Z12.9 THE DRINKING CONTEST OF HERACLES & DIONYSUS
Museum Collection | Worcestor Art Museum, Worcestor |
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Catalogue No. | Worcestor 1933.36 |
Type | Mosaic |
Context | Antioch, Atrium House |
Date | Early C2nd A.D. |
Period | Imperial Roman |
DESCRIPTION
Heracles and Dionysus compete in a drinking contest. The god reclines on a couch with a drinking-cup in one hand and thyrsos (pine-cone tipped staff) in the other. Beside him, the darkly tanned Heracles quaffs a cup of wine, his club and lion-skin cape resting by his knees. The god is accompanied by a flute-playing Maenad nymph (far left), his cup-bearer, the satyriscus Comus (center), and the elderly satyr Silenus (far right).