Dionysos & Pan

3D Image

by Geoffrey Marchal
published on 10 November 2016

Dionysos, Pan and a panther, from Pozzuoli (Naples) 2nd century CE. Roman copy from a Greek original, marble. Nye Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Made with Memento Beta.
In Greek religion and mythology, Dionysos is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in Greek mythology. Also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans. Wine played an important role in Greek culture with the cult of Dionysos the main religious focus for unrestrained consumption. Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Ancient Greek language, from the word paein, meaning “to pasture”; the modern word “panic” is derived from the name. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr.