XVIII

Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates

Dimitris Paleothodoros
For Giorgos

I have seen what I have seen.

When they brought the boy I said:
“He has a god in him,
though I do not know which god.”
Ezra Pound, Canto II

They say the sea is loveless,

that in the sea love cannot live,
but only bare, salt splinters of loveless life.
But from the sea the dolphins leap round Dionysos’ ship
whose masts have purple vines
And up they come with the purple dark of rainbows
And flip! They go! With the nose-dive of sheer delight;
And the sea is making love to Dionysos
in the bouncing of these small and happy whales.
D.H. Lawrence, The Last Poems,
edited by R. Aldington, New York 1933

Introduction ties of the communities that are visited

Dionysus has many enemies. He is op-
posed to kings, princes, heroes, gods and
semi-gods and he punishes people who
dared to deny his divinity. These stories
are usually referred to as “revenge” or “re-
sistance” myths, depending on whether
we focus upon the god or those who
oppose him1. No matter whether we ap-
ply pseudo-historical2, ideological3 or
ritual interpretations4, one thing is clear
in all these mythical episodes: what is
ultimately at stake is the recognition of
Dionysus’ divinity and the tolerance of his
orgiastic cult from the part of the authori-
by the god5. Acceptance brings rewards
from the part of the god, usually in the
form of the gift of the art of viticulture
and winemaking6; denial and resistance
bring severe retribution, destruction and
chaos, until the social order is finally re-
stored, with the establishment of orgias-
tic cults7.
Against this set of stories, the rapt of
the god by the Tyrrhenian pirates8 can be
singled out as the only “revenge myth”,
in which the human counterparts of the
god are not impious and ignorant kings
or people, but a small group of maraud-
ers, who are not attached to any particu-

Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 455

 lar place. Nor are they concerned with
opposing Dionysus’ cult, although they
fatally fail to recognize his divinity. In
that respect, the myth cannot be directly
linked to any particular geographic area9,
nor can it be considered as an aition that
explains the establishment of a cult, or of
a particular set of rituals.
To fully interpret a myth one should
examine every problem that is related
to it, and for this particular episode of
dionysiac mythology such a study must
include the date of its appearance in the
artistic and literary sources, the original
setting and its displacement to the West,
the alleged relation of the episode to
rituals and festivals in Athens and Ionia
and the symbolism of the radical trans-
formation of the pirates from humans
to dolphins. Since this volume is about
Etruscan origins, I focus upon the vexing
problem of the popularity of the myth in
Etruria in the last part of my study. I try
to explain why the Etruscans, who were
identified with the Tyrrhenians from at
least the beginning of the 5th century
BC, adopted this very negative version
of their kin, and reproduced it on their
monuments.
The myth in literature
The myth of Dionysus’ rapt by the Tyr-
rhenian pirates is known principally
from three long narratives: the 59 lines
of the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus, vari-
ously dated between the 7th and the
Hellenistic period, but more probably
belonging to the 6th or the 5th century
BC10, Ovid’s Pentheus narrative in the
Metamorphoses (3.564-691), and Non-
nus’ Dionysiaca (31.86-91, 44.231-252,
45.105-168). Brief or derivative versions
of the myth appear in Euripides’ Cyclops
(v. 10-22), Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca (3.5.3),
456 Dimitris Paleothodoros
Hyginus’ Poetica Astronomica (ii, 17), the
summary of Hyginus, Fabulae 134, Sen-
eca’s Oedipus (449-466), in a description
of a painting in Philostratus’ Imagines (I,
19), and elsewhere11. The Homeric Hymn
is the oldest extant version of the story12,
but the earliest securely datable mention
to the story is a fragment by Pindar, dat-
ing to the first half of the 5th century BC,
where is mentioned the human nature of
the dolphins13.
In the Homeric Hymn, Dionysus, an
athletic and richly clad youth, stands by
the sea-shore, on a promontory. Sudden-
ly, Tyrrhenian pirates (ληϊσταὶ Τυρσηνοί 14)
arrive in their ship, led by a bad fate (lines
6-8). Catching sight of the god, they leap
from their ship and put him on board (3-
10). They believe him to be of noble or
royal birth and wish to sell him as a slave.
Their attempt to put the god in fetters
fails, for the bonds cannot contain him
and the osiers fall away on their own,
while Dionysus with his dark eyes sits
there smiling (12-15). Upon seeing this
first manifestation of divine power, the
helmsman warns his companions that
this youth must be a great Olympian god,
Zeus, Apollo or Poseidon. He tries in vain
to convert the rest of the crew and to per-
suade them to release the youth (15-24).
Blinded by the prospect of profit, the
captain declares that the youth must be
the son of a king, and changes his mind,
thinking that if they take him as far as
Egypt and Cyprus or the land of the Hy-
perboreans, the youth will reveal his own
people, and the pirates will exact a ran-
som. Soon, the god provides a series of
wonders. Wine with a divine smell bub-
bled up in the ship; an enormous vine
with many grape-clusters hanging down
from it, climbed high over the sails; ivy,
luxuriant with flowers and graced with
fruits, twined around the mast and the
tholes carried garlands (v. 38-42). The
sailors bid the helmsman to land the ship,
no doubt to release their prisoner. But
then more wonders follow that belong
to the animal world. Dionysus himself be-
comes a roaring lion; a shaggy bear ap-
pears. The crew, terrified from the terrible
visions, leap overboard into the sea and
are transformed into dolphins, while the
lion devours the captain (v. 43-53). The
pious helmsman is blessed by the god,
who triumphantly affirms his identity:
“Take courage, good...; you have found
favour with my heart. I am Dionysus the
mighty-rower, born to Cadmus’ daughter
Semele” (v. 54-59) 15.
The pattern of the god’s visitation
under disguise, followed by the disas-
trous failure of the mortals to recognize
his divinity and the ultimate punishment
of the oblivious is a recurrent structure
of recognition scenes in the Homeric
Hymns16. At the same time, this pattern
is typical of Dionysiac resistance myths17.
The brief mention of the myth in Eu-
ripides’ Cyclops (v. 11-17) adds important
features that deviate from the version
presented in the Homeric Hymn. The Tyr-
rhenian pirates act at the instigation of
Hera, whose malicious intervention does
not occur in any other extant version of
the myth18. The satyrs go after the ship
to rescue their patron, but a tempest
off the cap Maleas drives them off their
course and they end in Sicily, where they
become prisoners of the Cyclops. The sa-
tyrs’ inclusion may derive from a previous
satyr-play, although this is not necessary.
It could be that Euripides used the satyr’s
quest for Dionysus as a reason for their
sea voyage resulting in their captivity in
the hands of the Cyclops, or that he fol-
lowed an entirely different version of the
legend19.
Hellenistic versions of the myth pro-
vide for the first time firm indications on
the localization of the action. In Apollo-
dorus, Dionysus wants to cross from Icar-
ia to Naxos and so he hires a Tyrrhenian
pirate ship. But the pirates intend to sell
him in Asia. The god then turns the must
and the oar into snakes and fills the ship
with ivy at the sound of flutes. In Hyginus,
Poetica Astronomica (ii 17), whose source
was Aglaosthenes’ Naxica (FGrHist 499 F
3), Dionysus is a boy that the Tyrrhenians
take on board together with his compan-
ions to carry him to Naxos and restore
him to his nurses. When they decide to
direct the ship elsewhere, Dionysus or-
ders his companions to sing in harmony
in such a delightful way, that the Tyrrhe-
nians are seized with a passion to dance
and throw themselves into the sea and
transform into dolphins.
In Ovid, the legend is masterfully in-
terwoven within the Theban narrative.
The story is dramatically recounted by the
helmsman of the Tyrrhenian ship, Acoetes,
who is now a follower of Dionysus and a
participant in his rites. He warns the The-
ban king Pentheus against resisting the
power of the god20. The narrative departs
from the Homeric hymn in many details:
the pirates’ ship chanced to land on Chi-
os. The following morning, the captain,
Opheltes, brought along a somnolent boy
under the age of puberty, found in a lone-
ly spot and regarded as booty. Although
the boy was barely able to talk and walk,
for heaviness from wine and sleep, the
helmsman concluded that he was divine,
although he could not tell exactly what
divinity was in the boy. He tried to prevent
his companions from bringing the captive
on the ship, but he was violently treated
by the boldest of the crew, one Lycabas,
an Etruscan exile. Prior to performing his
miracles, Dionysus has a long exchange
with his captors; he asks where do they
take him and adds that he prefers to go
to Naxos. The pirates falsely swear to take
him there, but they change direction, de-
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 457
 spite protests from the helmsman and the
god himself. The miracles follow immedi-
ately after: first the ship suddenly halts and
the sailors’ efforts to continue its route are
fruitless. Next, ivy impeded the oars and
spread over the sail, while the god himself
appeared before them with bunches of
grape round his brows and brandishing a
thyrsus. He did not transform himself into
a beast, but he is surrounded by false ap-
paritions of tigers, lynxes and panthers. At
the appearance of the beasts, the sailors
leapt overboard, either from madness or
fear. They are transformed into dolphins,
except for Acoetes, who is reassured by
Dionysus and is invited to land at Dia
(Naxos)21.
Hyginus’ Fabulae summarize a similar
version of the myth, adding the interest-
ing detail that the pirates intended to
rape the boy on account of his beauty,
but were restrained from doing so by
Acoetes, who suffered injury at their
hands22. Then Dionysus changed the ores
into thyrsi, the sails into vine tendrils and
the ropes into ivy; lions and panthers ap-
peared. The terrified pirates threw them-
selves into the sea, each of them being
transformed into the likeness of a dol-
phin. Hence, both the dolphins and the
sea are called Tyrrhenian.
Nonnus’ account is the fullest. It men-
tions (47.507-508) that the pirates’ ship
was petrified. Then, the Moon addresses
Dionysus and recites the main story in ten
lines (44.240-249). Mast and sails turn to
vines, while the ropes turn to snakes. The
sailors are transformed into dolphins and
they revel in honor of the god. A more
detailed treatment of the myth is part of
a speech by Tiresias (45.103-168), who
warns Pentheus to beware of the wrath
of the god23. Dionysus wishes to punish
the pirates for their cruel deeds, which
are described in some detail (45.105-
115). Thus, he appears, like Herakles, as a
458 Dimitris Paleothodoros
champion of justice with the mission to
eliminate these criminals from earth24.
He takes the initiative to confront the pi-
rates, and he voluntarily takes the form of
a desirable boy, in order to deceive them.
Nonnus omits all the dramatic elements
present in previous versions: the pirates’
intent to rape or to ransom him, the dia-
logues between the pious helmsman or
the impious sailors and the god, even the
very presence of the helmsman, which
seems to have been a traditional part
of the tale since the Homeric Hymn. This
omission is better explained by the fact
that it did not serve the aim of Nonnus
to hail Dionysus as a conquering hero25.
The pirates capture the god and
put him in fetches; Dionysus liberates
himself, takes the colossal stature of a
god, shouts louder than an army of nine
thousand men and produces a series of
botanical and zoological miracles. The
ropes become snakes, the mast becomes
a cypress, ivy climbs up the tree, and a
vine rises from the sea. A fountain of wine
gushes from the stern of the ship (v. 147-
148), a detail that recalls the wine mira-
cle in the Homeric Hymn (v. 35-37), but
is absent from all other versions26. Bulls
and a roaring lion appear. The sound of
flutes is heard. The pirates are driven mad
and have visions of flowers growing on
the waves, mountain pastures and shep-
herds with their flocks, and thus they are
convinced that they are on the land. So,
they jump into the sea and are trans-
formed into dolphins.
The basic narrative scheme remains
the same in all versions: the god assumes
the form of a youth or of a child, is taken
by the pirates on the ship, the helmsman
tries to persuade his companions to re-
lease the god, who finally provides a set
of miracles, ending by the transformation
of the pirates into dolphins. This is not to
say that all versions derive from a single
source, but rather that the myth follows
a traditional pattern known from other
dionysiac tales as well, as is proved by the
structural similarities between the Ho-
meric Hymn and Aeschylus’ Edonians and
Euripides’ Bacchae27. Variations appear as
well, especially in the range of the mira-
cles, but these may be easily explained out
as a deliberate attempt from the part of
poets and mythographers to enliven and
distance their own work from what was
already in circulation. More serious devia-
tions, like the presence of the satyrs, are
matched by iconographic evidence, and
will be discussed in some detail below.

