Dionysian Context

One of the prominent gods of Ancient Greek mythology and culture, Dionysus was the god of wine, but his importance and religious significance far exceeds this. He was also the god of religious ecstasy itself, ritual madness, fertility and lastly, but not less importantly, of theatre, where human passions and pathos saw their representation. Dionysus was a common subject for pottery, especially on vessels employed during symposiums, the wine infused banquets famed in Greek antiquity, and scenes depicting him or connected to him found many applications. Only later, during the Hellenistic period, he became an acclaimed subject for statuary and the entire pastoral world connected to him was also broadly employed for the same purpose.