Frescoes depicting worship of the wine god uncovered at Pompeii

The large-scale frieze covers three walls of an elaborate banquet hall, presenting lively images of female followers paying homage to the wine god.

Archaeologists said the artwork offers fresh insight into the ancient city’s religious practices before it was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius erupting in AD 79.

Initiates had to take part in secret rituals to join the cult of Dionysus, the god of winemaking, fruit, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy and theatre. That’s quite the cocktail.

The Romans referred to Dionysus as Bacchus. The frescoes depict a procession of bacchantes, the female followers of the wine god, as they march with a slaughtered goat.

Satyrs play flutes and drink wine in the background, while Dionysus’s mentor Silenus also makes an appearance.

The frieze draws inspiration from The Bacchae, an Ancient Greek play written by Euripides, produced posthumously around 405 BC. Dionysus descends on Thebes seeking retribution for slander, and the city’s women are eventually driven to madness. Researchers say the frescoes were painted at some point between 40 BC and 30 BC.

It is not the first large-scale frieze to depict a Dionysian ritual. In 1909, archaeologists uncovered the Villa of the Mysteries, which shows Dionysus and his bride, Ariadne, flanked by bacchantes, fauns and winged figures.

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, who attended the unveiling, said: ‘In 100 years’ time, today will be remembered as historic.

‘Alongside the Villa of the Mysteries, this fresco forms an unparalleled testament to the lesser-known aspects of ancient Mediterranean life.’

Dionysus is said to induce a frenzy in his followers, as his wine, music and ecstatic dance free them from self-conscious fear. The resulting debauchery is known as a baccheia or a bacchanal.

Viticulturalist Peter Morio adopted the name Bacchus when he crossed Müller-Thurgau and a Sylvaner-Riesling cross in 1933. According to 2023 data from the Food Standards Agency Wine Team, Bacchus is the fourth-most widely planted grape in the UK, after Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

The fresco discovered in Pompeii depicts the bacchantes as both dancers and hunters. Another elegantly dressed woman is waiting to be initiated into the Dionysian ritual, while the upper frieze depicts another slaughter.

Researchers believe this juxtaposition highlights the duality of Dionysian worship, which combines wild revelry with primal sacrifice.

Archaeologists began the latest dig into the ancient city of Pompeii in early 2023. They have uncovered more than 50 rooms, which depict life in the city before Vesuvius exploded, killing thousands of Romans. Additional discoveries include an extensive bath complex, a banquet hall and a laundry shop featuring a dry cleaner.

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