Pompeii. “In a century, we will remember this day as a historical day because the discovery we reveal is historic”, Enthusiastic on February 26 the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, by presenting a very rare cycle of frescoes in Pompeii. Such emphasis is customary at the announcement of the slightest major discovery on the most famous archaeological park in the world. But if the use of hyperbola often only serves to strengthen the notoriety of a site that does not lack, the discovery of this “megalography” (monumental painting) is indeed “An important moment for Italian and global archeology which has (Thus) of an extraordinary historical document ».
Still lifes of animals surmounting bacchants.
© Pompeii Archaeological Park
The painting was uncovered in zone 10 of the “IX” residential district, on the walls of a rich house baptized by archaeologists “Maison de Thiasos”. A name that derives from the word “thiasis”, the group of satyrs and bacchantes composing the procession of the god of wine Dionysos, or that of its worshipers during a “myster cult” reserved for initiates. This domus indeed contains one of the very rare known monumental friezes representing this rite. With his life -size characters on a vibrant red background, the megalography of the house of Thiasos rivals in all respects with that of the Maison des Mysteres, the most famous and emblematic of Pompeii discovered at the very beginning of the 20th century at the gates of the city. But that which has just been revealed to the public has the particularity of belonging to a house located within the premises of the ancient city. This cycle extends over the three walls of a banquet room that opened to a garden. The frescoes, dating from the 1940s-30 BC and in the exceptional state of conservation, represent a Dionysian procession in which bacchantes dancing, hunters carrying a slaughtered kid, a sword or the bowels of an animal, as well as young satyrs with pointed ears playing the flute, take part. In the center of the composition sits a woman accompanied by an old man brandishing a torch. This is a initiatora deadly woman about to be initiated into the mysteries of Dionysos during a night ritual.
Dionysiac rites
“The Bacchantes Chasresses, inspired by Bacchante D’Euripid, a tragedy represented in 405 BC. AD, after the death of its author, became a metaphor for the life of drunkenness and ecstasy, explains the director of the archaeological park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. Behind the game mixing illusion and reality, we can see the signs of a religious crisis that invaded the ancient world. This discovery will nourish the debate between supporters of the thesis according to which these rites had only a literary meaning and those who advocate the persistence of a religious practice. »»
The excavations, launched in February 2023 in the Maison de Thiasos sector on an area of approximately 3,200 m2, will continue with significant investments. “More than 33 million euros have already been unlocked for the site and we will unlock others, promises the Minister of Culture. After the emotion comes the meaning of responsibility to protect, keep and transmit this wonder in the best conditions. »» This is threatened by tourism pressure. During the summer of 2024, Pompeii attracted over 4 million people, an increase of 33.6 % compared to the previous year. An increasingly difficult to manage for such a fragile site.
