THESEUS AND THE LEGENDS OF ATTICA 563
Dionysus and Ariadne. Bronze krater (the Derveni Krater), second half of the fourth cen-
tury B.C.; height 35V2 m- The krater, which held the ashes of a Thessalian nobleman, was
discovered at Derveni, not far from Thessalonike, in 1962. The reliefs on the central panel
show Dionysus, naked, seated on a rock with his leg over Ariadne's thigh. She draws
her veil aside, the gesture of a bride accepting her husband. Behind Dionysus is a pan-
ther, and birds, animals, vines, and ivy ornament the neck and body of the krater. Fig-
ures of Maenads flank the divine pair, and in the upper register the seated Dionysus ges-
tures towards a sleeping Maenad. The handles, in the form of serpents, frame the head
of a horned god to the left and of Heracles (with lionskin over his head) to the right.