Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art

Dionysian imagery was a frequent subject in the visual arts of ancient Palestine, reflecting a Hellenistic cultural heritage no longer identified with paganism. Dionysos’ standing in the Greek world, however, does not a priori explain why the vestiges of his cult remained potent in the Near East until the early Islamic Period. His popularity, universality, and longevity are due to the convivial aspect of wine-consuming among the Greeks: the idea of sharing. Not only did the participants of the symposium share equally in the rejoicing, but Dionysos transformed in an immaterial sense the human banquet into a divine occasion that allowed each individual to identify with the divine spirit. Thus, from the Hellenistic Period onwards, when people began searching for a savior for mankind, gods and heroes like Dionysos and Orpheus were eagerly accepted, and they became
increasingly popular.
Archaeological remains show a diversity of materials and objects and provide an insight into religious and profane beliefs and practices. The most detailed depictions of Dionysian scenes embellish the mosaic floors of reception halls in private mansions, and Dionysian motifs are found on different items: sculpture and carved stone; marble and stone sarcophagi and lead coffins; tableware, household vessels, and lamps in metal, clay, and glass; bronze and clay figurines; ivory and bone carvings; textiles; coins; jewelry. The finds themselves do not answer two fundamental questions: their spiritual meaning and their ethno-religious association. On a material level, pagans, Jews, and Christians generally used the same objects in daily life, in funerary customs and in ritual contexts, and they embellished their homes with the same kind of furniture, mosaic floors, and frescoes. Several explanations can be put forward for the popularity and persistence of the myth and cult of Dionysos and his retinue:
• the cultural changes that took place in the Levant after Alexander the Great, the attractions of Greek culture, and the formation of polytheistic and syncretistic religious movements;
• the preference for certain subjects which were directly related to customer demand and available in workshops and at the market place;
• the loss of the original religious significance because of continuous copying and trading over long periods;
• religiously neutral representations that created an atmosphere of joy and tranquility, of wellbeing and eternal peace, with vine and wine as an allegory of the vita felix, the happy life;
• in a region where agricultural success depended on sufficient rain, vegetation and fertility gods were prominent from the earliest times; and Dionysos was the only Greek god who died in autumn and was reborn in spring.