A drinking cup made of green and red glᴀss depicting the various scenes of the death of King Lycurgus. A silver rim with leaf ornament mounts the cup and on the bottom, silver-gilt vine leaves. Its provenance’s unknown, the cup is dated to the Late Antiquity, about 290 – 325 CE.
It measures 19.5cm (7.6in) in height and originally 1.5cm (0.5in) in thickness. The cup sits, today, on display in the British Museum.
Lycurgus was the king of the Edoni, in Thrace. He attacked Bacchus and his entourage when the god was travelling through his territories. Lycurgus was then punished for his crime and was driven mad by the god. During his madness, the King slew his wife and sons and, soon after, killed himself.
Another version, represented on the cup, says that the King was strangled by vines and sent to Hades. Aside from the scene, we see the angry god striding towards the dying King.
