Eros and Dionysos on Kerch Vases

7/26/2019 Eros and Dionysos on Kerch Vases

1/11

Eros and Dionysos on Kerch VasesAuthor(s): Margarete BieberSource: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 8, Commemorative Studies in Honor of Theodore LeslieShear (1949), pp. 31-38+440-441Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1353878.

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2/11

EROS AND

DIONYSOS

ON

KERCH

VASES

(PLATES

4-5)

rIHREE Attic vases of the middle of the fourth century B.C. n the Metropolitan

I

Museum

of

Art

have

an

unusual

combination

of a

woman

dressed

only

in a

himation

in

the

center,

with

Eros on the one

side,

and

Dionysos

or

his

followers

on

the

other

side.

All

three

vases

have been

published,

but

their

interpretation

has

not

yet

been

absolutely

certain

and

convincing.

Perhaps

the finest and

one of the

best known

of the

so-called

Kerch

Vases

is

the

Pompe

Vase,

an oinochoe

(Plate

4,

1).'

It

gets

its name

from that

written

beside the

graceful

woman

standing

in the

center,

crowned with

a

wreath

which

seems

to

be

of

myrtle,

and

holding

in

both

hands two

twigs

of the

same

plant joined

at

the

tip by

a

round object, probably a jewel. Gisela Richter rightly explains that the presence of

Dionysos

indicates

that the

occasion is a

Dionysiac

festival.

The

golden

basket

next

to the

woman has been

explained

by

Deubner as

indicating

a

procession

with the

carrus

navalis

at the

Anthesteria,

while the

Eros

tying

his sandal

"

soll

die Anmut

der

Frauengestalt

zum Ausdruck

bringen."

2

The

seated

Dionysos

is

supposed

to

be the

one who will ride

in

the

ship-car,

the carrus

navalis,

in

the

pompe given

in

his

honor

at the Anthesteria. Schefold

explains

the

Pompe

as a

personification

of a

festival

procession,

which has

come with

gifts

to the

temple

of

Dionysos,

while

Brendel sees

personified

the

procession

which will

accompany

Dionysos

from the

Limnaion to the Bukoleion for his symbolic wedding ceremony.3

The

skyphos (Plate

4,

3A-B)

in the

Metropolitan

Museum4 has in

the

center of

each side a seated woman.

The

one on

A

holds

in her

lap

a sacrificial basket of

the

same

form as

the

one

represented

on

the oinochoe. The one on

B

is seated on a

chest.

On

each side

is

an

Eros behind the

seated

woman;

the one on

A

is

leaning

against

her,

the

one on

B is

bringing

a chest

and a sash or

large

fillet.

On

A,

before

the seated

woman,

is a

satyr,

and

nearer to the

woman a

standing

woman,

while

another is

behind

1Met. Mus. No. 25.190. Gisela

Richter,

A.J.A.,

XXX, 1926,

pp.

422

if.,

fig.

1,

and

Red-Figured

Athenian Vases

in the

Metropolitan

Museum.of

Art,

pp.

215

f.,

no.

169,

pls.

164

and

177;

L.

Deubner, Jahrbuch,XLII, 1927, p. 173, fig. 3, and Attische Feste, pp. 97 iff., 103, pl. 9, 4. K.

Schefold,

Kertscher

Vasen,

in

Beazley-Jacobsthal,

Bilder

griechischer

Vasen, III, 1930,

pp.

5

f.,

14,

pl.

10,

and

Untersuchungen

zu den

Kertscher

Vasen,

p.

37,

no. 327

(cf.

pp.

66,

104

f., 151,

154).

G.

Richter

and

M.

Milne,

Shapes

and

Names,

fig.

121.

0.

Brendel,

A.J.A., XLIX,

1945,

pp.

519

ff.,

fig.

1.

2

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

pp.

102

f.

3

K.

Schefold,

Kertscher

Vasen,

p.

14.

0.

Brendel,

loc.

cit.,

p.

524.

4

Met.

Mus. No.

06.1021.181.

G.

Richter in

A.J.A., XI, 1907,

pp.

417

ff.,

figs.

5 and

7,

and

Red-Figured

Athenian

Vases,

p.

217,

no.

170,

pls.

165

and 178. L.

Deubner, Jahrbuch,

XL,

1925,

pp.

217 iff. K.

Schefold,

Kertscher

Vasen,

p.

13,

pl.

