Archaeologists have found a large wall painting in Pompeii that portrays scenes from the ancient Dionysian mystery cults that were popular in the classical world. This life-sized frieze, which is known as a “megalography” (referring to a cycle of paintings with large-scale figures) was unearthed in a spacious banqueting room found at an archaeological site known as the House of Thiasus, in the central part of Pompeii. The megalography covers three sides of the room, while the fourth side opens onto the garden.

The remarkably well-preserved painting dates back to the first century BC and is being called one of the most important artistic finds in Pompeii in over a century, with experts comparing it to the famous Villa of the Mysteries frescoes.

A Stunning Portrayal of an Intense Indoctrination

The frieze depicts the procession of Dionysus, the god of wine, which features a parade of mythological creatures (bacchantes or maenads and satyrs) surrounding a woman who is about to be initiated into the ancient mysteries of this deity. The images portray dancing, hunting and wine-drinking scenes, making their connection to the Dionysian mysteries clear. An interesting detail lies in the fact that all the figures in the frieze are standing on pedestals as if they were statues, but at the same time, their movements, complexions and clothing make them seem more like living figures.

Detail of the frieze show all the figures standing on pedestals like statues, their movements, features, and clothing give them a strikingly lifelike appearance. (Ministero della Cultura – Pompei)

Archaeologists have named the residence with the frieze the “Casa del Tiaso” (House of Thiasus), a reference to the Dionysiac procession (thiasos). In ancient times there were a series of cults, including the cult of Dionysus, that required an initiation ceremony before secret knowledge could be pᴀssed. The cults promised both earthly and heavenly rewards.

The frieze has been dated to around to the year 40 BC.  This means that at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, which destroyed Pompeii in AD 79, the huge painting was already more than a hundred years old.

The only other example of a megalography with similar rituals is the Mystery frieze in the Villa of the Mysteries outside the gates of Pompeii, which features a similar artistic style. However, the newly discovered frieze adds a further theme to the imaginary world of the Dionysian initiation rites: hunting, which is not only evoked by the bacchantes as huntresses but also by a second smaller frieze that runs above the one with bacchantes and satyrs. This frieze depicts both living and ᴅᴇᴀᴅ animals, including a fawn, a wild boar, cockerels, and various types of birds and fish.

“In 100 years, today will be seen as historic,” stated Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, in a press release from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, “because the discovery we are showing is historic. The megalograph found in insula 10 of Regio IX provides another glimpse into the rituals of the mysteries of Dionysus. It is an exceptional historical document and, together with the fresco of the Villa of the Mysteries, consтιтutes a one-of-a-kind, making Pompeii an extraordinary testimony to an aspect of life in classical Mediterranean life that is largely unknown.”

The Meaning of the Dionysian Rituals

In a statement about this amazing discovery, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, explained the significance of the Dionysian rituals in the spiritual world inhabited by the ancients.

 “The hunt of the Dionysiac bacchantes, beginning from the ‘Bacchae’ of Euripides, written in 405 BC and one of the most popular tragedies in antiquity, becomes a metaphor for an unrestrained, ecstatic life that aims to achieve ’great, wondrous things,” he said. “For the ancients, the bacchante or maenad expressed the wild, untamable side of women; the woman who abandons her children, the house and the city, who breaks free from male order to dance freely, go hunting and eat raw meat in the mountains and the woods; in other words, the direct opposite of the ‘nice’ woman who emulates Venus, the goddess of love and marriage, the woman who looks at herself in the mirror and ‘dolls herself up.”

Dance of the Maenads by Andries Cornelis Lens. (Public Domian)

The friezes in the House of Thiasus and in the Villa of the Mysteries both show a woman being indoctrinated into the mysteries. While these frescoes have a religious meaning, they were designed for display in areas where banquets and feasts were held, to show off a homeowner’s appreciation for bold and expressive art. In this case, the art celebrated the spiritual practices of the ancient Greek world, which was likely seen as offering a more pure and authentic religious experience than the belief systems predominant in the Roman world in the first-century BC.

A glimpse into the room where the fresco was discovered. (Ministero della Cultura – Pompei)

“Behind these magnificent paintings, which play with illusion and reality, we can observe the signs of a religious crisis that was affecting the ancient world,” acknowledged Zuchtriegel. “But we can also grasp the grandeur of a ritual that dates back to an archaic world, at least until the second millennium BC, to the god Dionysus worshipped by the Mycenaeans and the Cretans, who was also known as Zagreus, lord of wild animals.”

The Dionysian scene in the House of Thiasus will be on display to the public immediately as part of the tours of the ongoing excavations in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. These digs have produced other exciting finds, including several atrium houses decorated with other friezes that explore a variety of themes that were popular in Roman art. In total more than 50 new rooms scattered over a surface area of over 16,000 square feet (1500 sq m) have been discovered in this excavation zone.