Discovery of fresco portraying Dionysian mysteries at Pompeii

AN EXTREMELY RARE “MEGALOGRAPHY” OF THE 1ST CENTURY BC, LIKE THE FAMOUS VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES Over 100 years since the discovery of the Villa of the Mysteries, a large new fresco casts light on the Dionysiac mysteries in the classical world. An almost life-size frieze, known as a “megalography” (from the Greek term for "large painting"- a cycle of paintings with large-scale figures) has been unearthed in a spacious banqueting room, excavated in recent weeks in Insula 10 of Region IX in the central part of Pompeii. The megalography runs round three sides of the room while the fourth side opens onto the garden. The frieze depicts the procession of Dionysus, the god of wine: the bacchantes (also known as maenads) are portrayed as dancers, but also as ferocious hunters with slaughtered kid goats on their shoulders or holding a sword and the innards of an animal; young satyrs with pointed ears play the double flute, while another performs a sacrifice of wine (libation) in acrobatic style ... Read full article.