9,

and

Untersuchungen, p.

61,

no.

593

(cf.

pp.

104

f.).

Richter-Milne,

op.

cit.,

fig.

177.

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3/11

M. BIEBER

her on

the

same side as Eros. On

B

a

standing

woman

in a

Dionysiac

sleeved

chiton

and a seated

satyr

are in

front

of

the seated

woman.

Gisela Richter

again

explains

the

subject

rightly

as the

preparation

for

a

Dionysiac

festival,

but she

does not

explain

the Eros.

Schefold

5

says

that

Attic

virgins

have

come

in

procession

to the

sanctuary

of Dionysos and are staying there surroundedby his followers. He adds that " this

picture

is

not

yet interpreted

with

certainty."

The

explanation

"

Kanephoria

of the

girls

at

the

great city Dionysia"

he

gives,

rightly,

with a

question

mark.6

The

hydria

(Plate

4,

2)

7

has

again

a seated woman

in

the center.

She has

taken

incense

from

a box

in

her left hand and is

putting

it on a stand over

an altar.

Eros

is

crowning

her. Behind her a woman seems

to

be

holding

either

a

garland

or a

string

with

an

tvye:,

he

magic

wheel,

a

love

charm.8

On the other

side

of the altar

a

Menad

is

beating

the

tympanon

and a seated

satyr

is

playing

the flute.

The

oinochoe has been connected

by

all

authors

with

the Anthesteria and

particu-

larly the Choes festival, when, indeed, such wine jugs were used on the second day

of

the

feast

celebrated

on the 12th

day

of the month Anthesterion.9

The

skyphos,

on

the other

hand,

belongs

to the

Lenaia

festival in

the

month

Gamelion,

or

Lenaion,

as

testified

by

the

vases

collected

by

Frickenhaus and

rightly

connected

with this

feast.

On

these vases there are

many

examples

of

the

skyphos

in

the hands of

the

Lenai

from whom the

festival

and

even the whole month has been

named.10The

hydria

can

belong

to both

festivals,

as the

Attic

people

did not drink

the wine

pure

but

always

mixed

with water. But

why

are

all three kinds decorated

with the unusual combina-

tion

of

love-god

and

wine-god

?

The answer is that all three vases-and indeed many of the Kerch vases-are

wedding

presents,

and that the

real

nuptials

or

wedding night,

the

Synaulia,

took

place

at

the time

of

the

new

moon,

which

separates

all Greek months

from

each

other and

thus

also Gamelion

or

Lenaion

from the

following

Anthesterion.

The

marriage

cere-

monies,

however,

were not

confined to

one

day

but

extended over a

period

of

time

covering

the

last

days

of

the

Gamelion

and

the

first

days

of

Anthesterion,

ending

on

the

twelfth

day

with

the

Choes,

the feast

of children.

The Greek

wedding

was not an

individual

festival,

but a

community

feast

which,

like

peasant

and

Chinese

weddings,

extended

over a

number

of

days.

When the

Greek

5

K.

Schefold,

Kertscher

Vasen,

p.

13.

6

K.

Schefold, Untersuchungen, p.

61.

7

Met. Mus.

No.

26.60.75.

K.

Schefold,

Untersuchungen,

p.

24,

no.

191,

fig.

3,

pl.

11, 1;

cf.

pp.

92,

96

f.

8

See

Theocritus,

Idyll

2.

9

August

Mommsen,

Feste der Stadt

Athen,

1898,

pp.

384

if.

L.

Deubner,

Festschrift

fur

Paul

Clemen,

pp.

119

f.,

and Attische

Feste,

p.

101.

10

August

Frickenhaus,

"

Lenaenvasen,"

72.

Programm

zum

Winckelmannsfeste,

Berlin,

1912.

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

pp.

127

ff.,

agrees

with

Frickenhaus,

while

M.

Nilsson,

in

Sitzungsber.

Miinchen

Akad.,

1930,

no.

4,

pp.

3

ff.,

relates

the vases to the

Choes.

32



4/11

EROS

AND DIONYSOS ON KERCHVASES

girl

of

good family

was

mature,

she was

promised

by

her father to a

youth

of

a

family

of

equal

social

standing

and wealth.

In

the

following

Gamelion,

the

wedding

month,

all the

families whose children were

going

to

marry,

offered

solemn

sacrifices,

particu-

larly

to the

highest gods,

Zeus

Teleios

and

Hera

Teleia,

the

protectress

of

marriage,

whose Theogamia or sacred wedding with Zeus was celebrated also in Gamelion."

