired the ancient times and prefered to think in noble, heroic categories.

 

At the same time, it was also an era of the idyll and of feelings, friendship and the romanticizing of nature.

 

Angelika Kauffmann was a portraitist and historical painter of Swiss origin, whose oeuvre wonderfully represents the values of theperiod, as it depicts sensitive characters from English poetry, grieving ancient Greek heroines, and beautiful ladies in the roles of Love, Prudence, Beauty and other virtues.

 

The charming painter,whose personal life was characterised by unrequited love, a circle of intellectual friends, distinguished patrons, and a luxurious life in the salons of London and Rome, became the embodiment of the ideal woman of the Enlightenment, Miss Angel, "the Muse with a brush."

 

Kauffmann's images, the slender beauties and androgynous heroes of her mythological and allegorical scenes, spread as prints all over Europe and America; they were printed on ladies' fans, on china and on silk fabric as patterns for embroidery.

 

The phrase 'the whole world is Angelica-mad', which was in common use in the late 18th century, is supported by numerous Kauffmann's prints in Baltic art collections, as well as by lovely watercolours of Cupids and Charities, copies of her paintings, and objects of applied art made after the example of her work.

Dionysus and Eros (Cupid / Amor)

2nd century AD

 

In the Farnese Collection of Roman antiquities in the Naples Archaeological Museum.

 

→ See also Visit the National Museum of Archaeology in Naples for more on one of the finest collections of antiquities in the world, including the marvelous Farnese sculptures (including Hercules at Rest and the Farnese Toro) and the best artworks, mosaics, as well as frescoes from the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

 

Hermes entrusting Dionysus child to a nymph. The "petasos", traveler hat, behind the shoulders, the winged sandals and the caduceus identify the male figure painted on the right side as Hermes. The god, with chlamys covering the upper part of his body, moves to the left. He holds in his arms a young boy wrapped in his cloak: this child, portrayed in profile, is the god Dionysus.

On the left, the nymph is standing cloaked in her mantle. She wears a himation over a chiton. Her left hand is stretched forward, while the right arm is lying along her body.

 

The Myth

Dionysus was the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele, snatched prematurely from his mother's womb when she was burnt to death by Zeus' thunderbolt, then stitched into his father's thigh until he could be born full-term, Hermes carried the infant to be brought up by Ino and Athamas, who dressed him as a girl to hide him from the ever jealous Hera. But eventually she learnt the truth and punished Ino and Athamas by driving them mad. They killed their own two sons: Athamas shot Learchus, and Ino flung Melicertes into a cauldron of boiling water, then leapt into the sea with him in her arms and drowned. Mother and son were transformed by Dionysus into the sea-deities Leucothea and Palaemon.

While Dionysus was still a child, Zeus turned him into a kid to elude Hera and took him to the nymphs of Mount Nysa (variously located) for safety. They brought him up in a cave and later became part of his revelling entourage. They were sometimes said to be the HYADES, and were later rewarded with immortality among the stars. (Source: J. March, “Cassell’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology”

 

Attic red-figured pelike

Dimensions: H. 24 cm.; max diam. 18,6 cm.

Attributed to Barclay Painter by Beazley

Approx. middle V century BC

From Banditaccia Necropoli, Cerveteri, Rome

Rome, Villa Giulia, Museo Nazionale Etrusco

 

Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall

The Myth

According to a spread tradition, Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele (Hom. Hymn. VI. 56; Eurip. Bacch.; Apollod. III. 4. § 3). There is no doubt about the origin of the name Semele, for it is nothing but a Greek modification of that of the Thraco-Phrygian earth-goddess Zemelo. In Greek myth, however, she is fully mortal, as one of the four daughters of Cadmos, king of Thebes.