Artistic representations

The Toledo Hydria

The most important depiction of the
legend of the Tyrrhenian pirates appears feet, the other from the head31. The fig- Fig. 1.-2. Toledo Museum of
on a late-archaic Etruscan black-figured ure at the far right has his legs bent and Art, After Boulter & Luckner
hydria at Toledo Museum of Art28 (Fig. overlapping with the legs of the figure 1984: pl. 90.
1-2). This remarkable vase, published to his left. All other figures have their hu-
in the early 1980’s, was soon to attract man legs bent, at various angles, which
considerable interest. It is attributed to may be taken as an attempt from the part
the Painter of Vatican 238 (The Kaineus of the painter to portray, in the pictorial
Painter), a follower of the Micali Painter29. space, a chronological sequence of their
The neck is decorated with the image of leap into the sea32. At the far left, there is
two youths heading to the left and the
shoulder shows Triton holding two dol-
phins. The main subject appears on the
belly of the vase: six men turn into dol-
phins, as they jump into the sea, which
is rendered by a band of waves braking
to the left30. The figure to the left is hu-
man upon the waist and dolphin below;
all other figures have human legs and the
upper half of their body transformed into
a dolphin’s body. This detail cannot be in-
terpreted as the rendering of a sequence
of several metamorphoses, but rather as
a representation of two different types of
transformation, one beginning from the

Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 459

 an ivy branch, which most commentators
interpret as a sign of Dionysiac epipha-
ny33. This may be so, although the same
ivy-branch is used by the Painter of Vati-
can 238 on vases seemingly unrelated to
the dionysiac realm34.
Dolphins appear frequently on Etrus-
can monuments, especially on vase-
paintings35. Most often, they decorate the
roundels of Etruscan black-figured kyathoi
from the school of the Micali Painter, al-
though examples from other workshops
appear as well36. Etruscan dolphins derive
from Ionian prototypes, with some attic
touches, especially in the rendering of the
lateral spine37. In particular, the dolphin
parts of the figures on the Toledo hydria
are especially close to the dolphins on
the hydria Louvre CA 2510, a work by the
Kaineus Painter, and on a fragmentary
vase by the Micali Painter in Heidelberg38.
The Toledo hydria is the earliest dat-
able document that illustrates the myth
of the transformation of the Tyrrhenian
pirates into dolphins39. It would be eas-
ily recognized by the Etruscan clients of
the painter of the Toledo hydria, even in
the summary form that is represented
there40. Other documents of the archaic
and classical age are less easy to interpret:
hybrids, part-human, part-dolphins ap-
pear on Greek vases and gems since 580
BC. On a Middle Corinthian kylix in the
Louvre, a hybrid creature appears under
the handle, amidst riders and komasts41,
on an Attic “Gordion” cup of circa 570-560
BC, a dolphin with human arms plays the
pipes; two more dolphins appear42; on a
Samian cup of circa 540-530 BC, there is a
warrior surrounded by two bands of dol-
phins43. Every third dolphin on the outer
band has human legs, exactly like the fig-
ures appearing on the Toledo hydria. Most
scholars believe that this cup refers to the
myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates, although
there is nothing to point to a mythical
460 Dimitris Paleothodoros
narrative44. A hybrid creature of the same
sort emblazons Athena’s shield on a frag-
mentary panathenaic amphora from the
Acropolis45. A winged dolphin-man deco-
rates a throne on an attic black-figured
amphora in Philadelphia46. A dolphin-man
on the base of a panther-shaped carnelian
and a dolphin with a human head holding
a thyrsus clearly belong to Dionysiac con-
texts47. Yet, none of the aforementioned
documents is to be taken as concrete evi-
dence of the circulation of the myth of the
Tyrrhenian pirates, even if the form of the
human dolphins is identical with those
depicted on the Toledo hydria and still lat-
er documents48. One the other hand, one
cannot simply dismiss them as irrelevant,
because they are useful in pinpointing
that the painter of the Toledo hydria was
not creating his figures in a vacuum, but
was following a relatively widespread
iconographic tradition.
Late Classical, Hellenistic and Roman
versions of the myth of the Tyrrhenian
Pirates
The majority of monuments representing
the myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates belong
to the second half of the fourth century49.
The frieze running continuously around
the circumference of the choragic monu-
ment of Lysikrates in Athens (335-334 BC)
is well known50. Remarkably, the action
is placed near the sea-shore, not on the
board of a ship. Dionysus and his retinue,
his satyrs, are enjoying two kraters of wine,
when they are attacked by the pirates. The
satyrs react to the assault, beat, bound or
burn the pirates. Some are rescued, only
to leap into the sea, where they are trans-
formed into dolphins. Only their head is
changed: the transformation has not yet
touched upon their torso and limbs.
The presence of satyrs is already
found in Euripides’ Cyclops and it will be
encountered on later monuments51. But
the change of the scenery has puzzled
the scholars. It is a popular belief that
the frieze represents episodes described
in a dithyramb for which the monument
was erected by Lysikrates, or in some
other dramatic representation, possibly
a satyr play52.
Other contemporary representa-
tions of the myth are found in Italy: on
the tondo of a Genucilia stemmed plate
from Rome, dated to the closing years of
the 4th century (Fig. 3), appears the prow
of a ship sailing to the left across the sea.
Five human figures summarily drawn oc-
cupy the deck: the first and more impor-
tant figure, to the left, holds a dolphin by
its tail. Mario Del Chiaro interpreted the
figure as Dionysus holding one of the
Tyrrhenian pirates already transformed
to a dolphin, while his companions await
the same fate. A stylized grapevine oc-
cupies the upper left part of the scene,
as if sprouting from the mast of the ship,
which is not shown53. Much less can be sage from human life to the afterlife57. Fig. 3. Once, Rome, Forum
said about two fragmentary tarentine A handful of monuments of the Ro- Romanum. After Del Chiaro
reliefs, one in the Taranto Museum54, the man period depict the legend of the 1974: fig. 5.
other in an American private collection55. transformation of the Tyrrhenian pirates
Both date from the second half of the 4th into dolphins. They need not concern us
century and show the stern of a ship and here, since they received an exemplary
a legged dolphin that leaps into the sea. treatment in a recent article by L. Romiz-
A recently published group of tiny zi58. This is perhaps the appropriate place
figurines of hybrid men with human legs to cite the description of a painting which
and dolphin torso and heads, decorating Philostratus the Elder reports or pretends
a funerary crown, was excavated in tomb to have seen in Naples59. Two ships are
54 of Nuceria Alfatena in Campania (2nd shown in the painting, one carrying Dio-
century BC). The group has been linked nysus and his retinue of satyrs and mae-
to the myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates, nads, with rows of cymbals attached to
although the figures lack any narrative the stern, and one manned by the pirates,
context. The dionysiac connection is armed like a warship, lying in ambush
guaranteed by the presence of bovine for the other. Driven mad by the singing
protomes as decorative elements of the of the band of Dionysus’ followers, the
same object56. De’ Spagnolis suggests pirates forget their rowing and, after the
that the subject of the transformation of god produces a series of miracles (appari-
the pirates assumed a funerary connota- tion of panthers, change of the mast into
tion, their diving symbolizing the pas- a thyrsus, vines spreading from all over

Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 461


Fig. 4. Munich, Antikensam-
mlungen 8729. After Keré-
nyi 1976: fig. 51.
462 Dimitris Paleothodoros
the ship, a fountain of wine), he forces the
maddened pirates to leap into the sea and
be transformed into dolphins.
The Munich cup by Exekias
The most intriguing monument is un-
doubtedly the picture on the tondo of the
eye-cup Munich 2044, signed by Exekias60
(Fig. 4). Dionysus reclines at ease in a boat
that sails him across a placid sea. A huge
twin-stemmed grapevine growing from
the mast dominates the scenery, while
seven dolphins are leaping around the
boat. Perhaps for the first time, the god is
depicted as a banqueter, a drinking horn
in his hand, with the upper part of his tor-
so naked61. The background is rendered
by a coating of a warm coral red slip.
This masterpiece of Attic vase-paint-
ing and potting has been the subject of
numerous commentaries that have use-
fully pointed out its innovative character
in terms of shape, technique and iconog-
raphy62. Interpretations of the image on
the tondo fall in general in four different
categories: mythological, cultic, its cos-
mic symbolism and finally the archetypal
image of Dionysus as the god of wine
and banquet63. Even a summary of the
relevant scholarship would exceed the
limits of this study. For our purpose, we
will concentrate upon its possible rela-
tion to the myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates.
Many scholars assumed a connec-
tion of the cup to the legend narrated
in the Homeric hymn, principally on
the ground of two points of similarity
that seem too close to be coincidental,
namely the splendid grapevines grow-
ing around the mast and the presence
of seven dolphins swimming around the
ship64. But in recent times grew a ten-
dency towards denying any explicit con-
nection, mainly because the Munich cup
contradicts the hymn’s narrative in three
very significant details: first, the reclining
god is a bearded adult, not a youth; sec-
ond, the dolphins show no trace of meta-
morphosis; and third, the helmsman
who succeeded to recognize Dionysus’
divinity, is absent. Nor are other impor-
tant narrative elements of the Hymn
represented, such as the beasts, the ivy
and the wine fountain65. Other scholars
have remarked the difference between
the idyllic atmosphere of the painting
and the dramatic tension of the mytho-
logical narrative and concluded that the
two share no common elements at all66.
Instead, it is often stated that the vase
represents the triumphant epiphany of
Dionysus as the god of wine67, either in
the context of the banquet68, or in con-
nection to his arrival at Athens that was
enacted during a festival69.
My belief that the Munich cup illus-
trates the legend of the Tyrrhenian pi-
rates is based on the fact that this one is
the only picture in extant vase-painting
where Dionysus himself is explicitly and
directly associated with dolphins70. The
connection is further reinforced by the
presence of a small dolphin painted in
added white color on the prow of the
ship. The key aspect for the correct read-
ing of the image is the transformation
itself. Some scholars have noted that the
painter would not have left in doubt this
central part of the legend, given the fact
that the earlier images of legged dol-
phins discussed above, would have easily
provided the pictorial means to depict
such transformation71. I would rather
suggest that Exekias’ aim was to under-
line the difference in status between the
Tyrrhenian pirates, who experience a
complete and irreversible change from
human to animal form, and figures un-
derlying a transformation that is either
temporary (Odysseus’ companions and
Io), inconclusive (Thetis) or illusive (Act- his hand, in a small boat, surrounded by Fig. 5. Berlin, Antikensam-
aeon) and are depicted in vase painting branches77. No dolphins appear at all (Fig. mlung SMB V.I. 2961. After
as hybrid creatures72. 5). The Tarquinia amphora is a more elabo- Kerényi 1976: fig. 52a.
On the other hand, the Munich cup rate piece, dated to the last decade of the
should not be used for dating the Homer- 6th century: on both sides a statuesque
ic Hymn to Dionysus in the 6th century73. Dionysus is seated on board of a large ship
All that is proven is that the legend exist- and is accompanied by diminutive satyrs
ed in some form, already by 530 BC. The and women who dance, make music and
deviations from the Homeric hymn are steer the ship78 (Fig. 6). If the painter of
too numerous and important to allow for the Tarquinia amphora had the myth of
a direct dependence of the Munich cup the Tyrrhenian pirates in mind, he follows
to the poem. In that light, we better ad- a narrative, which, like Euripides’ Cyclops
mit, along with Jennifer Penny Small, that and the painting described by Philostra-
“(if) the pictures do not match the texts tus, implies the presence of a second ship
we have, it is more parsimonious to as- carrying the followers of the god79.
sume that they were not meant to rather This scene is related to a small group
than to offer explanations for why they of vases showing Dionysus flanked by
deviate”74 and conclude that Exekias fol- two piping satyrs on board of a wheel-
lows a different version of the legend75. cart in the form of a ship, in a procession
The navigating Dionysus appears on that also include satyrs, humans and sac-
two more monuments, a cup in Berlin rificial animals80. The vases are closely re-
and an amphora in Tarquinia76. The Berlin lated in style: two skyphoi are by the The-
cup is a coarse work, dating from 500-490 seus Painter, another one belongs to the
BC and shows the god, a drinking horn in White Heron Group, while the fourth vase

Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 463

Fig. 6. Tarquinia, Museo Ar- is too fragmentary to allow attribution81.
cheologico Nazionale 676. The same subject appears on a lead strip
After Hedreen 1992: pl. 23. from Montagna di Marzo in Sicily82.
The Bologna skyphos presents the
most complete version of the proces-
sion: the wheeled ship is drawn by two
satyrs; it is followed by a man, a girl car-
rying the sacrificial basket, a youth hold-
ing a thurible, two males holding twigs,
and two more males leading a sacrificial
bull (Fig. 7). On the London skyphos a
flute-player is included in the procession,
along with four bearded men carrying
twigs and leading a sacrificial bull. On the
Acropolis skyphos only the god and the
pipers are preserved. The Tübingen frag-
ment preserves part of the wheel cart.
On the Montagna di Marzo lead strip, a
band of ithyphallic satyrs pulls the ship
cart from both sides with ropes. The
ship cart is identical on all four complete
documents: there is no mast, the wheels
are of a primitive type, there is no visible
means of propulsion, the prow takes the
form of an animal head (boar or dog) and
a screen with a criss-crossed hatched
464 Dimitris Paleothodoros
pattern is visible on the stern. The func-
tion of the screen is not clear, but we may
safely conclude that it is not an item in-
dispensable in navigation, since it is ab-
sent in representations of ships on attic
vase painting, with the significant excep-
tion of the Tarquinia amphora (Fig. 6)83.
A procession of a ship is known to
have occurred in several East Greek cities
(Smyrna, Priene, Ephesus) during a Dio-
nysiac festival most often identified with
the Katagogia84. Evidence dates from the
Hellenistic and the Roman period, except
for a fragmentary East Greek amphora
from Karnak; probably painted in Egypt,
it provides the necessary link with the
Athenian procession on the skyphoi. The
amphora, now in Oxford, shows four men
dressed in Egyptian aprons carrying a ship
on their shoulders and a satyr-like figure
sporting with two phalluses standing on
the prow85. It is reasonable to assume that
the use of ships in processions might have
been influenced by Egyptian rituals86.
Since De Witte’s article of 1875, the
group of skyphoi has been connected to
the myth of the god’s triumph over the
Tyrrhenian pirates allegedly illustrated
on the Munich cup by Exekias87. Most
scholars, however, think that the subject
of the skyphoi is the ritual enactment of
the mythical arrival of Dionysus in Attica
during a festival, either the Anthesteria88
or the Civic Dionysia, when the naviga-
tion season opens89. Both positions have
been richly argued, but none gained con-
sensus in scholarship. It is often assumed
that the figure appearing on the ship-cart
is the image of the god, or a priest dis-
guised as the god90, while the Tarquinia
amphora focuses on the mythical arrival
itself91. A puzzling aspect is that the ico-
nography of the ship-cart procession was
short-lived, dying out at about the end of
the 6th century92. This encourages us to
believe that the source of inspiration for
the painters might have been a memo-
rable fact, the best possible candidate
being the introduction of the triumphal
procession of the City Dionysia, which
was instituted by the young Athenian
democracy during the last years of the
6th century93. Whether it died out soon af- Fig. 7. Bologna, Museo Civi-
terwards, or became indifferent to vase- co 130. After Kerényi 1976:
painters, is a question that cannot be an- fig. 59.
swered by present evidence94.
Quite a few scholars think that the
ritual reading of the images does not
preclude any connection with the Ho-
meric Hymn and the Exekias cup: all the
vessels discussed above are warships95,
a fact that adds some weight to the ar-
guments of those who believe that they
all show Dionysus in charge of the ship
of the Tyrrhenian pirates. In fact, it was
taken for granted by some scholars that
the Homeric Hymn provides an etiology
for the triumphal arrival of Dionysus in
Athens during a spring festival96. Similar
ideas led to the suggestion that the Mu-
nich cup was especially designed for use
during the celebration of the Antheste-
ria97. This is highly unlikely, given that the
cup has been unearthed in an Etruscan
tomb98. This discussion brings us back
to the problem of determining the geo-
graphic and ritual references of the Ho-
meric Hymn, to which we shall return in
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 465
 the next two sections of this study.
To sum up, the iconography of the
legend of the Tyrrhenian pirates was es-
tablished during the late archaic period.
Earlier versions of dolphin men need not
be connected to the legend itself. On the
Munich cup (Fig. 4), Exekias chooses to
evade the episode of the transformation
of the pirates (emphasized by the Painter
of Vatican 238) and concentrates on the
aftermath of the god’s encounter with
the pirates99. In a sense, the two painters
adopt different viewpoints: on the Toledo
hydria, Dionysus is absent, since the focus
are the Tyrrhenian pirates, while on the
Munich cup, the dolphins surely refer to
the legend, but their role in the narrative
is diminished. The true protagonist is the
god himself, in a triumphal assertion of
his divine power. The notion of triumph is
further enforced by the fact that the god
reclines to the left, the usual depiction of
banqueters, while the ship heads to the
right, which was the traditional direction
for the victors in Athenian art100. While the
two archaic monuments do not contra-
dict the narrative of the Homeric Hymn to
Dionysus, they do not depend on it, and
they certainly cannot be used as evidence
for its dating. As regards to late classical,
Hellenistic and Roman monuments, they
may have been inspired from a variety of
literary and stage versions of the myth.
No established iconographic tradition is
apparent.
Tyrrhenians East and West and the
localization of the myth of the Rapt
of Dionysus
Who are the Tyrrhenian pirates referred
to in the Homeric Hymn, and where did
their action take place? What motiva-
tion or historical stimulus lies beyond the
choice of that group of people as recipi-
466 Dimitris Paleothodoros
ents of the divine wrath?
“Ritualists” attempted to link the Ho-
meric Hymn to Athens and Attica, but
this is scarcely convincing101. The Homeric
Hymn to Dionysus does not specify any
location. This is probably due to the fact
that the Homeric Hymns had no definite
religious or local setting, but were des-
tined to be recited in the great Panhel-
lenic festivals and thus were adaptable
to different performance contexts102. To
be sure, some geographical indications
are given, for the pirates are planning to
carry the youth in far away lands (v. 28).
The appearance of historical and rather
familiar areas for the Greeks of the ar-
chaic and classical period (Egypt and
Cyprus) points to the Eastern Mediterra-
nean as the range of their activity103, but
the inclusion of the mythical land of the
Hyperboreans should warrant us against
putting too much weight in these indica-
tions: it seems that the poem lacks any
local anchorage104. What the poet seeks
to emphasize is that the pirates wish to
remove Dionysus from the Greek world,
and sell him to barbarians living in the
west or north-west (Hyperboraea), in the
South (Egypt) or in the East (Cyprus)105.
In Euripides, the setting of the Cy-
clops is in Sicily, although it is clearly stat-
ed that the satyrs sailing to rescue Dio-
nysus had been attacked by a tempest off
the cap Maleas (v. 18). This has prompted
much discussion, since Maleas is pho-
netically very close to Maleos, a legend-
ary Etruscan king of Regisvilla, but also,
according to an obscure genealogy, the
father of Erigone, an Athenian woman
connected to the Dionysiac festival of the
Aiora. Moreover, the cap Maleas was the
legendary home of Silenus. Thus, it has
been suggested that the god was kid-
napped while standing on the coast, at
the promontory of Maleas106. This theory
generated a recent attempt to connect
the hymn with Corinth and its commer-
cial interests in Sicily and the West in the
late 7th century, via the structurally similar
myth of the rapt of Arion by the pirates
and his subsequent saving by a dolphin
near the cap Tainaron107. But the mention
of Cap Maleas on the satyr’s sea adven-
ture does not necessarily imply a journey
westwards. If their ship has passed the
cap Maleas returning home, they were
sailing from East to West108, exactly like
Odysseus (Odyssey, 9.80-81). In fact, some
scholars believe that Euripides should be
ranged among those who adopt an “ori-
ental version” of the legend109. Nor the
Occidental direction can be ruled out110.
Cap Maleas is an obvious point for navi-
gation in both directions, and its mention
by Euripides does not clarify the setting
of the legend.
The efforts to link the legend to the
Aegean111 seem more legitimate. While
it is true that the Samian cup with the
dolphin riders cited above, bears no ap-
parent connection to the legend112, one
should not ignore the evidence of the
localization of the legend to Naxos, Keos
and Icaria in a series of narratives, mostly
Hellenistic and Roman in date. In Apollo-
dorus, Dionysus wanted to sail from Icaria
to Naxos, but the pirates tried to sell him
in Asia. Naxos as the god’s destination is
common in Latin sources (Ovid, Hyginus
and Servius) and may be traced to Agla-
osthenes’ Naxika or to another Hellenistic
source, now lost. The theory of a Naxian
setting, accepted by a large majority of
scholars113, needs to be considered in
the light of an important assumption put
forth by Michael Hedreen, namely that
the legend of the transformation of the
Tyrrhenian pirates is but one of a constel-
lation of Dionysiac narratives including
the presence of satyrs and having their
origin in the island of Naxos (like the Re-
turn of Hephaistus and the union of the
God with Ariadne and our legend, in the
versions found in Euripides’ Cyclops, in
Philostratus’ account of the Naples paint-
ing, on the Lysikrates Monument and on
Roman representations of the myth)114.
Although there seems to be a point in
Hedreen’s argument, one should not as-
sume that a Naxian setting is the only
available solution. For example, the Ho-
meric Hymn to Dionysus certainly does
not belong to such a Naxian tradition. On
the other hand, if we accept Hedreen’s
assertion that the Tarquinia amphora
(Fig. 6), where satyrs and maenads escort
Dionysus on his ship, depicts an episode
from the same myth, then the Naxian ver-
sion might belong at the latest to the end
of the 6th century.
Greek authors of the Roman Imperial
period (Aelius Aristides, Lucian, Charax of
Pergamon and Longus), use the legend
of the Tyrrhenian pirates as a counterpart
to the Eastern adventures of Dionysus in
India. They prefer to equate the Tyrrhe-
nians to the Etruscans, and place their
activity in the western world115. Philostra-
tus too adopts a western setting, when
he states that the pirates were active
“in their own waters”, i.e. the Tyrrhenian
Sea. Nonnus speaks of a Sicilian legend,
but this need not be part of a given tra-
dition116, because, as Pierre Chuvin aptly
comments, for Nonnus Italy and Etruria
have no place in his dionysiac geography
and the name Tyrrhenos is used to denote
the inhabitants of Sicily117.
There are three conclusions to be
drawn from this short discussion: 1. The
setting of the myth can established with
reasonable certainty only in the Hellen-
istic Period. A Naxian setting is possible,
but by no way proven, even for earlier
versions of the legend. 2. Different ver-
sions certainly circulated together, and
there is no objective method to define
with any degree of certainty which one
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 467
 was the earlier. 3. The Italic or Sicilian
setting, as far as written accounts are
concerned, is probably a later develop-
ment, and grew from the need to find
an occidental counterpart to the Eastern
adventures of Dionysus. It is far from clear
when the occidental tradition developed.
Mario Cristofani argued that it took shape
in the second half of the fourth century
and was part of Roman propaganda with
anti-Etruscan overtones, made possible
in the very moment that the Aegean
Tyrrhenians were nearly extinct118. But
by present evidence, the earliest extant
source that links the Tyrrhenians of the
myth to Etruria is the Toledo hydria, more
than a century and a half earlier. I will ex-
plore this important aspect of the discus-
sion in the last section of the study.
As regards the question of the eth-
nic origin of the Tyrrhenians, scholarship
provides four possible answers:
1. At an earlier stage, the legend re-
fers to a group of non-Greek speaking
people living in the northern part of the
Aegean (mainly in Chalkidike, the Helles-
pontine region and the islands of Lem-
nos and Imbros), the so-called “Eastern
Tyrrhenians”119, because the setting of
the story is the island of Naxos or another
place in the Aegean.
2. Although the story takes place in
the Eastern Mediterranean, the protago-
nists are Etruscans, either marauding
pirates, or settlers who temporarily oc-
cupied strongholds in the Aegean during
the archaic period.
3. The setting is occidental and the
protagonists are Etruscan pirates from
the West (Sicily or Italy).
4. The term “Tyrrhenian” does not
refer to any real historical people, but is
used as a synonym for “pirate” 120, or as a
generic term which is used to denote “not
very well known people on the fringes of
the world, or on the fringe of time”121.
468 Dimitris Paleothodoros
The first three answers require that
the background of the myth reflects
historical reality, generated by the wide-
spread belief that the Tyrrhenians were
a nation of pirates, judging, for instance,
from Euripides’ reference (Cyclops, 11-
12) to the γένος Τυρσηνικὸν λῃστῶν122.
Whether this refers to the Etruscans or to
Aegeans, is an ongoing debate in recent
scholarship.
The existence of a “Tyrrhenian” peo-
ple in the Aegean is documented by
four fifth-century authors123. Hellanicus
of Mytilene argued that the Pelasgians
of Thessaly, after their expulsion by the
Greeks, migrated to Italy, landed near
Spina, founded Cortona, and changed
their name into “Tyrrhenians”124. In
Sophocles’ fragmentary satyr-play Ina-
chos (fr. 270 Radt), the protagonist is the
great ruler of the plain of Argos and the
rocks of Hera, “leader of the Pelasgians-
Tyrrhenians”. This may mean nothing
more than Sophocles espoused the
widespread yet erroneous belief that the
Pelasgian Argos in Homer is the city of
Peloponnese and that he cites together
the “Tyrrhenians” and the “Pelasgians”
as representatives of the barbarian pre-
hellenic people of Greece125. Thucydides
(4.109) reports that in his days the Pe-
lasgians lived in the Akte peninsula in
Thrace, and among them he ranges the
Tyrrhenians, who once occupied Athens
and the island of Lemnos. The opinion
that the Tyrrhenians are identical with
or just a part of the nation of the Pelas-
gians, is implicitly rejected or ignored by
Herodotus, for whom the Tyrrhenians of
Chalkidike are neighbours of the Pelas-
gians and speak a different language126.
In the 1st century AD, Dionysius also re-
jected Hellanicus’ theory, claiming that
the Tyrrhenians were not Pelasgians, but
native people of Italy127. Otherwise, most
of our sources see the two names, Tyrrhe-
nians and Pelasgians, as interchangeable.
It must be emphasized, however, that no
fifth century source makes any connec-
tion between the Aegean Tyrrhenians
and piracy. Apparently, this was a fourth
century development128.
The confusion between Tyrrhenians
of the Aegean and their counterparts in
the West, the Etruscans, gave rise to a
host of different traditions that tried to
link two distant and culturally very differ-
ent people. Thus, Anticlides implausibly
tried to solve the problem by suggest-
ing that the Tyrrhenians who founded
Imbros and Lemnos allied themselves to
the Lydians of Tyrrhenos, when the latter
migrated in Etruria129. The identification
of the two people may also work the oth-
er way round: Myrsilus of Methymna, an
author of the 3rd century BC, claimed that
the Tyrrhenians originated in Italy, but
they migrated to the Aegean and there-
after were called “Pelasgians”130.
Lemnos is at the center of these dis-
cussions, that were further prompted by
the spectacular discovery, in 1884, of an
engraved sandstone stela at Kaminia, in
the eastern part of the island, bearing
Greek letters, but written in a language
very close to Etruscan131. Archaeological
evidence does not support the hypoth-
esis that the speakers of this language
were colonists from the West. Scholars
have looked for other solutions, includ-
ing a prehistoric migration from West to
East (equally unfounded on archaeologi-
cal grounds), or the existence of a prehel-
lenic strata closely affiliated linguistically
to the historical Etruscans, which resisted
assimilation until the fifth century BC.
In Homer, the Lemnians are descend-
ents of the Argonauts, living together
with a native people, the Sintians. The
people of Lemnos are considered “Pe-
lasgians” by Herodotus, in his narrative
of the occupation of the island by the
Athenians under Miltiades some years
after the Persian Otanes first assaulted