Other sacrifices

were

offered to

the

gods

of the

phratries,

which

the

girl

was

going

to

leave;

to

Artemis,

to whom

she

dedicated

her

toys

and a strand of

hair;

and

finally

to the

nymphs

of the

Kallirhoe,

the

water of which was

carried

in

a

special

form

of

vase,

the

loutrophoros,

in

a

procession

to the house of the bride

for

her

bridal

bath

on

the last

evening

before the

wedding,

called

Proaulia."2

This was

on

the

evening

before

the

last

day

of

the

month

Gamelion. The

wedding

meal took

place

on

the

last

day

of Gamelion

n

the

house of the

father of the

bride.

There followed

in

the

evening

of the

same

day

the

wedding Pompe,

when the bride

was led on a

chariot

by

the bride-

groom and a friend, the parochos or paranymphos,in solemn procession to the house

of

the father

of

the

bridegroom.'3

The

procession

(Pompe)

led

by

a

flute

player,

went

through

the dark

night

of

the

new moon

accompanied

by

the

light

of

torches

in

the

hand of the mother of the bride

and

by

friends,

singing

the

Hymenaios,

the

marriage

song.

In

the new

home the bride

was led around

the

altar

and

then

by

the

bridesmaid,

the

nympheutria,

to the

marriage

chamber,

where

in

the

night,

when

sun

and moon

met,

the

marriage

was consummated.

This was

the

night

when winter

ended,

that is

the

night

between

Gamelion,

the last

winter

month,

and the

Anthesterion,

the

first

spring

month. Thus a new life

began

with the

growing

moon."4

1

For the

months,

see

Bishoff,

in

Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopddie

der klassischen

Altertums-

wissenschaft,

X,

s.

v.

Kalender,

pp.

1568

ff.,

p.

1591,

no. 54.

Ch.

Em.

Ruelle,

in

Daremberg-Saglio,

Dictionaire des

Antiquites,

s.v. calendarium

(calendrier),

pp.

822

iff. Martin

P.

Nilsson,

"Die

Entstehung

und

religi6se

Bedeutung

des

griechischen

Kalenders,"

in Lunds

Universitets

Arsskrift,

N.

F.

XIV,

2

Avd.

I,

Vol.

19,

no.

21, 1918,

pp.

5

f.,

25

ff.

For the

sacred

wedding

of

Zeus

and

Hera

in

Gamelion,

see

Hesych., p.

334,

s.v.

rap.,XtWv

3

'

T

v

ujvwv rS

"Hpas;

and

Phot.,

epo'v

ydapov

'AOrvcztot

Eopr'rv

Atos

dyovvatv

Kat

"Hpas,

Lepov

yad/ov

KaXovvreg.

A.

Mommsen,

op.

cit.,

pp.

382 f.

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

pp.

117,

177 f.

12

P.

Wolters,

in Ath.

Mitt., XVI,

1891,

pp.

371

ff.

Id.,

in

Jahrbuch, XIV, 1899,

pp.

128 ff.

Hans

Nachod,

in

Pauly-Wissowa,

Real-Enc.,

XIII,

pp.

2098-2101. Max

Collignon,

in

Daremberg-

Saglio,

Dictionaire

des

Ant., III, 2,

pp.

1648

f.

P.

Sticotti,

in

Festschrift fiir Benndorf, pp.

185

ff.

E.

Pernice,

"

Griech.

Privatleben,"

in

Gercke-Norden,

Einleitung

in

die

Altertumswissenschaft

3,

1922,

pp.

51

f.

13

A.

Brueckner,

"Athenische

Hochzeitsgeschenke,"

in Ath.

Mitt., XXXII,

1907,

pp.

80 iff.

Perdrizet,

'ApX.

'E+.,

1905,

pp.

209

ff.,

pls.

6-7.

P.

Sticotti,

loc.

cit.,

pp.

181 ff.

E.

Samter,

"

Hoch-

zeitsgebrauche,"

in

Neue

Jahrbiicher

fir

das klassische

Altertum, XIX,

1907,

pp.

131

iff.,

pl.

I,

and

Geburt,

Hochzeit,

Tod,

pp.

196

f.,

pl.

11.