The common story runs as follows: Zeus felt in love with Semele and used to visit her in secret at night, exciting the jealousy of Hera, who plotted her rival’s destruction. Hera visited her in the disguise of a friend, or an old woman, and persuaded her to request Zeus to appear to her in the same glory and majesty in which he was accustomed to approach his own wife Hera. When all entreaties to desist from this request were fruitless, Zeus finally complied, and appeared to her in thunder and lightning. Semele was terrified and overpowered by the sight, and was seized by the fire. Before her body was fully consumed, however, Zeus snatched her sixth- or seventh-month child from her womb, and sewed it into his own thigh, from where it was subsequently brought to birth at the fulfillment of the normal time of gestation. Some claimed that the child was already deified by contact with the divine fire. As for the unfortunate Semele, she was later rescued from the Underworld by her son and taken up to Olympos to become the goddess Thyone. After his extraordinary birth, which may be compared to that of Athena from Zeus’s head, Dionysos had to be provided with a nurse or nurses. In some accounts, Zeus asked Hermes to convey the child to the nymphs of Nysa. This mysterious place is already mentioned in connection with Dionysos in the Iliad, which states that Lykourgos chased “the nurses of mad Dionysus down over the sacred mountain of Nysa”.

 

The Relief

Hermes is ready to assist the newborn god and convey him on the Mount Nysa, where, by the will of Zeus, will be entrusted to the care of the nymphs. Hermes holds animal skins in which wrap the newborn Dionysus; behind Hermes are depicted three nymphs.

This work is a neo-attic bas-relief dating from the Hadrian's age. The carved slab, perhaps belonging to a frieze, is presumably a copy of a “choragic” relief dating fro the IV century BC.

 

Neo-attic marble bas-relief

Approx. 120 -140 AD.

From Porta Portese, Rome

Rome, Vatican Museums, Museo Pio Clementino.

   

The 70-square-metre mosaic remains in place where discovered in 1941 - the museum was built around it.

----

The villa was located in the Roman settlement of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

----

Nikon AF Nikkor 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5D

 

DSC_2720 Anx2 1400h Q90 0.5k-2k

The Myth

The most famous part of his wanderings in Asia is his expedition to India, which is said to have lasted three, or, according to some, even 52 years. In those distant regions he did not meet with a kindly reception everywhere and had to fight against many peoples. But Dionysus and the host of Pans, Satyrs, and maenads, by whom he was accompanied, conquered his enemies, taught the Indians the cultivation of the vine and of various fruits, and the worship of the god; he also founded towns among them, gave them laws, and left behind him pillars and monuments in the happy land which he had thus conquered and civilized, and the inhabitants worshipped him as a god.

 

The Sarcophagus

This magnificent sarcophagus reports the Indian triumph of Dionysus. Dionysus appears at the far left end of the composition in his elephant-drawn chariot. The mythological composition owes a debt to imperial ceremony: the god receives from a winged Victory flying before him a laurel crown, identical to the headdress worn by Roman emperors during triumphal processions.

Several singing and dancing characters march in front of his chariot. The enthusiastic atmosphere of the procession of his worshippers is the favorite theme of Dionysus' iconography. The canonical repertoire includes centaurs, satyrs, maenads, Papposilenus, Pan. The main task of satyrs and maenads was to create the sounds and the rhythms of the exciting Dionysiac atmosphere by using the typical instruments of the thiasos: the maenads strike cymbals and tympana while satyrs and Pan are playing double flutes or syringes. Both are dancing unbridled. The not dancing characters, Sileni and centaurs, play stringed instruments. Several wild animals - lions, panthers, giraffes etc. – were admitted inside the parade during his Indian campaign.

This is a popular theme in late second-century AD sarcophagi, but here the carved relief is of especially high quality — complex but highly legible at the same time.

The-bas relief indicates that the family who commissioned the sarcophagus adhered to a mystery cult of Dionysus that focused on themes of decay and renewal, death and rebirth. The triumph of the deceased over death is the central message overcoming this particular episode in the life of Dionysus himself.

 

Marble sarcophagus

200 AD

Vatican City State, Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano

 

Paradis series....

Dionysus must lean on a satyr not to fall over. His sacred panther is lapping wine that he spills.

