Excavations at the archaeological site of Pompeii in southern Italy have revealed a new “Villa of the Mysteries,” home to the ancient Roman city famous for its frescoes depicting a female initiation ritual into the mysteries of Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy in Greek mythology.
It is a large banqueting room in which three walls are covered with almost life-size paintings that also narrate Dionysian themes.
Located in the central area of Pompeii, the new space was named by archaeologists as “House of Tíasus”, that is, the procession of revelers of Dionysus, who is represented in the frescoes with bacchantes (women who worshipped the god of wine), dancers, huntresses and young satyrs with pointy ears.
The center of the representation displays an initiate, a mortal woman who, through a nocturnal ritual, is about to be introduced to the Dionysian mysteries.
“For the ancients, the bacchante expressed the wild and untamed side of women. She is the opposite of the beautiful woman, who emulates Venus, goddess of love and marriage, the woman who looks in the mirror and beautifies herself,” said the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel.
“Both Casa do Tíaso and Vila dos Mistérios show women suspended, oscillating between these two extremes, two ways of being feminine in those times,” she adds.
The “Village of Mysteries” is one of the most visited and best preserved buildings in the archaeological site and was brought back to light at the beginning of the 20th century.
“It is a historic moment in which Pompeii reveals itself to us in its mysterious grandeur, because this cycle of frescoes represents something unique, of which there are few traces in archaeological evidence,” said Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli.
Pompeii, located on the outskirts of Naples, was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, but many of its secrets remain hidden. “Imagine what this place will be like in a century, when none of us will be here anymore,” the minister added. (HANDLE)