Couve-Collignon,

Vases

peints

du

Musee

d'Athenes,

no.

1341,

pl.

XLV. W.

Hahland,

Vasen

urn

Meidias,

pl.

4. K.

Schefold,

Untersuchungen,

no.

284,

pp.

30,

103, 133,

pl.

50.

Here

a

girl

leads

the

wedding procession

with a

sacrificial

basket on

her

head.

14

Scholion

to

Hesiod,

Erga,

784: 'A97valot

ras

rpos

(vvo8oV

7j,.pas

e?AEyovTO

Vrposacovv5

Koa2

T'

OeoyauLTaETEXOWV,

OrT


5/11

In

the

period

between

this new

beginning

and the

next full moon

in

the

middle

of

Anthesterion,

other

ceremonies took

place.

In

the

morning

after

the

wedding

night

the

bridegroom

went

to the house

of his

father-in-law,

while

the bride

received

the

visit

and

presents

from

her female relatives

and

friends

in

the

ceremony

known

as

Epaulia.15 In one of the following days the priestess of Athena brought the sacred

aigis

of Athena

from the

Acropolis

to the

houses

of the

new brides

in order to

bring

them

the

blessing

of the

city goddess."6

Probably

on the fourth

day

of the

Anthesterion

month the

young

women

brought

sacrifices to

Aphrodite.'7

Finally,

at the

Anthesteria

festival,

at

the occasion

of the Choes

on

the twelfth

of

the

month,

the

sacred

marriage

of

the

wife of the

Archon

Basileus with

Dionysos

took

place

in

the

Boukoleion,

the

place

of

office of

this

highest

priest.'8

There

can

be no

doubt

that

this

marriage

cere-

mony

was acted

by

the

archon basileus

himself who

represented

his

god,

as the

priest

often

does. The

bodily

epiphany

of

the

god

was characteristic

of the

Dionysiac

cult,

and the priest, through divine possession, was temporarily identified with his god.19

The archon

basileus

was

the leader of

both the

Lenaia and the

Anthesteria

festivals.

The

wife of the

archon

had

to

be

a

virgin

when she married

him,

and

she was

not

allowed to

marry

more

than once.20

This means

that

when an Athenian

was lifted

to

this

high

office,

his

wife

too had

to

be

acceptable

to

the

voters. Thus

their

marriage

in

the

guise

of

Dionysos

and

Ariadne was

an

exemplification

of the

consummation

of

a

happy

marriage.

It

was

meant

to be a

blessing

for

the

newly

sown

land and

the

marriages

consummated

at

the

preceding

new

moon.

At the

same time

there

was not

only general

feasting

and

drinking

from the

Choes,but also a children'sfestival, and the children also received little oinochoes with

pictures

on

them as

presents.

On

one of these little

toy

jugs

the

ceremonial

wedding

procession

of

Dionysos

and the wife

of the archon

is

represented

with children

imi-

Politics, VII, 16,

p.

1335

a:

optcravares

Xetiwvos

r3V

ravvLavav

7rotdarOaL

Tavrv.

They

determined the

winter as limit

for

the

nuptials.

See

A.

Mommsen,

op.

cit.,

p.

382

f.

15

L.

Deubner,

in

Jahrbuch, XV, 1900,

pp.

144

ff.,

pl. 11.

A.

Brueckner,

op.

cit.,

pp.

91

ff.

Many

examples

on

Kerch Vases.

See

K.

Schefold,

Kertscher

Vasen,

pls.

3,

1

and

19-20,

and

Unter-

suchungen,

pls.

15,

2; 16; 17, 2;

33-34.

16

Zonaras,

Lexikon,

s. v.

atyts,

p.

77. A.

Brueckner,

op.

cit.,

pp.

114

f.

17

A.

Brueckner,

op.

cit.,

pp.

112 ff.

Another

example

is

the

vase

in the

Metropolitan

Museum,

G. Richter, Red-Figured Athenian Vases, p. 201 f., no. 160, pl. 159.

18

Aristotle,

Constitution

of

Athens, III, 5,

and

LVII,

1.

A.

Mommsen,

op.

cit.,

pp.

391 ff.

L.

R.

Farnell,

The

Cults

of

the

Greek

States, V,

p.

217

f.

G.

Elderkin,

Kantharos, 1924,

pp.

118.ff.

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

pp.

101,

106

ff.,

116

f.,

pl.