Lemnos in 511, probably around 506
BC132. It is sometimes stated that this in-
cident generated an Athenian interest
for the myth of the transformation of the
Tyrrhenian pirates133. Herodotus echoes
two distinct traditions, one pro-Athe-
nian, the other pro-Pelasgian that goes
back to Hecataeus. The Pelasgians had
once occupied Athens, but, after a series
of events, they were driven out by the
Athenians and took refuge in the island
of Lemnos. Some time later, the Lemnian
Pelasgians raided Attica and kidnapped
the Athenian girls celebrating the Brau-
ronia134. This story is usually taken as
evidence of Athenian propaganda in the
period after the conquest of the island,
but need not be as late as the end of the
sixth century. It has been recently stated
that the legend probably belongs to an
earlier mythological strata of Athenian
origin and was re-elaborated for the pur-
pose of justifying the Athenian military
actions135.
Post-fifth century sources indistinctly
name the inhabitants of Lemnos as “Tyr-
rhenians”136. Their reputation as pirates
is reflected in a samian tradition, which
states that the Tyrrhenians of Lemnos, in-
stigated by the people of Argos, tried to
steal Hera’s statue from her temple on the
island of Samos, but failed, because they
were unable to move their ship137.
Given the existence of this body of
evidence, and the testimony of an au-
thority such as Thucydides, it is not a
surprise that the vast majority of scholars
identify the Tyrrhenians of the Homeric
Hymn with the inhabitants of Lemnos138.
But the reputation of western Tyrrheni-
ans, i.e. the Etruscans, as pirates should
not be overlooked139. We know from
Ephorus that, before the foundation of
Naxos in 736 BC, the Tyrrhenian pirates
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 469
 had infested the coast of Sicily, barring
the way to Greek colonists140. Slave-trade
exercised by pirates through kidnapping,
which might be documented in the Ho-
meric Hymn, has an air of authenticity
in the context of the archaic period141.
Other scholars, however, attribute this
intense pirate activity by the Tyrrhenians
in the historical context of the 4th century
BC, when literary sources are matched
by epigraphic evidence. In this period,
such activity is best documented in the
area of Adriatic, thanks to the serious ef-
forts of the Athenian fleet to guarantee
free access to the rich coasts of Northern
Italy142. In the early Hellenistic period, the
champion of the fight against the pirates
is the island of Rhodes. The main body of
evidence has been recently analyzed by
Alain Bresson, and needs not concern us
in detail here: it attests to a Tyrrhenian
stronghold on the small island of An-
tikythera (Aigialeia), which was cleared
by the Rhodian fleet143.
Inevitably, a number of scholars
prefer to identify the Tyrrhenian pirates
mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Dio-
nysus with the Etruscans. The idea goes
back to Beloch144, but it has been recently
formulated in a more articulate way by
Michel Gras. According to this ingenious
hypothesis, the core of the legend of the
rapt of Dionysus portrays the historical
situation in the Aegean during the sixth
century BC, when Lemnos housed a set-
tlement of Etruscan traders, who also
practiced piracy occasionally. This is fur-
ther corroborated by Latin authors, who
take it for granted that the Tyrrhenians
are Etruscans, even when the setting of
their stories is Naxos in the Aegean145.
Gras goes further and assumes that the
myth is nothing more than the projec-
tion, in the mythological level, of the
long standing commercial rivalry at sea
between Greeks and Etruscans, marked
470 Dimitris Paleothodoros
by the victory of the former. Dionysus
stands for wine, the most conspicuous
trade commodity transported in the
Mediterranean146.
In view of the confusion of our sourc-
es, one may wonder if it is really possible
to define which branch of the Tyrrhenians
is meant to in the Homeric Hymn. Tyrrhe-
nian, like Pelasgian, seem to have been
an elusive name, a convenient term to
define linguistic groups that speak an un-
intelligible, barbarian language147. Peo-
ple of remote places and remote times,
the Tyrrhenians provided an anti-model
for pious and civilized behavior and their
cruelty was proverbial148. Greek sources
often describe them as cruel, brutish
and violent people, pirates, kidnappers
and invaders. Aristotle is perhaps the
earliest extant source that mentions the
famous “Tyrrhenian torture”, the practice
of chaining rotting corpses face to face
with living captives, fitting as exactly as
possible on against the other. Their vic-
tims were dying in a terrible way149. Latin
sources mention the torture, but without
any reference to the pirates150. Jacques
Brunschwig has the merit of making
the connection between the “Etruscan
torture”, and the episode in the Homeric
Hymn, where Dionysus is miraculously
liberated from his bonds. However, his
suggestion that Aristotle found his story
in an Orphic poem and that the myth of
the transformation of the Tyrrhenian pi-
rates is closely related to the orphic myth
of the dismemberment of Dionysus by
the Titans, has been generally ignored in
classical scholarship151. In other parts of
his corpus, Aristotle displays a fair knowl-
edge of the Etruscans152, so it would not
be unreasonable to conclude that he is
directly referring to them, and not to the
Aegean Tyrrhenians. But there can be no
certainty here. For those in the Roman
period who cited Aristotle’s passage (di-
rectly or indirectly), the “Tyrrhenian tor-
ture” was a genuinely Etruscan custom.
The above observations will help us
explain the role of the Tyrrhenians in the
legend. I am inclined to assume that their
proverbially cruel character made them
the ideal target for the divine plan to take
revenge of their misdeeds. To my mind,
there lies the reason for their inclusion,
instead of any other group of sea-raiders
and not to any particular historical situ-
ation.
My assumption, then, is that there is
no positive way to determine with cer-
tainty either the original setting of the
legend or the true origin of the Tyrrhe-
nian pirates. This is perhaps the essential
aspect of the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus:
the action is deliberately placed on an
unknown promontory; the adversaries of
the god are a band of itinerant outsiders,
cruel foreigners or primordial barbarians
who dared stand at the way of a pow-
erful god, whose plan of revenge they
were unable to decipher. All subsequent
developments (some of them still very
early) might be regarded as attempts to
rationalize the myth and connect it with
historical people and real places.
Dolphins, Dionysus and Etruria
The Toledo hydria is undisputable evi-
dence that the myth of the Tyrrhenian
pirates was circulating in Etruria as early
as the beginning of the 5th century BC.
However, the existence of Etruscan
monuments dealing with the legend of
the transformation of the Tyrrhenians
is sometimes taken as evidence against
the identification of the pirates with the
Etruscans, because the myth is “anti-tyr-
rhenian”153. In other words, the Tyrrheni-
an pirates cannot be Etruscans, because
they are depicted on Etruscan monu-
ments. I wonder whether this type of rea-
soning is helpful. On the Toledo hydria,
the artist’s emphasis on the dolphin-men
may also hint at his interest to comment
upon the victims of the god, ignoring the
triumph and the epiphany of Dionysus.
This observation makes likely two as-
sumptions, first that the Etruscan painter
identified the Tyrrhenians with the Etrus-
cans154, and second that his clientele was
aware of this connection, apparently
through the intermediary of earlier vase-
paintings of Attic origin. That this par-
ticular legend had a special meaning for
the Etruscans is further reinforced from
the fact that the dionysiac myths, as op-
posed to generic images of the dionysiac
thiasus, are seldom depicted in archaic
Etruria155.
Our analysis has revealed the exist-
ence of a variety of traditions beneath
the myth of the transformation of the
Tyrrhenian pirates into dolphins. The
core of the legend is the desire of the god
to have his divinity revealed among the
mortals and to punish those who offend
or oppose him. The transformation of the
pirates, a remarkable and spectacular as-
pect in itself, assumes a central place in
our story156 and was the main concern of
artists, to the expense of other elements
of the narrative. At first sight, the animal
transformation fits well the capacity of
Dionysus to transcend the boundaries
between human and divine, man and an-
imal, life and death157. If Philostratus is to
be trusted, this change was not regarded
as an exclusively negative fact: the pirates
are turned from humans to animals and
from evil to benevolent creatures, so that
their transformation is both corporeal
and psychological, leading to their moral
improvement. In Greek mythology, the
dolphins appear as benevolent creatures
which carry children, adolescent or older
heroes on their backs158. Their connection
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 471
 with Dionysus goes beyond the general
association of wine and the wine-god to
the sea159 and is anchored in ritual prac-
tice, especially in the form of choral danc-
es. Dolphins are dancers, most notably
in Euripides’ Helen (1454-1455) and later
sources. They dance in a circle around a
god or around a ship, but most probably
around a piper on the stage160. On Corin-
thian vases, the dolphins are sometimes
associated with padded komasts161.
Marie-Claire Anne Beaulieu162 made
the pertinent observation that a recur-
rent theme in later versions of the legend
of the Tyrrhenian pirates (Ovid, Hyginus,
Philostratus and Nonnus) is the terror
and madness inflicted upon the pirates
just before the moment of their disas-
trous leap into the sea. This alienation of
their state of mind is caused by dionysiac
dancing and music. The maddened sail-
ors are conquered by the desire to dance
and as soon as they come in contact with
the waves, they undergo a radical trans-
formation leading to a new existence,
which may be plausibly paralleled to the
loss of the self experienced by the follow-
ers of Dionysus. Both a punishment and
a salvation from madness and terror, the
transformation of pirates into dolphins
marks their introduction into the retinue
of the god.
Etruscan monuments provide a fur-
ther link between Dionysus and the dol-
phins. It has been noted recently that the
appearance of dolphins leaping into the
sea on Etruscan wall-paintings and mir-
rors of the late archaic period does not
have a decorative function, but betrays
an eschatological message163. Since the
tomb is regarded as a place of mediation
between the world of the living and the
world of the dead, the idea of putting
friezes of dolphins leaping into the sea
in the lower part of wall-paintings and
engraved mirrors found in tombs might
472 Dimitris Paleothodoros
have served as a point of juncture be-
tween the two worlds. The act of leaping
into the deep sea is regarded, in funerary
iconography and symbolism, as an act of
passage from the world of the living to
the world of the dead164.
The equation of the banquet with
the dionysiac afterlife is a very well
known feature in funerary iconography
in Etruria and Southern Italy, where most
of the documents illustrating the myth of
the Tyrrhenian pirates have been found.
So it seems justified to assume that the
myth was regarded as a metaphor for
death and rebirth. This would explain the
legend’s relative popularity on funerary
monuments although the tale’s primary
meaning was not eschatological165.
It remains to consider what made
the Etruscans adopt in their arts a myth
with anti-Tyrrhenian overtones. The “oc-
cidental version” of the myth should be
probably regarded as a native elabora-
tion, encouraged by the fact that the
geographical anchorage of the myth
was left deliberately open in the Homeric
Hymn. It is impossible to affirm whether
the legend was ever used as a foundation
myth for the introduction of the diony-
siac cult in Etruria. On the other hand, it
is plausible to suggest that the identifica-
tion of the Tyrrhenians to the Etruscans
may have been generated by a growing
interest in Dionysus and his iconography
in the second half of the sixth century
BC. Greek myth in Etruria, among other
things, offered to local elites an occa-
sion to participate in the same cultural
environment as the Greeks. Legends with
local interest, like the one of the Tyrrhe-
nian pirates, would have encouraged this
sense of belonging to the civilized world,
and might have had political implica-
tions, as well. The advent of dionysiac
cult in Etruria, which by present evidence
occurred in the mid-6th century BC, was
certainly encouraged by the ability of the
natives to identify themselves in an epi-
sode of the god’s saga and to find a place
in Greek mythical history.
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Note
1
For a detailed and nuanced examination of
the pattern of resistance to Dionysus, see Mas-
senzio 1969.
2
Rohde 1925: 283.
3
Massenzio 1969; McGinty 1978.
4
Guthrie 1955: 145-182; Seaford 1996.
5
On Dionysus’ insistence on having his divi-
nity recognized, see Versnel 1990: 164-172.
6
Massenzio 1969.
7
On resistance stories as a means to valida-
te the established hierarchy between gods and
humans, see McGinty 1978.
8
General accounts: Crusius 1889; Brunswick
1963; James 1975; Herter 1980; Giuffrida Ientile
1983: 33-47; da’ Spagnolis 2004: 41-47.
9
Jaillard 2011: 135: “… framework and em-
phasis seem …to be exceptionally (and perhaps
intentionally) detached from all local anchora-
ge, whether it be cultic, mythical, or historical”.
10
Scholarship on the dating of the Homeric
Hymn: Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 35-36, n. 12, Faulkner
2011: 14 and Jaillard 2011: 133, n. 2. Most scho-
lars accept a date in the 6th or the 5th century.
Isler-Kerényi 2010, argued that a youthful Dio-
nysus, as the one appearing in the Homeric
Hymn, is inconceivable in Athenian art before
the 430’s. Consequently, this date should be ta-
ken as a terminus post quem for the dating of
the hymn. A similar argument was first advan-
ced by Pareti 1926: 47.
11
Mythographi Vaticani I, p. 39, no. 122 and
p. 133, no. 171, ed. Bode; Seneca, Agamamnon
451; Servius, Schol. ad Virgil, Eneid, I, 67; Lucian,
Dialogues of the Sea Gods 8 and On Dance 22;
Aelius Aristides Disc. XLI, 8 Keil; Charax of Perga-
mon FGrHist 103 F 31; Oppian, Hal. I 646-685;
Propertius, Elegies 17.25-26 (“curvaque Tyrrhenos
delphinium corpora nautas / in vada pampinea
desiluisse rate”); Palatine Anthology IX, 82, 524
(where Dionysus is called Τυρρηνολέτης); Lon-
gus, Daphnis and Chloe IV, 2-3.
12
James 1975: 17: “Although it is impossible
to date the hymn within a century or two, no
one is likely to dispute that it is the oldest extant
version of the story and no more than that is as-
sumed in this study”.
13
Fr. 236 in Eusthathius’ Commentary on
Odyssey 10, 240. Another pindaric passage, ci-
ted in Philodemus, On Piety 48, may also refer
to the same legend (Crusius 1889: 207, n. 20 and
Briquel 1984: 273, n. 74).
14
Down to the Hellenistic period, the only
Greek term for “pirate” was ληστής. The same
word alse means “bandit”. The word πειρατής,
from which derive the modern term, appears
first on an Attic inscription from Rhamnous da-
ted to 267 BC. Afterwards, both terms are used
concomitantly. Another term, καταποντιστής, is
much rarer. For a full discussion, see Ferone 1997:
46-59; De Souza 1999: 3-9.
15
V. 55-57: θάρσει, †δῖε κάτωρ†, τῷ ἐμῷ
κεχαρισμένε θυμῷ: εἰμὶ δ᾽ ἐγὼ Διόνυσος ἐρίβρομος,
ὃν τέκε μήτηρ Καδμηὶς Σεμέλη Διὸς ἐν φιλότητι
μιγεῖσα. V. 55, is corrupt. Kershaw 1991: 59-60,
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 477
 restores the word διάκτορ, “escort”. Eden 2003:
210, reads instead διάκτορ and argues that
Aktor is the name of the helmsman.
16
García 2002: 16-17.
17
McGinty 1978: 76-80.
18
An “unnecessary explanation”, according
to Seaford 1984: 97. See also Jeanmaire 1951: 227:
“Le fait qu’il (i.e. Euripides) donne pour origine
de la mésaventure du dieu l’inimitié d’Héra,
dont il n’est pas question dans l’hymne, auto-
rise l’hypothèse qu’il en utilisait une version
différente”.
19
Seaford 1984: 97.
20
Acoetes, ’Ακοίτης, means « the one who
does not sleep », a very appropriate name for a
sailor: Chuvin 1990: 76.
21
A shorter account of the same version
appears in Servius commentary at Aeneid I, 67.
Seneca’s Oedipus (449-466) also shows awa-
reness of the Metamorphoses, but presents a
somewhat different version, in which Nereus
calmed the sea and changed the waters into
meadows: James 1975: 25-26.
22
The motif of the rape appears in Servius’
commentary at Aeneid I, 67 and Myth. Vat.. I, 2, 20.
It is implicitly alluded to in Ovid’s description of
the god as a puer. See James 1975: 24; Herter 1980:
117, Chuvin 1991: 75 & Romizzi 2002: 353, n. 8.
23
Nonnus is apparently inspired from Ovid’s
choice to imbed the narrative into the Theban
episode: see Crusius 1889: 225; James 1975: 29
and Chuvin 1991: 76. Vian 2000: 690: is more cau-
tious in asserting the dependence of Nonnus
upon Ovid’s model and leaves open the pos-
sibility that the analogy is fortuitous. Nonnus’
