Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

THESEUS AND THE LEGENDS OF ATTICA 563
Dionysus and Ariadne. Bronze krater (the Derveni Krater), second half of the fourth century
B.C.; height 35V2 m - The krater, which held the ashes of a Thessalian nobleman, was
discovered at Derveni, not far from Thessalonike, in 1962. The reliefs on the central panel
show Dionysus, naked, seated on a rock with his leg over Ariadne's thigh. She draws
her veil aside, the gesture of a bride accepting her husband. Behind Dionysus is a panther,
and birds, animals, vines, and ivy ornament the neck and body of the krater. Figures
of Maenads flank the divine pair, and in the upper register the seated Dionysus gestures
towards a sleeping Maenad. The handles, in the form of serpents, frame the head
of a horned god to the left and of Heracles (with lionskin over his head) to the right.