10,

and in

Jahrbuch,

XLII, 1927,

p.

174

f.,

figs.

4-5,

and

in

Festschrift

fiir

Paul

Clemen, 1926,

pp.

118

iff.,

figs.

4-5.

On the

vase in

Palermo,

Furtwangler-Reichhold, pl.

59,

with

the

wedding

of

Dionysos

and

Ariadne,

Eros

binds

his sandals

as

on the

vase

in PI.

4,

1.

Such shoes

are

rightly explained

as

nymphides

or

bridal

shoes

by

G.

Richter,

op.

cit.,

p.

202.

"9

See

M.

Nilsson,

in

Jahrbuch, XXXI, 1916,

pp.

315

f.,

323

ff.

20

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

p.

100

f. The

name

Basilinna,

often

given

to

the

wife

of

the

Archon

Basileus,

is modern. See

Grace

Macurdy,

in Am.

Jour.

of

Philol.,

49,

1928,

pp.

276

ff.

M.

BIEBER

4



6/11

EROS

AND DIONYSOS

ON

KERCH

VASES

tating

the

ceremony (Plate

5,

1A-B).21

The archonbasileus

as

Dionysos

with

thyrsos

and kantharos is

already

seated on

the

wedding

car,

the

parochos

prepares

to

help

the

bride

step

up.

Behind her three children

carry

an

object

which

has been

wrongly

inter-

preted by

Deubner as

the

stylis

from a

ship

and with

its

help

he

has

wrongly

assigned

the ship float, carrus navalis, to the Anthesteria.22My interpretationof the object as a

ploughshare

has been

accepted

by

M.

Nilsson.23 The

boys

carry

not

a

light

stylis,

but

a

heavy yoke,

as do the oxen when

ploughing,

a

symbol

of the

yoke

of

marriage

which

unites

man and woman.

The

pole

with the

ploughshare

at the

end is erected

vertically,

so

that

the

iron cannot hurt

anybody,

and the

handle

for

the

ploughman

is

indicated.24

It is

decorated

with

fillets,

which

appear

so often in the

hands of

friends or Eros on

wedding

vases

(see

Plate

4,

3B).

The

plough

is a

symbol

of

fertility.

poco

means

to

plough

and to

marry

and

generate.25

In

the refined

atmosphere

of

fourth-century

Athens the

plough

takes the

place of the phiallos, he crude symbol of productive power and seed of life used in

the rural

Dionysia.

The consummation

of

the

marriage

as

represented

n

the

ceremonial

wedding

of the

priest

and his chaste

wife,

in the

guise

of

Dionysos

and

Ariadne,

has

as

a

goal

the creation of

legitimate

children. That is

why

the last

part

of the

marriage

ceremonies

lays

the

emphasis

on the children. The

fertility

of

the

marriage

is

com-

pared

to

the

fertility

of the fields. The

chief

purpose

of a Greek

marriage

was the

procreation

of

legitimate

children,

particularly

sons,

for

the

good

of

the

gods,

the

state,

and the

family

itself.

Immortality through

the

life

of the

children

on

earth,

on

the

one

hand,

and on the

other,

individual

immortality through

reunion with the

godhead is the wish of many. Both could be attained by initiation into the Bacchic

21

Met. Mus.

no. 24.97.34. L.

Deubner,

in

Jahrbuch,

XLII,

1927,

pp.

177

iff.,

figs.

7-9,

and

Attische

Feste,

pp.

104

iff.,

pl.

11,

2-4.

Anita

Klein,

Child

Life

in

Greek

Art,

p.

26,

pl.

XXVI.

M.

Nilsson,

in

Sitzungsberichte

Akademie

Miinchen, 1930,

no.

4,

pp.

8

ff.

22

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

p.

105

f.,

pl.

12.

The fillets

with

the

pearls

at their

ends are not

the

flag

(pafKos)

used

for the

stylis

even

though

it is called

'rawva

by

Pollux, I,

90.

None of

the

stylides

from Alexander coins

collected

by

Deubner,

pl.

12, 2,

has such a fillet. It

can,

on the

other

hand,

very

well

decorate

he

phallos

as

well as the

symbolicplough

in

the

pompe.

See

the black-

figured

vase

in

Florence

(Dieterich,

Mutter

Erde3,

pp.

107

f.; Deubner,

Attische

Feste,

p.

136,

pl.

22),

which is a

transition

from the

phallos

to the

plough.