model for the first part of his narrative (45.105-
132) is apparently the Homeric Hymn, while the
second part (45.133-169) displays a number
of elements found elsewhere in his own work,
combined with various elements found in ear-
lier accounts: Vian 2000: 687.
24
Vian 2000: 684.
25
Crusius 1889: 221, 224; James 1975: 34;
Chuvin 1991: 76. Nonnus’ account is probably in-
spired from Ovid, with reminiscences from the
Homeric Hymn.
26
James 1975: 32 and Vian 2000: 688. The
fountain appears also in Philostratus, Imagines,
I. 19.
27
See most notably Sutton 1973.
28
Inv. 82.134. Broken and repaired. Ht.: 52.1
478 Dimitris Paleothodoros
cm. Boulter & Luckner 1984: 14-16 & pl. 90; Ras-
smussen & Spivey 1986: 3-4, fig. 3-8; Rizzo 1987:
176-177 & 311, no. 130; Harari 1988: 36, fig. 5;
Bonfante 1993: 227, fig. 22; Harari 1997: 155, no.
1, pl. 115; Descoeudres 2000: 331: fig. 6; Csapo
2003: 83, fig. 4.5-4.6; Frontisi-Ducroux 2003: 9,
fig. 1 & 85, fig. 20; de’ Spagnolis 2004: fig. 67; Nobili
2009: 5, fig. 3; Buxton 2009: 77, fig. 9.
29
Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 2-3; Spivey 1987:
42-45. To his works, add a hydria in New York
Market (Christie’s 6.12.2004, p. 156, no 527). On
the body: Achilles ambushing Troilus. On the
shoulder: two maenads. On the neck: cocks.
30
Compare the hydria Louvre CA 2510
by the Painter of Vatican 238 (Spivey & Rassmus-
sen 1986: 2, fig. 1-2), a kyathos once in Lucern
Market with dolphins leaping into the sea (Ars
Antiqua Lagerkatalog 3, 1967, no 81) and the
neck-amphora Göttingen HU 749b (Bentz 2001:
pl. 40.2-4).
31
Frontisi-Ducroux 2003: 83. See also Buxton
2009: 76, n. 2.  
32
Frontisi-Ducroux 2003  : 83; de’ Spagnolis
2004: 55.
33
Boulter & Luckner 1984: 14; Harari 1988: 36;
Bonfante 1993: 227; da’ Spagnolis 2004: 55; Nobili
2009: 14.
34
I.e. Paris, Louvre CA 2510 (above, n. 30).
35
On dolphins on wall-paintings and engra-
ved mirrors, see Descoeudres 2000: 325-330.
36
I have notes for 23 Etruscan black-figured
vases with dolphins. Micalian kyathoi: Spivey
1987: 16-17; no 93-96; 23, no. 144; Gaultier 2003:
41, no. 26. Note also a kyathos once in Lucern
Market (above, n. 30). Other vases from the
same workshop: the oinochoe Munich 926 (Spi-
vey 1987: 11, no. 40), a fragmentary bowl or kylix
in Heidelberg (E 32: Spivey 1987: 17, no. 99), two
small neck-amphorae in Cambridge (Rassmussen
& Spivey 1986: 6, fig. 12; Spivey 1987: 14, no. 68)
and Florence (Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 5, fig. 9)
and the hydria Louvre CA 2510 by the Painter
of Vatican 238 (above, n. 30). Pontic workshop:
the kyathos Würzburg HA 512 (Hannestad 1976,
66, no. 78). La Tolfa Group: the dinos Rome,
Villa Giulia 50600 (Moretti Sgubini 2000: 78, no.
44) and the amphorae Florence 92194, 92181
and Rome, Villa Giulia 50655 (Rallo 2009: 761 &
764, with earlier bibliography). Ivy-Leaf Group:
the amphorae Boston 62.70, Switzerland, pri-
vate and Leiden R Sx 2 (Werner 2005: pl. 26, no
4.7/7.3, 4.7/7.4 and 4.7/7.1); Orvietan fabric:
the neck-amphora Göttingen Hu 749b (above,
n. 30). Unattributed: cup and kyathos once in
the London Market (Christie’s 23.9.1998, no 255
and Sotheby’s 11.7.1988, no. 301 respectively).
Dolphins appear on three Caeretan hydriae:
Rome, Villa Giulia 50643 (Moretti Sgubini 2000:
80, no. 46), Monaco, the Stavros Niarchos collec-
tion and Louvre E 696 (Hemelrijk 2009: pl. 10-11,
18b and 37b).
37
Harari 1988: 38. On dolphins in Greek va-
se-painting, see Stebbins 1929: 9-11 and 97-131;
Isler 1977; Vidali 1997.
38
See above, n. 36.
39
Csapo 2003: 82-83, argued that “…there
is nothing on this kalpis to suggest an illustra-
tion” of the transformation of the Tyrrhenian
pirates. He rather sees “(d)olphins with human
feet dance upside down… Six dolphins follow
each other as if dancing upside down upon the
line marking the shoulder of the vase”. This rea-
ding is not convincing: the waves surely deno-
te the sea, the quasi-vertical movement of the
dolphin-men is indicative of diving, and both
elements cannot refer to anything else than the
myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates. Csapo’s observa-
tion that the dolphins adopt a dancing attitude
does not necessarily of the dolphins cannot
reject the identification of the scene with the
myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates, because the
transformed pirates are said to be dancing in
literary sources (Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica ii
17 and Lucian, On Dance 22). Even the similarity
of the dolphin-men on the Toledo hydria with
the part-men, part-dolphins figures that appear
on the pontic amphora Rome, Conservatori, inv.
no. 91, but the parallel is not that obvious, since
on these latter representations the figures have
both human feet and dolphin’s tails (Csapo 2003,
83 & 84, fig. 7).
40
Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 7.
41
Louvre MNC 674: Csapo 2003: 87, fig. 4.10-
4.11; Nobili 2009: 6, fig. 5.
42
Rome, Villa Giulia 64608: Rassmussen &
Spivey 1986: 6, fig. 13; Vidali 1997: 120, no. A1.6,
pl. 8; Csapo 2003: 82, fig. 4.4; de’ Spagnolis 2004:
fig. 46. This image brings in mind a passage in
Euripides’ Electra (435: “where the pipe-loving
dolphin is leaping…”). There was a popular as-
sumption that the dolphin is «a lover of music
and can be charmed by singing in harmony”
(Pliny, NH IX, 8). Pindar (fr. 140b.13-17) likens
his responses to those of a dolphin roused by
the lovely sound of the flute. Also of relevance
might be the fact that the breathing hole of the
dolphin was called aulos in Greek (Aristotle, Hist.
Anim. 537a-b). On all these, see Stebbins 1929: 91-
92, Davies 1979: 74-75, with fig. 6 & Csapo 2003:
71-78.
43
Münster 855: Rohde 1955: col. 102-111, no.
2, fig. 6-8; Harari 1988: 39, fig. 3; Csapo 2003: 81,
fig. 4.2-3; de’ Spagnolis 2004: fig. 46; Nobili 2009:
5, fig. 2.
44
Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 6; Csapo 2003: 82.
45
Athens, Acr. 1033: Cristofani 1983: 59 & fig.
39; Harari 1988: 41; Vidali 1997: 58-59, 144, no.
A2.242; de’ Spagnolis 2004: fig. 47.
46
Philadelphia University Museum MS 3440:
Csapo 2003: 82, n. 37.
47
Csapo 2003: 81, with literature in n. 35.
48
As it is argued, among others, by Harari
1988: 40, Kossatz & Kossatz-Deissmann 1992: 469-
470, Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 42 and de’ Spagnolis
2004: 54. The connection is denied by Rassmus-
sen & Spivey 1986: 6 and Csapo 2003: 81 (“But
we should especially doubt the argument that
because the pirates in later art are shown as
dolphins with human feet, dolphins with hu-
man feet in earlier art are therefore pirates”),
followed by Nobili 2009: 7.
49
Little can be said of a lost red-figure vase
of unknown shape and date (once Thymbra,
Frank Calvert collection), known only from de-
scriptions, attic red-figured vase of unknown
shape: it is cited by Herter 1980: 131, n. 2 and
listed by Harari 1997: 155, no.2.
50
Cou 1893; Bauer 1977; Herter 1980: 118-
119; Ehrhardt 1993.
51
Especially on monuments of the Roman
period, listed below, n. 58.
52
See Csapo 2003: 80, n. 30, for earlier refe-
rences.
53
Once Rome, Forum R 65.75, now lost. For
the identification of the subject and a detailed
description, see Del Chiaro 1974: 65-66 and fig.
5. See also Cristofani 1983 : 60 & fig. 68; Jolivet
1985: 64-65, fig. 5; Harari 1988: 42; Bonfante
1993: 226; Romizzi 2002: pl. VII, fig. 1; de’ Spagnolis
2004: 58. Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 7, fig. 14, pre-
fer to identify the ship with the one carrying the
first priests of Apollo from Knossos to Crisa, an
episode narrated in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo.
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 479
 Csapo 2003: 83, n. 41, denies any connection to
the myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates.
54
Taranto, Museo Archeologico, inv. 211:
Bernabò Brea 1952: 209-210, fig. 193 (arguing
that the subject betrays attic influence). See
also Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 6, Kossatz and Kos-
satz-Deissmann 1992: pl. 108.2; Harari 1997: 155,
no. 3, pl. 115; Descoeudres 2000: 334, n. 40, no. 2
and de’ Spagnolis 2004: 59 and fig. 68.
55
Kossatz and Kossatz-Deissmann 1992: pl.
108.3; Descoeudres 2000: 334, n. 40, no. 3.
56
de’ Spagnolis 2004: 73. The doubts expres-
sed by Nobili 2009: 14, n. 50, seem to me un-
founded.
57
de’ Spagnolis 2004: 65-66.
58
Romizzi 2002, lists a relief from the Villa of
Hadrian (pl. VII, fig. 2), a famous mosaic from the
House of Dionysus and Ulysses from Dugga in
Tynisia, dating from the mid-third century AD
(pl. VIII, figure 3), a dionysiac sarchophagus from
Rusicade in Algeria, from the first half of the
third century AD (pl. VIII, fig. 4) and a relief pelike
from Tunisia, dated to the first half of the fourth
century AD (pl. VIII, fig. 5; Harari 1997: 155, no.
5, pl. 115). This last document is obviously de-
pendent on Ovid’s narrative, since the legend of
the Tyrrhenian pirates is matched, on the other
side of the vase, with Pentheus’ death. Otherwi-
se, satyrs are present alongside the god aboard
of the ship.
59
It is not clear whether Philostratus de-
scribes real of fictional paintings. This need not
concern us here. Longus, IV, 2-3, also refers to a
painting illustrating the transformation of the
Tyrrhenian pirates, allegedly belonging to the
decoration of a temple of Dionysus in Lesbos.
60
Munich 2044, from Vulci: ABV 146.21. See
Fellmann 2004: 14-19 and Mackay 2010: 221 f., for
earlier literature. The excerpt from T.H. Lawren-
ce’s poem, “They Say the Sea is Loveless”, cited
as a motto in the beginning of this study, is
obviously a poetic description of this picture.
61
Mommsen 2005: 23 and Isler-Kerényi 2007:
186. Note however that an earlier fragmentary
dinos from Cortona might represent Dionysus
and Ariande reclining and served by a group
of satyrs bringing forth cups and other vessels:
Hedreen 1992: 139-140 and pl. 25. The god appe-
ars as a banqueter on numerous black-figured
vases of a later period. More significant is an
eye-cup of exceptional size with Dionysus half-
480 Dimitris Paleothodoros
naked reclining on a bed and playing a barbitos
(Rome, Villa Giulia 773; ABV 381.298; Gasparri
1986: Dionysos 425, pl. 348). Dionysus reclining
appears also on the hydria London B 302, show-
ing an episode from the Return of Hephaistos
(ABV 261.40; Gasparri 1986: Dionysos 556, pl.
362), the neck-amphora Boston 01.8052 (ABV
259.26; Isler-Kerényi 2007: fig. 83-84) and the
neck-amphora Munich 1562 (Isler-Kerényi 2007:
fig. 95, where Dionysus reclines in a vineyard,
along with a half-naked woman, while satyrs
and maenads are treading the grapes). The Cor-
tona dinos dates from circa 570 BC, all the other
vases from around 520-510 BC.
62
Useful recent commentaries include
Mommsen 2005: 22-23; Isler-Kerényi 2007: 171-187
and Mackay 2010: 221-241.
63
Pailler 1995, legend in pl. 1.
64
I.e. De Witte 1875: 11; Pareti 1926: 42;
Stebbins 1929: 9-11; Neutsch 1949-1950: 47-48;
Webster 1975: 91; Kerényi 1976: 167; Gaugh 1979:
48-50; Cristofani 1983: 58; Briquel 1984: 274; Som-
ville 1984: 17; Gras 1985: 584; Gasparri 1986: 502;
Moore 1987: 155; Shapiro 1989: 89; Auffarth 1990:
217; Hedreen 1992: 67; Kossatz & Kossatz-Deissmann
1992: 469; Schefold 1992: 74-75; De’ Spagnolis
2004: 65.
65
See the discussion in Mackay 2010: 235.
The connection was questioned already by
Gerhard 1840: xlix, Harrison 1890: 251-252 and
Furtwängler & Reichold 1902: 228. Farnell 1909:
258, regards it as “an unnecessary and impora-
bable supposition”. See also James 1975: 20, n.
4; Simon 1968: 282-288, Herter 1980: 123, Harari
1988: 40-41; Henricks 1987: 110; Lissarrague 1987:
118, Vidali 1997: 108; Beaulieu 2008: 134; Nobili
2009: 4 and Isler-Kerényi 2007: 187 & 2010: 257.
Rassmussen & Spivey 1986: 6, do not explicitly
reject the connection with the myth and leave
the question open.
66
Isler-Kerényi 2010: 257. Similarly, Mackay
2010: 235.
67
Georg Kaibel, in Maass 1888: 78, n.4, was
the first to connect the Exekias cup with a frag-
ment of the comic poet Hermippos (63 Kock):
“Tell me now, Muses dwelling on Mount Olym-
pus, ever since Dionysus has sailed on the wine-
dark sea, all the good things he has brought
hither to men on his black ship …”. See also Use-
ner 1899: 116; Furtwängler & Reichold 1902: 228;
Davies 1978: 74.
 68
Simon 1968: 287; Slater 1976: 165-166;
Daraki 1982; Henrichs 1987: 110-111; Lissarrague
1987: 116 et 118; Auffarth 1991: 217; Mommsen
2005: 23; Isler-Kerényi 2007: 187; Mackay 2010:
238.
69
Harrison 1890: 252-253; Farnell 1909: 258;
Burkert 1983: 201; Guarducci 1983: 116; Harari
1988: 40; Auffarth 1990: 217; Vidali 1997: 107-
108; Mackay 2010: 234.
70
Davies 1978: 74, usefully cites Pomponius
Porphyrio’s commentary on Horace’s Satires
2.8.15, about the Chian wine that is free of sea-
water: quid in Chium vinum marina non additur.
Inde institutum tradit Varro, ut delphini circa Libe-
rum pingerentur (“Because sea-water is not ad-
ded to the Chian wine. Varro records that from
that practice it was customarily for dolphins to
be depicted around Bacchus”). But such eviden-
ce is non-existent, outside the context of the
myth of the Tyrrhenian pirates, at least before
the Roman period (Beaulieu 2008: 134, n. 13, for a
list of monuments). On dolphins in the context
of dance and music, see below, p. 000.
71
Mackay 2010: 235. On the dolphin men,
see above, p. 000.
72
Davies 1986: 183: the “apparent incom-
plete metamorphosis in reality indicates that
the afflicted figure was originally, and remains
basically, a human being”. This rule does not ac-
count for Zeus’ transformations, either as a bull
in the story of Europe, or as a swan in the story
of Danae: see Buxton 2009: 76-88.
73
Gras 1985: 584, n. 6. Frickenhaus 1912: 78-
79 and Pareti 1926: 45, went as far as to suggest
that the legend of the transformation has a vi-
sual inspiration in some work of art similar to
Exekias’ cup.
74
Small 2003: 25-26.
75
This possibility is acknowledged by Shapi-
ro 1989: 89; Mommsen 2005: 22; Mackay 2010: 235
and Isler-Kerényi 2010: 258. See also the discus-
sion in Jaillard 2011: 147.
76
Already discussed by Frickenhaus 1912: 61-
79 and Pareti 1926: 41-42.
77
Berlin, Antikensammlung SMB V.I. 2961,
ABV 639.100; Kerényi 1976: fig. 52a; Schwarzmeier
2008: 90, fig. 11.
78
Tarquinia, Museo Archeologico Nazionale
678, from Tarquinia. Frickenhaus 1912: 76-77, fig.
1-2; Kerényi 1976: fig. 49-50; Gasparri 1986: Dio-
nysos 792, pl. 392; Auffarth 1991: fig. 4; Hedreen
1992: pl. 23; Tassignon 2003: fig. 2; Broder 2008:
125, fig. 1; Jaillard 2011: fig. 2. The scenes on the
two sides of the amphora are virtually identical.
79
Hedreen 1992: 68.
80
Frickenhaus 1912; Pareti 1926: 41-45; Kerényi
1976: 167; Burkert 1983: 201, n. 26; Hedreen 1992:
67-68; Tassignon 2003: 85; De’ Spagnolis 2004: 62-
63; Broder 2008: 124-125; Mackay 2010: 234.
81
1. London, The British Museum 1836.2-
24.62 (B 79), from Acrai in Sicily: ABL 250.30;
Kerényi 1976: fig. 58-59; Guarducci 1983: 113, pl.
III; Gasparri 1986: Dionysos 828, pl. 398; Borgers
2004: 144, no. 8, pl. 4a; Fritzilas 2006: 62, no. 20,
pl. 8.20. 2. Athens, National Museum, Acropolis
Collection 1281, from the Acropolis of Athens:
ABL 250.29; Kerényi 1976: fig. 57; Guarducci 1983:
109, pl. I; Gasparri 1986: 492, Dionysos 827; He-
dreen 1992: pl. 2; Borgers 2004: 143, no. 2, pl. 2a;
Broder 2008, 126, fig. 2. 3. Bologna, Museo Civico
130, from Bologna, t. 109 of the De Luca ceme-
tery: ABL 253.15; Kerényi 1976: fig. 56; Guarducci
1983: 111, pl. II; Gasparri 1986: Dionysos 829, pl.
392; Göttlicher 1992: 104, fig. 59; Broder 2008:
127, fig. 3; 4. Tübingen, Universität, 1497 (D 53)
fr. (unknown provenance): Auffarth 1991: fig. 5;
Göttlicher 1992: 105, fig. 60. It is often stated that
the fragment comes from a skyphos, but this is
not proven: see Borgers 2004: 91, n. 552.
82
De Miro 1982; Auffarth 1991: fig. 3; Göttli-
cher 1992: 105, fig. 61. The strip is 1.80 m. long
and 0.40 m. large. Mansfield 1985: 121, questio-
ned its authenticity. For a good discussion of
the problems relating to the function and the
cultural background of this object, see Borgers
2004: 91.
83
Göttlicher 1992: 104-105; Tassignon 2003:
87; Mackay 2010: 233.
84
See Tassignon 2003 (for sources and biblio-
graphy). I have many doubts as regards the vio-
lent character of the ritual, as it is reconstructed
there.
85
Oxford 1924.264: Boardman 1958; Hedreen
1992: pl. 24.
86
Boardman 1958; Mansfield 1985: 121-130;
Humphreys 2004: 230.
87
De Witte 1875: 12-13, on the London
skyphos (above, n. 81, no. 1). See also Neutch
1949-1950: 47-48. de’ Spagnolis 2004: 65 & 66,
attempts to relate the two wheel-like objects
decorating the upper part of the ship shown on
the lost Genucilia plate from the Regia (above,
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 481
 n. 53) with the ship-cart on the skyphoi. This
suggestion is unconvincing: the row-like motifs
can be linked to similar earlier Villanovan and
early Etruscan astral motifs.
88
First argued by Nilsson 1900: 125, who asso-
ciated the procession with the “sacred marriage”
of Dionysus with the wife of the archon Basileus,
the Basilinna, during the second day of the An-
thesteria. See also Nilsson 1908: 399-402; Deubner
1932: 102-103; Guarducci 1980 & 1983: 107; Simon