The frieze of the podium section C is dedicated entirely to the infant Dionysus and his entourage. The bath of the Dionysus occupies the narrow central plate. A nymph sits leaning on a softly padded diphros in front of which a footstool stands. The chiton has slipped from the shoulder of the nymph. A great mantle surrounds the upper part of her body, underlining the vivacity of her movement. The woman supports the infant Dionysus with her right hand embracing the chid’s breast. The child turns to her, and puts his hand on her naked shoulder. She is about to plunge the child in a magnificent crater-shaped basin with an elegant s-shaped profile and feet in bird shape. Its external surface seems chiseled with a wreath of ivy and corymbs, which could be thought to a fine toreutic jewelry work. The handles follow the curve of the basin profile. The basin rests on a structure no longer recognizable in its form. To the right, next to the container, there is another nymph. Behind her, another woman attends to the bath scene. She wears a chiton, slipped from her left shoulder, and a large coat. The right foot is elevated. With her left hand, the woman supports a large box, from which, with her right hand, appears to take an object. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to ascertain what this object was, since the contents of the box and the contents are strongly damaged.

Images of the Dionysian Thiasos frame the central scene. From the left, the first character is a shepherd or satyr with a “lagobolon”, a hunter's stick. Hermes too comes from the left with the kerykeion leant on his shoulder. Next to the bathing scene, there is a fine Papposilenus with a cloak around his hips, accompanied by a panther with a tassel tail. The figure of Papposilenus is characterized by a gesture of astonishment. Between the figures lush ivy garlands are suspended. In correspondence the fissure between the frieze panels a tree trunk rises. Cymbals hang from its branches covered by ivy. While the figures approaching from the left refer to the central scene, the figures to the right of the bathing scene are occupied with themselves: a goat-legged Pan and a maenad dance in front of a parapetasma.

 

Source: Ruth Lindner, “Mythis und Identität”

 

Theater stage frieze

2nd quarter 1st cent AD. - 200 AD.

Nysa, Caria, Turchey

   

Dionysus is playing a lyre. Two satyrs are dancing and beating the rhythm with their krotala. Grape vine shoots adorn the scene.

 

Attic red-figured kylix

Attributed to Brigos Painter

About 500-450 BC

Paris, BNF, Department of Coins, Medals and Antiquities

  

www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/dionysus-bacchus-greek-g...

Wherever the Greeks went, the culture of theater and theatrical performance spread in all forms; acting, musical performance and dancing. The theatres are sacred places to Dionysus, who appears here in a double herm, crowned with ivy together with yet unidentified character, perhaps belonging to theatrical performance.

Limestone

Roman Period, 1st-2nd century AD

Provenance unknown

 

Graeco-Roman Museum

Alexandria Egypt

Dionysus is standing on a chariot drawn by two centaurs. The equilibrium of the wine god is unstable, and his right arm hugs the shoulders of a satyr who tries to support him. An upturned kantharos is in his right hand. A "parapetasma" is hanged behind the chariot hiding the background. A winged Erote is standing on the back of the older centaur playing a lyre held with his left hand with a "plektron". A panther is squatting under his paws. The younger centaur holds a pine branch. Two musician maenads march before Dionysus’ chariot: the first is a "aulistria", the second a "tympanistria". Their light dresses inflated by the wind form wide arches behind their heads. The next character is Silenus lying drunk on a chariot pulled by two mules. The chariot is driven by Pan who looks at his passenger turning his head. The procession is blocked by a mule fallen to the ground, and a satyr tries to raise the animal pulling it by the bit.

A tree separates this from the last scene depicting Pan dancing. In the foreground, between his goat legs, is carved a cist from which a snake comes. In the far right side a satyr observes the parade turning back his head; he holds a hunting stick, "lagobolon", with his lowered right hand and a wreath with the left.

The relief carved on the lid raise depicts a banquet. At the center Dionysus and Ariadne are lying in symmetrical position: the god holds a cup, Arianna, wearing chiton and cloak, a wreath. On both sides erotes are flying towards the couple. The characters behind Dionysus and Ariadne are Pan and Silenus. In the left corner a servant is busy to fuel the fire burning under a pot.