28

M.

Bieber,

in

Jahrbuch,

XLIII, 1922,

p.

306,

note 1. M.

Nilsson,

loc.

cit.,

p.

11.

H.

R.

W.

Smith,

C.V.A.,

USA

10,

San

Francisco

Coll., 1943,

p.

47

f.

accepts

Deubner's

"

Schiffskarren

"

and

even

explains

a

dolphin

on a miniature

chous

as an allusion

to

it.

24

See

the form of

the

plough

on

the

cup by

Nikosthenes

n

Berlin,

1806:

0.

Jahn,

in

Berichte

d. Siichsischen

Gesellschaft

der

Wiss.,

1867,

p.

76

f.,

pl.

1,

1.

J.

C.

Hoppins,

Black-Figured

Vases,

p.

184

f.,

no.

6;

and the

plough

in

Florence, Walters,

British Museum

Guide to the Exhibition

illustrating

Greek

and

Roman

Life,

3, 1929,

p.

167,

fig.

184.

25

The

Athenian

marriage

contract contained the

phrase:

for

the

plowing

of

legitimate

children

(eri

rat&8v

yvartoWv

apo'T).

Clemens

Alex., Strom., II,

23. The oracle

given

to

the

Troizenians:

"plough

not

the

young

field,"

is

explained by

Aristotle, Politics,

VII,

16,

p.

1335

a

"that

many

died because

they

married

too

young."

See

translation

by

B.

Jowett,

p.

314.

A.

Dieterich,

Mutter

Erde8,

1925, pp.

46

f.,

109.

35



7/11

M. BIEBER

mysteries.

Jocelyn

Toynbee

and the

author have

independently

and about

the same

time

proved

that the celebrated

frescoes

in

the

Villa Item at

Pompeii

are

only

to

be

understood as the

representation

of

initiation

of brides

into

the

Dionysiac mysteries,

and Maiuri

in

his

model

publication

has

accepted

this

explanation.26

The Kerch vases (Plate 4) can be explained satisfactorily in the same way; and

they

become the

oldest testimonials

for the

combination of

wedding

and initiation

in

a

pre-nuptial

rite. The

sacrificial baskets

on Plate

4,

1

and 3A

have been

explained by

Gisela

Richter as a

Dionysiac

implement,

while

Deubner

has shown that

they belong

to

the

wedding

ceremony.27

Both

views

have to be

combined.

The

baskets

contain

objects

which

symbolize

the

mysteries

of

love,

marriage,

and

fertility.

When the

girls

came

in

procession

(Pompe)28

to the

sanctuary

of

Dionysos, they

were

told the

facts of

life

and

marriage

with

the

help

of

symbols

and

teaching

by

older

matrons.

The love

is

represented

by

Eros,

the

initiation

by Dionysos

and his

thiasos.

It

was

probably only

a small group of well-born girls that was initiated into the Dionysiac thiasos before

their

wedding.

Gisela

Richter

has shown

that

only

such

girls

are

handling

the

sacri-

ficial

basket,

represented

on

the

oinochoe and

skyphos

(Plate

4,

1

and

3).

The

question

of whether

these vases

with Eros

and

Dionysos

alluding

to the

initiation into

the

Dionysiac

mysteries

belong

to

the Lenaion

or the

Anthesterion

festival

cannot be solved

by

their

shapes,

for

the

skyphos

is

characteristic

of

the

first,

the

oinochoe

of the

second. But the

oinochoe

is

used,

in

addition

to the

skyphos,

on

the

Lenaia

vases;

and the

hydria

(Plates

4,

2

and

5,

2)

could

always

be used

at

Dionysiac

festivals.

Walter Otto

29

has shown

that water

is

as much

the

gift

of

Dionysos

as

wine.

It is the moist element which preserves life and furthers creative power in plants,

animals,

and man. This

enables

us

to

offer

a

better

interpretation

of

another Kerch

Hydria

in

Athens

(Plate

5,2)30

than has

hitherto

been

possible.

It shows

Eros

watering

plants

in

the

presence

of

Dionysos

(left)

and

two

women,

one

with

a

tympanon

(right).

We thus

again

have

the same

combination as on

the

three New

York

vases

(Plate

4).

Eros

pours

the

fertilizing

moisture

on the

flowers as a

symbol

of

the

brides

who

are

initiated into

the

Dionysiac

mysteries

and

at the

same

time

into

the

secrets of

married

life,

the

purpose

of

which is

the

procreation

of

children.