1983: 93 (arguing that the procession takes place
during the first day of the festival); Graf 1985: 366-
367; Auffarth 1990: 113, n. 3; Göttlicher 1992: 103-
107; Hedreen 1992: 92, n. 10; Vidali 1997: 107-108;
Spineto 2005: 93; Mackay 2010: 234 (hesitantly).
89
Frickenhaus 1912: 61-62; Kerényi 1976: 167-
173; Burkert 1983: 201; Gasparri 1986: 502; Ro-
bertson 1993: 218; Humphreys 2004: 230; Fritzilas
2006: 17. Parker 2005: 303, is undecided, but in
56, he rightly observes that “(t)he bovine on the
Bologna skyphos does not fit well our image of
the Anthesteria”.
90
Man playing the role of Dionysus: Deubner
1932: 107; Jeanmaire 1951: 49-52; Boardman 1958:
7. Image of the god: Nilsson 1908: 335; Fricken-
haus 1912: 63 (statue of Dionysus Elethereus).
Van Straten 1995: 19, is undecided. Similarly Da-
vies 1978: 74. Romano 1980: 70 and Broder 2008,
124, argue that the paintings do not show the
image of the god.
91
Mackay 2010: 234. Kerényi 1976: 113-115,
believes that even the skyphoi show the mytho-
logical first arrival of Dionysus in Attica.
92
As it has been astutely observed by Bor-
gers 2004: 92. See also Parker 2005: 302.
93
Connor 1989 laid the foundation for this
new orthodoxy, rejecting the traditional date of
534/533 for the institution of the City Dionysia.
Note however Gasparri 1986: 502, who argues
that the introduction of the ship-cart proces-
sion was the result of the re-organization of the
festival after the fall of the Pisistratids in 510 BC.
94
Robertson 1993: 218.
95
Göttlicher 1992: 104.
96
Webster 1975: 91; Gaugh 1979: 48.
97
Gaugh 1979: 149, n. 17 and Moore 1987: 155
98
Descoeudres 2000: 334, goes as far as to
suggest, that the cup was especially commis-
sioned by an Etruscan client. Gasparri 1986: 502,
believes that the man who used the cup was a
dionysiac mystes.
482 Dimitris Paleothodoros
99
On Exekias’ habit to avoid the moment of
greater tension of the myth, see Shapiro 1989: 89.
100
On this important detail, see Small 1987: 128.
101
Crusius 1889: 212-217, was among the
first to suggest that the Homeric Hymn to Dio-
nysus recites an etiological myth for an archaic
ritual. He opted for the Dionysia in Brauron (a
connection based on a story about the activity
of Tyrrhenian pirates in that area), and imagined
an alleged victory of Dionysus over fish-like se-
agods. Icaria mentioned in Apollodorus, Biblio-
teca 3.5.3, is recognized as the Athenian deme
Icarion or Icaria, where Dionysus first landed
when he arrived in Attica (Crusius 1889: 220),
an idea cited with approval by James 1975: 20.
Hedreen 1992: 93, n. 19, arrived at the same con-
clusion. Myres 1907: 215, favours Crusius’ ideas,
and goes further to think that the passage in
the hymn encouraged later scholars to equate
the Pelasgians who raided Brauron with the
Tyrrhenians. Maass 1921, 11-14, connected the
myth to yet another Athenian festival, the Aiora,
and tried to show that the Cap Maleas, mentio-
ned in Euripides’ Cyclops actually refers to an
unknown promontory named Maleotis, in the
region of Piraeus (Contra Pareti 1926: 55; Briquel
1984: 274-275). The myth has also been linked
to a cult of Dionysos under the epithet Delphi-
nios (Voigt 1884: 1083), but with no serious sup-
porting evidence.
102
James 1975: 17; Faulkner 2011: 14; Jaillard
2011: 145.
103
James 1975: 17.
104
This is emphatically stated by Jaillard
2011: 145.
105
Briquel 1984: 276.
106
Maleos of Regisvilla and his journey to
Athens is mentioned by Strabo, V, 225 E. Erigo-
ne: Etym. Mag., s.v. Alêtis. In the Homeric Hymn,
Dionysus is on a promontory: v. 3. The localisa-
tion of the legend of the Tyrrhenian pirates in
Cap Maleas is proposed by Crusius 1889: 207-
208 and was accepted by Pareti 1926: 52-55
and recently by Nobili 2009: 14-18. See the di-
scussion in Briquel 1984: 273-277 & Gras 1985:
639-641.
107
Nobili 2009. Arion is credited in ancient
sources with the invention of the dithyramb
(although the earliest extant use of the term
goes back to Archilochus). After a tour in Sicily
and Italy, he paid a corinthian ship to bring him
back to Greece. The sailors turned into pirates,
robbed him and prepared to kill him. Arion
sang with his kithara and then leaped into the
sea, only to be saved by a dolphin who brought
him on his back to cap Tainaron. There are se-
veral striking parallels with the Homeric Hymn
to Dionysus, including piracy, miracles, leaping
into the sea, and dolphins. The myth is first re-
ported in Herodotus 1.23-4. For bibliography
and references, see Csapo 2003: 74-76 & Beaulieu
2008: 86-93. On Arion as a dionysiac figure, see
Burkert 1983: 199-204.
108
See the comments of James 1975: 20 and
Seaford 1984: 99.
109
Vian 2000: 685, n. 11.
110
Briquel 1984: 275; Gras 1985: 641.
111
See already Usener 1899: 124.
112
The Münster cup, cited above, n. 43. See
Rohde 1955: col. 102-111, for a link between the
cup and the birth of the legend in the Aegean,
see Cristofani 1983: 58; Harari 1988: 40; Kossatz
and Kossatz-Deissmann 1992: 469-470; de’ Spagnolis
2004: 53-54.
113
I.e. Usener 1899: 124; Jeanmaire 1951 : 227
(although he argues that the poet of the Home-
ric Hymn was an Athenian); James 1975; Herter
1980; Cristofani 1983: 58 & 1984 : 3-4; Giuffrida
Ientile 1983: 44-45; Briquel 1984; Seaford 1984:
99; Gras 1985: 585; Harari 1988: 41-43; Vian 2000;
Hedreen 1992; de’ Spagnolis 2004.
114
Hedreen 1992: 68-70, based on the obser-
vations of Simon 1968: 280-281.
115
Chuvin 2000: 75.
116
Vian 2000: 691, argues that Nonnus re-
collected the myth from an earlier source of
Sikelika.
117
Chuvin 1990: 77. On the use of the term in
Nonnus, see also Vian 2000: 685, n. 9.
118
Cristofani & Proietti 1982: 72-73; Cristofani
1983: 60, 105 & 108; Cristofani 1984: 4. Cf. also
Harari 1988: 42. Contra, Jolivet 1985: 65, sees an
allusion to the destruction of the pirate base of
Antium in 338 BC.
119
On the Tyrrhenians of the Aegean, see Pa-
reti 1926: 48-56; Bérard 1949: 224-243; Cristofani
1983: 58-59; Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 11-32; Briquel
1984: 273 ss.; Gras 1985: 583-651; Nobili 2009:
7-14.
120
Ientile 1978: 176 & Giuffirda Ientile 1983: 16.
121
Bakhuizen 1988: 28 and passim.
122
Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 16; Seaford 1984: 97.
123
Hellanicus EGM fr. 4, in Dion. Hal., Ant Rom.
1.28.3; Soph., TGrF F 270. Thuc. 4.109; Hdt. 1.57.
Hellanicus is probably the first to make the
equation between Tyrrhenians and Pelasgians
(Fowler 2003: 3), although Briquel 1984: 18, 20,22
n. 100, 52f., 58, 110f., 132-40, 141, 221 and 291-
293, thinks that the tradition may have been
older, going back to Hecateus of Miletus in the
late 6th century.
124
See Briquel 1984: 3-34.
125
Myres 1907: 215 and 218.
126
Hdt. 1.57. See in extenso Briquel 1984: 101-
140 (where Kreston is corrected in Croton, alias
Cortona in Etruria) & Fowler 2003: 11-15. Pela-
sgians and Tyrrhenians are regarded as distinct
also by Conon FGrHist 26 F1 (Narrat. 41).
127
Dion. Hal., Ant Rom. 1.28.
128
\Beloch 1912 : 51; Pareti 1926: 48; Pallotti-
no 1947: 39; Nobili 2009: 8.
129
Anticlides in Strabo 5, 2, 4. See Bérard 1949:
226: “Mais cette version … présente tous les ca-
ractères d’une invention d’érudit, qui fut échau-
faudée pour expliquer l’identité de nom des
Tyrrhéniens de Lemnos et d’Etrurie…”. Note also
Andron FGrHist 10 F 16a-b, who mentions Lyktos
in Creta as a settlement of “those Pelasgians
who did not migrate to Tyrrhenia”.
130
Myrsilus FGrHist 477 F 8-9, in Dion. Hal. Ant
Rom 1, 23 and 28.
131
On display in Athens, National Archaeo-
logical Museum. The inscription: IG XII 8, no. 1.
See De Simone 2000, with earlier references. For
other documents in the same language, see re-
ferences in Fowler 2003: 4, n. 7 and Nobili 2009:
9, n. 21.
132
Hdt 6, 137-140. Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 23.
133
Cristofani 1983: 59; Giuffrida Ientile 1983:
38, Harari 1988: 43 and de’ Spagnolis 2004: 55-56.
134
Philochorus, FGrHist 328 F. 100-101; Plut.,
Aetia graeca 21 & Mul. virt. 8; Zenobius, Prov. III, 85.
135
See the detailed demonstration of Sourvi-
nou-Inwood 2005. A different tradition, reported
by Aelius Aristides, sees the Pelasgians expel-
led from Athens and kidnapping the Athenian
women in Brauron as intruders to the island of
Lemnos, who were subsequently expelled by
the true inhabitants of the island. This, accor-
ding to the late Greek scholar, might preserve
traces of the original version antedating the oc-
cupation of Lemnos by Miltiades.
136
I.e. Philochorus FGrHist 328 F 100-101;
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 483
 Apollodorus 4, 1760; Diod. Sic. 10, 19.6; Conon,
FGrHist 26 F 1, 36; Plut., Mor. 247 & 296.
137
Menodotus of Samos, in Athen. 15, 672b-
3. Another story mentions the kidnapping of an
Athenian youth by the Tyrrhenians in cap Kolias
in Attica: Schol. Aristoph. Clouds 52; Eustathius,
Geogr. Gr. Min. II, 331, 4; Suda, s.v. Kωλιάς; Etym.
Magnum, s.v. Κωλιάδος ’Αφροδίτης.
138
The Lemnian origin of the pirates is alre-
ady alluded to in Crusius 1889: 225 s. See also
Cristofani 1983: 59-60 & 1984: 3-4; Torelli 1975;
Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 44-47; De Simone 2000: 503.
139
For a summary presentation of the
sources, see Bakhuizen 1988.
140
Ephorus FGrHist 70 F 137, in Strabo 6.2.2.
141
Briggs 2003: 250-251. On piracy in Homer
and the archaic period, see Ferrone 1997 & De
Souza 1999: 13 s.
142
See recently Ferrone 1997 & 2004; De
Souza 1999: 38-53. Sassatelli 2004, argues that
Spina was an important base of the Tyrrhenian
pirates. The evidence consists of an inscription
mentioning an Athenian colonial expedition in
an unspecified location in the Adriatic. Signifi-
cantly, the head of the fleet is Miltiades, a mem-
ber of the family of the conqueror of Lemnos
(IG II² 1629: 325/324 BC). Some years earlier, in
339/338, Timoleon arrested the Tyrrhenian pi-
rate Postumius in Sicily (Diod. Sic. 16, 82.3). Two
lost speeches by Hypereides (LVI, fr. 166-167)
and Dinarchus (Minor Attic Orators, fr. 6) respec-
tively, mention in their title the Tyrrhenians. The
Lysikrates Monument of 335/334 BC, is some-
times regarded in this context of antagonism
between Athenians and Tyrrhenian pirates:
Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 34, Romizzi 2002: 355-356 &
de’ Spagnolis 2004: 72.
143
Bresson 2007. The date is the late fourth
or the early third century BC. The evidence con-
sists of two inscriptions from Rhodes. Bresson
seeks confirmation in literary sources: Aelius
Aristides 24.53 mentions that the prows of the
Tyrrhenian ships were still visible in his times.
Diodorus 20.81.3, says that Rhodes became so
powerful that it undertook wars against the
pirates. Polybius 30.5.5-8, mentions Rhodes’ col-
laboration with Rome against piracy. A third in-
scription of relevance, mentions a loan of 5000
drachmas sent by the temple of Apollo to the
city of Delos, in order to enforce the defences of
the island against the Tyrrhenian pirates (IG XI.2,
484 Dimitris Paleothodoros
148, l. 73: 299 BC). The idea proposed by Torel-
li 1975, that the Tyrrhenian pirates in question
are the remnants of the Aegean Tyrrhenians of
Lemnos, is ruled out since our sources do not
mention them at all after the conquest of Lem-
nos by Miltiades (Giuffrida Ientile 1983: 99-100).
144
Beloch 1913: 50-51. See also Pareti 1926:
48, Pallottino 1947: 39 & Bérard 1949: 231, n. 2.
145
In Ovid, Lycabas, one of the pirates, is
an Etruscan in exile (3, 621-628). For Hyginus
(Fabulae 134), the Tyrrhenians were later called
Tuscans: In Servius’ commentary (in Virgil, Aen. I,
67), the Tyrrhenian pirates gave their names to
the Tyrrhenian sea.
146
Gras 1976: 368 & 1985: 648-649. See also
Haynes 2000: 258; Camporeale 2001: 96; Briggs
2003: 250-251.
147
Bakhuizen 1988.
148
Philochorus (FGrHist 328 F 100) derives
the ethnic Tyrrhenian from the word τύραννος,
because of the cruel behaviour of the Tyrrhe-
nians. The same false etymology is found in the
Suda, s.v. τύραννος: προσηγορεύθη δὲ τύραννος
ἀπὸ Τυρρηνῶν: χαλεποὺς γὰρ περὶ λῃστείας
τούτους γενέσθαι and in Steph. Byz., s.v. Τυρρηνία.
But the earlier Greek form is not Τυρρηνός, but
Τυρσηνός. See Pallottino 1947: 38 ss.
149
This famous passage has generated
much discussion in Aristotelian studies, about
the alleged Orphic influence on the Aristote-
lian theory of the soul. Most scholars accept
that the passage belongs to the lost dialogue
Eudemus. Aristotle uses the metaphor of the
“Tyrrhenian torture” for his theory of the duality
of body and soul. Augustine, in his controversy
against the bishop Julian (Contra Iulianum Pe-
lagianum IV, 15, 78), mentions a passage from
the now lost dialogue Hortensius by Cicero. The
same metaphor, without reference to Aristotle,
is also found in Jamblichus’ Protrepticus 8. See
Brunswick 1963; Pépin 1985; Beatrice 2003 & Bos
2003. The Tyrrhenian bonds where proverbial:
Hesychius, s.v. Τυρρηνὸι δεσμοί. Suda, s.v. δεσμοί
τυρρανικὸι. A place in Asia Minor is said to have
been a prison (δεσμωτήριον) of the τύραννοι:
Suda, s.v. Tερμέρια κακά. The word tyrans is
usually emended to Tyrrhenians.
150
For Virgil, Aen. VIII 478-488, the author of
the torture in Mezentius, the legendary king of
Agylla. Valerius Maximus, Fact. et dict. Memorab.
IX, 2, 10, speaks of the Etruscans in general. Cle-
ment of Alexandria, Protr. I, 7, 4, mentions the tor-
ture, but without mentioning the Tyrrhenians.
151
Brunswick 1963: 173-180, followed by Pépin
1985: 389-390.
152
He is known to have composed a work
entitled Νόμιμα βαρβαρικά. The remaining frag-
ments mention the Etruscans twice: see Béatrice
2003: 281.
153
E.g., Harari 1988: 43; de’ Spagnolis 2004.
This is also implied in Cristofani 1983: 56-60.
154
Gras, in the discussion of the paper of
Harari 1986: 44. Tentatively, Rassmussen & Spivey
1986: 7.
155
The only other recognizable dionysiac
narratives to be encountered in archaic Etruria
are the birth of the god, his encounter with Oi-
nopion and Ariadne, the Return of Hephaistus
and the Gigantomachy. For an overview, see
Paleothodoros 2004-2007: 188.
156
Forbes Irving 1990: 317, is among the very
few who scholars who deny this fact.
157
The dolphin, this man-loving and intelli-
gent mammal enjoyed an intermediate status
between humans and beasts: Beaulieu 2008:
132-143.
158
Palaemon/Melikertes (Pache 2004: 135-
180); Koiranos of Paros (Archilochus, fr. 192 West),
Enalos, Taras and Phalanthos of Taranto (for
coins and other monuments see Zeuner 1963
and Ambrosini 1999-2000: 259, fig. 16), Icadios,
Theseus visiting Poseidon, Arion (above, n. 108)
and Hesiod’s dead corpse. See in general Stebbins
1923: 62-81 & Beaulieu 2008: 79-85. For a good
and updated discussion of dolphin-riders in vi-
sual arts, see Ambrosini 1999-2000: 261-271. On
archaic monuments, see also Vidali 1997: 147-
148. The widespread belief that the dolphins
rescue humans in danger is not incredible, do
judge from modern reports: see Green 1978:
77. Pliny, NH 9, 24-27, mentions a domesticated
dolphin ridden by a school-boy in Hippo (Bizer-
ta). On modern dolphin-riders, see Higham 1960.
159
This is a recurrent topos in Greek literatu-
re, and has been fruitfully explored in the past,
most notably by Maass 1888; Slater 1976 & Davies
1978. Dolphins appear on the rim of kraters and
bowls as early as the late 7th century BC (Isler
1977). On a very interesting attic black-figured
cup of the Segment Class, found at Utice, two
dolphins swim around two transport amphorae
(Maffre 2007: 111, fig. 4).
160
For sources see Csapo 2003: 78, n. 20.Not
just dolphins, but also fish are thought of as
dancing in a circle: Lawler 1941: 153-154.
161
A cotyle from the Anaploga Well shows
a padded dancer swimming towards a large
dolphin: Corinth C – 62 – 449: Davies 1978, 78
and fig. 8; Csapo 2003: 85-86, fig. 4.9. See also
the vases cited in nn. 40-43.
162
Beaulieu 2008: 135-137.
163
Descoeudres 2000: 325-329. The most no-
ted monument is the Tomb of the Lioness in
Tarquinia (end of the 6th century). The list of
mirrors cited by Descoeudres (329, nn. 20-24)
has five items, all in Berlin (Fr 15, Fr 18, Fr 25,
Fr 31 and Fr 32). Descoeudres finds Dionysiac
connections for all but one (Berlin Fr. 18: Eos
and Kephalos). However, as a rapid survey in
Etruskische Spiegel and other Corpora ma-
kes clear, there are many more pertinent do-
cuments, with subjects that do not betray
any dionysiac overtone (Gorgoneion, Peleus
and Thetis, Menerva and Akrathe, Herakles
and Lasa, the adornment of Turan, etc.). For
dolphins on Etruscan vases, see above, n. 29.
Dolphins also appear on Hellenistic urns: see
de’ Spagnolis 2004: 68, n. 7, for references.
164
D’Agostino 1999, offers a summary of ear-
lier debates on the interpretation of two key
documents, The Tomb of the Diver in Paestum
and the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing in Tarqui-
nia. For the sea as a metaphor for death, see also
Daraki 1982.
165
Ambrosini 1999-2000: 267; Romizzi 2002: 68;
de’ Spagnolis 2004: 67-68 & 73; Beaulieu 2008: 132-
138. Descoeudres 2000: 334, goes as far as to sug-
gest that the original eschatological meaning
of the legend – the accession to Dionysiac Un-
derworld of eternal bliss via the transformation
of adepts into dolphins, was misunderstood by
non initiates, like the poet of the Homeric Hymn
to Dionysus.
Dionysus and the Tyrrhenian Pirates 485
 S T U D IA AR C HAEO L O G I C A 186