 

Roman marble sarcophagus

160 - 170 AD

Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano

 

At the center of the bas-relief Dionysus, raising his right bent arm over the head, is leaning against a satyr standing on his left. Eight Erotes arranged in two series surround the god. They are portrayed as slender youths with hair full of curls. Six of them are wearing over their naked body a short chlamys hooked on their left shoulder. Each of them holds typical attributes and/or tools symbolizing the four Seasons. From left, the first Erote holding a floral wreath in his raised left hand may be identified with the Spring. The second one bringing a cup near his lips for tasting the new wine could be the representation of the Winter. The next one depicted with a scythe in his right hand and a basket full of corn near his feet, is easily identifiable with the Summer. The Autumn closes the series sculpted to Dionysus’ left: he is portrayed as a hunter who holding with his left hand a hare by its paws, raises the arm while a dog tries to grab his prey.

The Seasons' right series starts with the Summer. The youth personifying this season has a bunch of corn's ears in his right hand, and holds a basket full of fruits with his left lowered hand; below the basket a goat nurses her baby. The second one is the Autumn portrayed as a youth who leaning on a vine shoot with his right arm, supports a basket with his left arm. The next character, a youth carrying on his shoulders a lamb held for its paws, is identified as the Spring. The last Erote, wearing boots and a short tunic with hood, holds two ducks and a lake reed: he symbolizes Winter.

The sarcophagus' lid is enclosed between two angular masks. At the center, supported by two cupids, there is a framed “tabella” for the funerary epigraph. To its left, the bust of the deceased woman is carved against a veil, “parapetasma”, held by two Erotes. On the other side, four cupids flying towards right, move bunches of corn ears.

Stylistic considerations concerning the rendering of the main characters – arrangement of the figures, hairstyle etc. - date this sarcophagus to the second quarter of the IV century AD.

 

Roman Sarcophagus

About 320 – 350 AD

Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano, Terme di Diocleziano

 

The common story, which makes Dionysus a son of Semele by Zeus, runs as follows : Hera, jealous of Semele, visited her in the disguise of a friend, or an old woman, and persuaded her to request Zeus to appear to her in the same glory and majesty in which he was accustomed to approach his own wife Hera. When all entreaties to desist from this request were fruitless, Zeus appeared to her in thunder and lightning. Semele was terrified and overpowered by the sight, and being seized by the fire, she gave premature birth to a child. Zeus saved the child from the flames: he was sewed up in the thigh of Zeus and, after some time, Hermes brought Dionysus in a wild region and entrusted the young orphan to Silenus. The old satyr and the Nymphs were his tutors until he come to the maturity.

  

Roman marble copy from an original Greek sculpture.

Original sculpture attributed to Lysippus, ca. 310 – 300 BC

Munich, Glyptothek

 

Hermes and Dionysos www.flickr.com/photos/69716881@N02/7118139781/

 

www.flickr.com/groups/historyantiquities/discuss/72157630...

  

Head of Dionysus (eclectic, Roman, inspired by Hellenistic Models) - Musei dei Capitolini

This sculpture represents the tastes of Baroque era collectors, marrying a female torso with the head of Dionysus, creating a sculpture originating from the 2nd and 17th centuries.

 

The 82-centimeter-high work represents a rare female torso made of Egyptian red porphyry with a male head made of white marble that does not belong to it.

 

The specific movement of the elegant porphyry garment, which looks as if it were carried by the wind, and the circular shield fibulae at her right shoulder refer to the torso of Nike-Victoria, always represented in flight. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, ancient fragments - shoulders, severed arms and above all a white marble head - were added to the torso. The head and torso are attributed to a Roman sculptor from the 2nd century AD. Although it has the image of a woman, the head is identified with Dionysus due to its ivy vine and berry wreath, iconographic elements typical of the god of wine.

 

The creation of this sculpture is typical of the Roman Baroque, when it was established fashion to re-use precious ancient marble to create statues made of reworked and rejoined fragmentary sculptures. The work belonged to the collection of Counts Rosebery and made its way into the collection of the Santarelli family. The workshops of Roman marble workers, with their series of samples, made the collecting of colored marbles accessible to an increasingly wide group of tourists and foreign travelers, enamored of these precious "relics" of antiquity, which served as a coveted and costly souvenir of the Grand Tour.