The

26

M.

Bieber,

"Mysteriensaal

der

Villa

Item,"

in

Jahrbuch, XLIII, 1928,

pp.

298

iff.,

pls.

5-9.

Eadem, in Review of Religion, II, 1937,

pp.

3 ff.

Jocelyn

Toynbee,

" The Villa Item and

a

Bride's

Ordeal,"

in Journal

of

Roman

Studies,

XIX,

1929,

pp.

67 iff.

A.

Maiuri,

La

Villa

dei

Misteri,

pp.

121 ff.

27

G.

Richter,

in

A.J.A.,

XI,

1907,

pp.

423

ff.,

and

A.J.A.,

XXX,

1926,

pp.

422

ff. L.

Deubner,

"Hochzeit und

Opferkorb,"

in

Jahrbuch,

XL, 1925,

pp.

210

ff.;

XLII,

1927,

pp.

176 f.

G.

Richter,

Red-Figured

Athenian

Vases,

p.

216,

note 5. K.

Schefold,

Untersuchungen,

pl.

50.

28

Demosthenes,

Meidias,

10:

Kalt

brt

A,lvatw

v

7rop,7r.

29

Walter F.

Otto,

Dionysos,

Mythos

und

Kultus,

1933,

pp.

149 ff.

30

Athens,

Nat.

Mus.

no.

1424.

K.

Schefold,

Untersuchungen

zu

den

Kertscher

Vasen,

p.

17,

no.

139,

pl.

11,

2.

Couve-Collignon,

Vases

peints

du

Musee

d'AtJhenes,

no.

1852,

fig.

5

from

Phot.

German

arch. Inst.

Athens no. 939.

36



8/11

EROS

AND

DIONYSOS

ON KERCH VASES

fertility

of the

earth

is

being paralleled

with

the

human

fertility,

the

importance

of

having

and

leaving

children

for

immortality

on

earth.31

It seems to

me

a

significant

fact that

the

special

Lenaia

vases

disappear

after

the

end of the fifth

century.

I

believe that the Kerch vases have taken their

place

after

the connection of this women's feast with the wedding feast was attained. Probably

the

usage

of

enlightening

well-born Attic

girls

in

this

religious way

did not

become

the fashion

before the fourth

century.

The soft and

graceful spirit

is

a continuation

and

further

refinement of what has

already

taken

place

in

the fifth

century.

The

originally

wild

orgiastic freny

of

Bacchic

dances,

which continued

in

northern

Greece,

as

described

in

Euripides'

Bacchai,

appears

already

much

softened, sobered,

and

disci-

plined

on the

Lenaia vases.

On

the

Kerch vases

they

are

still more tamed and

refined.

I

believe that the

initiation took

place

in

Gamelion and

exactly

at

the

Lenaion

festival

named

from

the

Lenai,

the

Menads,

and

in the Lenaion

sanctuary,

the old

dancing place of the Lenai. Dionysiac mysteries are mentioned for the Lenaion in

334/3

B.C.32

The

old name of the

month, Lenaion,

was

replacedby

the name

Gamelion,

because the

wedding

ceremonies took

place during

this

month. The

initiation

belongs

to the

proteleia

and

proaulia,

just

as the first sacrifice is

brought

to Zeus Teleios and

Hera

Teleia.

All

preparatory

ceremonies

were

performed

in

the latter

part

of

Gamelion,

the

last

winter

days

with the

waning

moon,

while all

allusion to

blessings

of the consummated

marriage by Aphrodite,

Athena,

and last but

not

least,

by

the

priest king

and

his

wife

in

the

guise

of

Dionysos

and

Ariadne,

were

performed

in

the first

days

of

spring

and

during

the

growing

moon,

when,

it

was

believed,

all

that

had to grow and prosper belongs. The wedding presents, including the Kerch vases,

brought

at the occasion

of

the

Epaulia

on the

morning

after the new

moon could

allude to

both.

The

prevalence

of Eros

in

the

center

of

the

picture

has

not

only

the

artistic

purpose

of

giving

a

white,

flashy

and

showy spot

in

the middle of

the red

figures

and

he

not

only

"

parallels

and

underlines the

main

action

"

(Brendel)

but he

gives

to

the

Kerch vases a

deeper meaning

than has

been

accredited to them

up

to now.

