‘Tis His Season

The current grape harvest season makes me think of Dionysus (The Romans called the God of wine Bacchus.). This is a terracotta bowl fragment featuring a relief of Dionysus, god of wine, vegetation, theater, and ecstasy, from Morgantina, an ancient Greek town in Sicily (3rd to 1st century B.C.E.).

Ancient Theater in Siracusa

The 2014 season of L’Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) has begun in Siracusa. INDA has existed since 1914, and it presents ancient masterpieces of theater at Siracusa’s Teatro Antico–the same stage on which some of these works may have been premiered centuries ago! This photo is from the 2012 season when I saw The…

Dionysus at Siracusa’s Ancient Theater

The god Dionysus, as portrayed by an actor for a performance of The Bacchae by Euripides at the ancient ampitheater in Siracusa. He holds a giant fennel staff topped with a pine cone and ivy leaves called a thyrsus, which is a symbol of fertility. #experiencesicily #siracusa #theater #bacchae #baccante #teatro #antico #amphitheater #anfiteatro #teatroantico…