 

On display at the Musei Capitolini, Rome.

www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/dionysus-bacchus-greek-g...

The type of bronze hydria seen here, often found in graves and temples, served as a cinerary urn or prize for winners of athletic competitions. Its shape and three handles are derived from simpler terracotta vessels used for carrying water.

The attachment of the vertical handle to the hydria’s shoulder, is decorate with a carved plate representing Dionysus, the young wine god, sustained by an old Silenus.

 

Bronze hydria

2nd half 4th Century BC

From North Greece

  

Dionysus god of wine and ecstasy. This work consists of two photographs (Nikon D60 and Hasselblad Carl Zeiss T* 80mm f2.8) and three drawings done by printing ink on the

photographic paper. I did the drawings for textures and brushes in Photoshop. One of the drawing was made by red wine, salt, olive oil – it was base for splash texture. Figure in tunic

occurred in one of the pictures by chance and was invisible in ordinary light. After scanning and

use of the channel mixer (Photoshop) a figure apparent from the other sections of the picture. Since I used a wine in

one of the texture, I decided that this figure of Dionysus. According to legend, Dionysus had similarities with ... blog.ideusx.com/2011/03/dionysus-accidentally-apparent-in...

Symposium. Dionysus, partially wrapped by a himation, lying down on a kline, holds a phiale with his left stretched hand. A wreath embellishes his hair. Near the god a satyr is portrayed in frontal position. He moves the bent arms and stretches the legs: he seems engaged in a grotesque dance. The inscriptions Λ Ε Α Γ Ρ Ο Σ (retrograde) Κ Α Λ Ο Σ are painted, respectively, in the upper and lower part of the scene.

 

Attic red-figure kylix

Made in Athens

Attribuited to

Euphronios as potter

The Colmar Painter as painter

About 490 – 480 BC

Florence, Museo Archeologico Etrusco

   

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romano-Germanic_Museum

 

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6misch-Germanisches_Museum

 

DSC_2715 Anx2 1200h Q90 Ap Q10 0.5k-2k

www.flickr.com/groups/napolinobilissima/discuss/721576602...

Rome, Centrale Montemartini. Roman copy of a Hellenistic original

Dionysus (I think).

 

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.

  

Mᴜsᴇᴏ Aʀᴄʜᴇᴏʟᴏɢɪᴄᴏ Nᴀᴢɪᴏɴᴀʟᴇ Nᴀᴘᴏʟɪ

Farnese collection

2nd century AD

 

20221010_122951

Statue of Dionysus

Marble

Graeco-Roman Period, Roman Period, 2nd cent. CE

Lower Egypt, Alexandria, El-Mehamara (Sidi Bishr)

BAAM T0004

 

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall

National Archaeological Museum of Naples

 

Drunken Dionysus between Satyr and Meanads

Late 2nd century AD

Photographed at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.

Dionysus with kantharos and Maenad with lyre and pomegranate.

Side A detail of a bilingual amphora.

 

Attic bilingual amphora

Amphora A

Made in Athens

Attributed to The Andokides Painter; Side A, The Andokides Painter and Side B, The Lysippides Painter

About 550-500 BC

Bologna, Archaeological Museum

  

Archaeological Museum, Ancient Olympia

 

Attributed to Praxiteles by Pausanias, but the truth of this is doubtful. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_and_the_Infant_Dionysus

The youthful god Dionysos (Dionysus, Bacchus), crowned with vine shoots and clusters of ivy berries - a reference to the rural world and the theme of wine - has an absorbed and detached expression. In his right hand, now missing, he may have held a kantharos (two-handled wine cup).

 

Roman, Antonine period, ca. 150 CE, copy of a late Hellenistic reworking (2nd century BCE) of a statue attributed to the Greek sculptor Praxiteles (mid-4th century BCE).

 

Museo Archeologico Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome (inv. 77428)

It was first built in the 6th century BC, was at its peak in the 4th century BC, when it could house 17,000 spectators. It was rediscovered in the 19th century.