It

must

be remembered that

Eros is the

son

of

Aphrodite,

and

that sons

are the

purpose

of

marriage.

In

them the

father lives on even

after

death. Thus

not

only

artistic but

also symbolic and psychological reasons have multiplied the figures of Eros on the

Kerch vases. The

soft, sentimental,

and

delicate

spirit

of the

period

is

reflected as

much on

these

vases as it

is in

the

great

art

of

Praxiteles and

Skopas,

who

created,

31

See

Olympiodorus,

Commentaria

n

Aristotelem,

Vol.

XII,

Pars

II

(ed.

G.

Stiive), p.

57,

lines

6-8,

on

Aristotle,

Meteorologica,

p.

343

b

4:

yauoXitos

e

tpv

EXiycro

rap'

AGtlvatos

8ta

T

Kar'

;KElvovTOV

KalpOV

TOVS

ya/Aovs

6TLTEXdcarat-

EVXoyov

yap

Wovro TOTErEpEoV

orE

KaIL

y

apoevrTatl-

TE7rt78O.

yap

6

xKatpo 7rpo Kap7rwv yeveLv.

32

I.G.,

II2,

1496,

lines

74

f.:

Ey]

Al'owcn,v

'v

[;Tri

A}]va%w

[7r]apa

/warrfp v- [eTr/]EAXTrV.

Fragment

a,

dated

334/3

B.C.

37



9/11

beside

Eros,

the

personifications

of

Himeros,

Longing,

and

Pothos,

Passion

of

love.88

It is

quite

possible

that some of the

cupids

on the

Kerch

vases

represent

these brothers

of

Eros.

I

also

wonder

whether some

of

them

might

not

represent

Hymenaios,

the

marriage god.84

Hymenaios is sometimes called the son of Dionysos, and Dionysos himself is

called

Hymenaios

in

an

epigram;

35

and

it

is in

this character

as a

wedding

god

that

he is shown on

the vases in Plate

4, 1

and

5,

2.

Thus the

women

in

this

presence

or

in

the

midst

of

his followers

(Plate

4,

1-3)

are brides-to-be

preparing

for their

wed-

ding procession

(pompe)

which

took

place

between their

initiation

into

the

mysteries

of

Dionysos

and into the

mysteries

of Eros.

They belong

neither to

the

Lenaia

nor

to

the

Choes

festival,

but to the

whole

wedding proceedings

which extend between the

two.

MARGARETEIEBER

COLUMBIAUNIVERSITY

88

Eros,

Himeros,

and Pothos

by Skopas

in

Megara:

Pausanias, I, 43,

6. Himeros

and

Pothos

on

vase

in

Berlin,

no.

2633. Himeros also

on

epinetron

of

the

Eretria

master,

and

on the

hydria

of

the Meidias

painter,

E.

Pfuhl,

Malerei

und

Zeichnung,

III,

p.

220

and

240,

figs.

561

and

594.

84

Cf.

for

Hymenaios

B.

Sauer,

in

Roscher,

Lexikon

der

Mythologie,

1, 2,

pp.

2800 ff.

That

he

was

represented

in

Greek art of the fourth

century

is testified

by

the

description

of

the

painting

of

Alexander the Great

by

Aetion

(Lucian,

Her.,

5).

Being

the

son of

Dionysos

at least in

one

version,

he

may

well

be meant

in

some of

the vases which

show

a rather

grown-up

winged

boy

in

the

company

of this

god. Unfortunately

no

inscription

of

his

name

has

up

to

now been

found

on a

vase.

B5

Dionysos is called

Hymenaios-(vp,ev~jov)-in

the hymn Anthologia GraecaPal.,

IX,

no. 524,

line

21,

which

enumerates his

characteristics

in

alphabetical

order from

a,/poKo0',vv

o

wpeawXotrov.

38

M.

BIEBER



10/11

PLATE

4

1

2

Kerch

Vases

in

the

Metropolitan

Museum,

New York

(Courtesy

of the Trustees of the

Metropolitan

Museum)

3A

3B

M.

BIEBER: EROS

AND

DIONYSOS

ON

KERCHVASES



11/11

PLATE

5

Toy

Oinochoe

in

Metropolitan

Museum

lB

2.

Kerch

Hydria

in Athens

Eros and Dionysos on Kerch Vases

Documents

Transcript of Eros and Dionysos on Kerch Vases