Marble statuette of Dionysos

Greek

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 163

The god wears Thracian boots, a short chiton, a belted panther skin, and a goatskin worn like a cape, with the forelegs of the goat wrapped around his arms. He can perhaps be identified as Dionysos Melanaigis (of the Black Goatskin), whose cult was introduced into Attica from Boeotia. Pausanias (II.35.1), second century A.D. author of a guide to Greece, mentions a temple to Dionysos Melanaigis in Methana on the Saronic Gulf and states that a music competition was held there in the god's honor every year and that prizes were awarded for swimming races and boat races.

Marble statuette of Dionysos, Marble, Greek

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