Relief with a portrait and procession of satyrs and maenads (Thiasus)

myminifactory

This sculpture is a relief from a Roman grave monument, depicting a portrait of the deceased surrounded by the frolicsome procession of satyrs and maenads, also known as thiasus.  In Greek mythology and religion, the thiasus (Greek thiasos), was the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus, often pictured as inebriated revellers. Many of the myths of Dionysus are connected with his arrival in the form of a procession. Regulars of the retinue were various nature spirits, including the sileni (or human dancers costumed as such), phalluses much in evidence, satyrs, and Pan. The ithyphallic sileni are often shown dancing