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107 - Accardo, S. - Villae romanae nell’ager Bruttius. Il paesaggio rurale ca­la­­brese durante il do-
minio romano, 2000.
108 - Zampieri, G. - Claudia Toreuma. Giocoliera e mima. Il monumento funerario, 2000.
109 - Taylor, R. - Public Needs and Private Pleasures. Water Distribution, the Tiber River and the
Urban Development of Ancient Rome, 2000.
110 - Monaco, M. C. - Ergasteria. Impianti artigianali ceramici ad Atene ed in Attica dal protogeomet-
rico alle soglie dell’Ellenismo, 2000.
111 - de’ Spagnolis, M. - Pompei e la Valle del Sarno in epoca preromana: la cultura delle tombe a fossa, 2001.
112 - Pensabene, P. - Le terrecotte del Museo Nazionale Romano. II. Materiali dai depositi votivi di
Palestrina: collezioni «Kircheriana» e «Palestrina», 2001.
113 - Ambrosini, L. - I thymiateria etruschi in bronzo di età tardo classica, alto e medio ellenistica,
2002.
114 - Ognibene, S. - Umm Al-Rasas: la chiesa di Santo Stefano ed il «pro­blema iconofobico», 2002.
115 - La Greca, F. (a cura di) - Fonti letterarie greche e latine per la storia della Lucania tirrenica, 2001.
116 - Varone, A. - Erotica Pompeiana. Love Inscriptions on the Walls of Pompeii, 2002.
117 - Giudice Rizzo, I. - Inquieti “commerci” tra uomini e dei. Timpanisti, Fineo A e B di Sofocle. Testimo-
nianze letterarie ed iconografiche, itinerari di ricerca e proposte, 2002.
118 - Söderlind, M. - Late Etruscan Votive Heads from Tessennano. Production, Distribution, Sociohis-
torical Context, 2002.
119 - de’ Spagnolis, M. -­­­­­ La villa N. Popidi Narcissi Maioris in Scafati, suburbio orientale di Pompei, 2002.
120 -  Pieraccini, L. C. - Around the Hearth. Caeretan Cylinder-Stamped Braziers, 2003.
121 - Stibbe, C. M. - Trebenishte. The Fortunes of an Unusual Excavation, 2003.
122 - Attanasio, D. - Ancient White Marbles. Analysis and Identification by Paramagnetic Resonance
Spectroscopy, 2003.
123 - Zampieri, G. - La Tomba di “san Luca Evangelista”. La cassa di piombo e l’area funeraria della
Basilica di santa Giustina in Padova, 2003.
124 - Agati, M. L. - Il libro manoscritto. Introduzione alla codicologia, 2003.
125 - Barresi, P. - Province dell’Asia Minore. Costo dei marmi, architettura pubblica e commit-
tenza, 2003.
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126 - Corti, C. - L’ager nord-occidentale della città di Mutina. Il popolamento nel carpigiano e
nella media pianura dalla romanizzazione al tardoantico-altomedioevo, 2004.
127 - Minetti, A. - Orientalizzante a Chiusi e nel suo territorio, 2004.
128 - de’ Spagnolis, M. - Il mito omerico di Dionysos ed i pirati tirreni in un documento da Nuceria Alfater-
na, 2004.
129 - Nicotra , L. - Archeologia al femminile. Il cammino delle donne nella disciplina archeologica
attraverso le figure di otto archeologhe classiche vissute dalla metà dell’Otto-
cento ad oggi, 2004.
130 - Conventi, M. - Struttura ed urbanistica delle città romane. Quaranta casi a confronto, 2004.
131 - Di Matteo, F. - La villa di Nerone a Subiaco. Il complesso dei Simbruina Stagna, 2004.
132 - Medas, S. - De rebus nauticis l’arte della navigazione nel mondo antico, 2004.
133 - Corso, A. - The Art of Praxiteles. The Development of Praxiteles’ workshop and its cultural
tradition until the sculptors’ acme (364-1 BC), 2004.
134 - Ciarallo, A. - Flora Pompeiana, 2004.
135 - Morandi Tarabella, M. - Prosopographia etrusca I. Corpus, 1, Etruria meridionale, 2005.
136 - Ambrogi, A. - Labra di età romana in marmi bianchi e colorati, 2005.
137 - Giavarini, C. - La Basilica di Massenzio. Il monumento, i materiali, le strutture e la stabilità, 2005.
138 - Carè, A. - L’Ornato architettonico della Basilica di Massenzio, 2005.
139 - Sciacca, F. - Patere baccellate in bronzo. Oriente, Grecia, Italia in età orientalizzante, 2005.
140 - Giavarini, C. - The Basilica of Maxentius. Monument, Materials, Construction and Stabillity, 2005.
141 - Zampieri, C. - I sepolcri padovani di Santa Giustina. Il sarcofago 75-1879 del Victoria and Al-
bert Museum di Londra e altri sarcofagi della Basilica di Santa Giustina in Pado-
va, 2006.
142 - Bellelli, V. - La tomba “principesca” dei Quattordici Ponti nel contesto di Capua arcaica, 2006.
143 - Pesando, F. - Gli ‘ozi’ di Ercole. Residenze di lusso a Pompei ed Erco-
Guidobaldi, M. P. lano, 2006.
144 - Cuomo di Caprio, N. - Ceramica in archeologia 2. Antiche tecniche di lavorazione e moderni metodi di
indagine. Nuova edizione ampliata, 2007.
145 - Attanasio D., Brilli M., Ogle, N. - The Isotopic Signature of Classical Marbles, 2006.
146 - Bonfante, L., Fowlkes, B. (eds.) - Classical Antiquities at New York University, 2006.
147 - Pandolfini Angeletti, M. - Archeologia in Etruria meridionale. Atti delle Giornate di studio in ricordo di Ma-
(a cura di) rio Moretti, Civita Castellana, 14-15 novembre 2003, 2006.
148 - Equizzi, R. - Palermo San Martino delle Scale, la collezione archeologica. Storia della colle-
zione e catalogo della ceramica, 2006.
149 - Petraccia, M. F. (a cura di) - Camillo Ramelli e la cultura antiquaria dell’Ottocento, (Sentinum II) 2006.
150 - Cavallini, M., Gigante, G. E. - De Re Metallica, dalla produzione antica alla copia
(a cura di) moderna, 2006.
151 - De Carolis, E. - Il mobile a Pompei ed Ercolano. Letti, tavoli, sedie e armadi. Contributo alla tipo-
logia dei mobili della prima età imperiale, 2007.
152 - Giudice, G. - Il tornio, la nave, le terre lontane. Ceramografi attici in Magna Grecia nella sec-
onda metà del V sec. a.C. Rotte e vie di distribuzione, 2007.
153 - Corso, A. - The Art of Praxiteles II. The Mature Years, 2007.
154 - Caprioli, F. - Vesta Aeterna. L’ Aedes Vestae e la sua decorazione architettonica, 2007.
155 - Thorn, D. M. - The Four Season of Cyrene, 2007.
156 - De Miranda, A. - Water Architecture in the Lands of Syria. The Water-Wheels, 2007.
157 - Melfi, M. - I santuari di Asclepio in Grecia. I, 2007.
158 - Marchesini, S. - Prosopographia etrusca. II, Studia, 1, Gentium Mobilitas, 2007.
159 - Luni, M. (a cura di) - Domus di Forum Sempronii. Decorazione e arredo, 2007.
160 - Montanaro Andrea, C. - Ruvo di Puglia e il suo territorio. Le necropoli. I corredi funerari tra la documen-
tazione del XIX secolo e gli scavi moderni, 2007.
161 - Thorn, D. M., Thorn, J. C. F.S.A - A Gazetteer of the Cyrene Necropolis, 2008.
162 - Medri, M. (a cura di) - Sentinum. Ricerche in corso I, 2008.
163 - Medri, M. (a cura di) - Sentinum 295 a.C. - Sassoferrato 2006. 2300 anni dopo la
battaglia. Una città romana tra storia e archeologia, 2008.
164 - Pisani, M. - Camarina. Le terrecotte figurate e la ceramica da una fornace di V e IV secolo
a.C., 2008.
165 - Todisco, L. - Il Pittore di Arpi. Mito e società nella Daunia del tardo IV secolo a.C., 2008.
 S T U D IA AR C HAEO L O G I C A 186

