This is not the first massive frieze in the archaeological park to feature a Dionysian ritual. Those in the Villa of the Mysteries, which was unearthed in 1909, show Dionysus and his bride Ariadne ...

An enormous fresco spanning three walls of a recently excavated banquet hall in central Pompeii sheds light on rituals within the cult of Dionysus, the ancient god of festivities, winemaking and ...

Archaeology & History New Pompeii Excavations Reveal Frescoes Depicting a Mysterious Ritual The life-sized frescos feature bacchantes and satyrs engaged in a Dionysian rite.

Dionysus thus became known as the “twice-born god.” The infant DionysusThe infant Dionysis is portrayed in a fourth-century B.C. statue by Praxiteles from the Temple of Hera at Olympia.

Dated to between 40 and 30 B.C. at the time of the eruption, it depicts the initiation ritual necessitated to enter the cult, a process known as the Mysteries of Dionysus.