Fig. 39.—Marble Head of Youthful Dionysus at Leyden.
Artistic representations of Dionysus have come down to us on numerous monuments. In earlier art he was generally depicted as majestic and grave, and on that account represented with a beard. We have given an instance of this earlier conception in the so-called Sardanapalus of the Vatican (Fig. 37). In later art he became more youthful, and was characterised by a delicate roundness of form. The statues of this period are distinguished by the almost feminine expression of face with which they endow the god, as well as by the rounded limbs and the graceful ease of every attitude. The statue of a youthful Dionysus in the Louvre at Paris is an instance of this later mode of conception (Fig. 38). So likewise is the head of Dionysus at Leyden, which is distinguished by a sweet expression of reverie. His soft hair, which falls about his shoulders in delicate ringlets, is generally intertwined with a garland of vine leaves or ivy (Fig. 39). The other attributes of the god are the thyrsus, or Bacchic wand, the diadem, the skin of a wild beast falling across his chest, which often forms his sole clothing, and the drinking-cup in his hand. He is generally accompanied by lions, tigers, or panthers; and the bull and ram, as the symbols of fertility, were held sacred to him, while the latter was also his usual sacrifice. Among plants, besides the vine and the ivy, the laurel was held sacred to him on account of its powers of inspiration.
Fig. 40.—Sleeping Ariadne. Vatican.
Fig. 41.—Dannecker’s Ariadne. Frankfort-on-the-Main.
Of all the prominent personages in the stories of Dionysus, Ariadne has received most attention at the hands of the sculptor. The most celebrated of such ancient monuments is a marble figure of great beauty, larger than life, representing the sleeping Ariadne. It is now preserved in the Vatican Museum at Rome (Fig. 40). Among the productions of modern sculptors, the Ariadne of Dannecker, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, which represents her as the bride of Theseus, riding on a panther, justly enjoys a very high reputation (Fig. 41).
4. The Nymphs.—We now come to a class of inferior terrestrial divinities who are often found in the train of Bacchus. The most numerous and important of these are the Nymphs. They personify the restless activity and energy of nature, over the whole of which their power extends. They manifest their presence in the murmuring, rippling streams and brooks, as well as in the sprouting vegetation of wood and meadow. They are tender, graceful maidens, who, though kindly disposed towards men, yet avoid human habitations, and prefer the peaceful solitude of the woods and mountains, where they lead a merry, joyous life among the clefts and grottoes.
Sometimes they devote themselves to useful pursuits, and spin and weave; sometimes they engage in graceful dances, and sing merry songs, or bathe their delicate limbs in the white spray of lonely brooks. They gladly join the train of those superior deities supposed to preside in the realms of nature. Thus we see them joining in the Bacchic revelry with Dionysus, or figuring in the train of Aphrodite, or ranging field and wood as they hunt in the company of Artemis.
According to the divisions of nature, over which the Nymphs were supposed to preside, we may distinguish the following classes:—