166 - Agati, M. L. - Il libro manoscritto. Da oriente a occidente. Per una codicologia comparata,
2009.
167 - De Puma, R. D. - Art in Roman Life: Villa to Grave, 2009.
168 - Pedrucci, G. - Il culto di Cibele frigia e la Sicilia. Santuari rupestri ed iconografia della dea,
2009.
169 - Genovese, G. - Nostoi. Tradizioni eroiche e modelli mitici nel meridione d’Italia, 2009.
170 - Harari, M., Paltineri, S., - Icone del mondo antico, 2009.
Robino, M. (a cura di)
171 - Barich, B. E. - Antica Africa. Alle origini delle società, 2009.
172 - Mannino, F., Mannino, M., - Theodor Mommsen e il Lazio antico. Giornata di Studi in memoria dell’illustre
Maras, D.F. (a cura di) storico, epigrafista e giurista, 2009.
173 - liberati, A. M., Silverio, E. - Servizi segreti in Roma antica. Informazioni e sicurezza dagli initia Urbis
all’Impero universale, 2010.
174 - Balice M. - Libia. Gli scavi italiani: 1922-1937: restauro, ricostruzione o propaganda?, 2010.
175 - Pensabene, P. (a cura di) - Piazza Armerina. Villa del Casale e la Sicilia tra tardoantico e medioevo, 2010.
176 - De Miranda, A. - L’Hammam nell’Islam Occ. tra VIII e XIV sec., 2010.
177 - Corso, A. - The Art of Praxiteles III. The Advanced Maturity of the Sculptor, 2010.
178 - Serra Ridgway, F. R. - Pithoi stampigliati ceretani. Una classe originale di ceramica etrusca, 2010.
Pieraccini, C. (a cura di)
179 - Tusa, S. (a cura di) - Selinunte, 2010.
180 - Sposito, A. - Teatro ellenistico di Morgantina, 2011.
181 - Pitzalis, F. - La volontà meno apparente, 2011.
182 - Ascalone, E. - Glittica Elamita, 2011.
183 - Anguissola, A., - Difficillima Imitatio. Immagine e lessico delle copie tra Grecia e Roma, 2012.
184 - Montanaro, A. C. - Ambre figurate. Amuleti e ornamenti dalla Puglia preromana, 2012.
185 - Lambrugo, C. - Profumi di argilla. Tombe con unguentari corinzi nella necropoli arcaica di Gela.
2012.
186 - Bellelli, V. (a cura di) - Le origini degli etruschi. Storia archeologia antropologia, 2012.

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