Abstract
This paper deals with the images of Silens and Nymphs together, especially in erotic scenes on black-figure vases from the sixth century B. C., usually considered as a repeated stock images, belonging to the general imagery of the Dionysiac thiasos. A further analysis on a few archaic vases shows that the erotic relationship between Silens and Nymphs have several features in common with mythic pursuit or rape scenes, and could be iconographically read as an attempt of showing an inversion of the heroic erotic values, proposing a counterpart model of the kind of wild love, which takes place in the imaginary world outside of the limits of the polis.
Highlights
The images created for the symposium are, from the beginning, a summary of proposals to experiment with the possibilities of going out towards this dimension thanks to the effect of the gift of Dionysus[4].Within the Dionysiac realm, the privileged actors in the staging of this “reality” are the Silens or Satyrs[5] and the Nymphs, who, as “companions of Dionysus”[6], make up a clear group which is usually called Bacchic or Dionysian thiasos[7], a kind of entourage of the god who seems to personify the divine action, as some kind of “plural expression”[8]
The exacerbated and excessive sexuality of the Silens is visually manifest in the size of their genital organs, in their state of constant arousal and their lecherous behaviour when alone and in company[19]; the Nymphs' condition is disguised in the game of rejection and acceptance which can be seen in many of the images, some moments in which they appear as intentionally provocative in their attitude or nudity, suggest the erotic personality they have[20]
The images in the Attic black-figure pottery seem to insist on this relationship of a sexual kind, confirming the status of Silens and Nymphs as a partners, who, it is evident that they submerge in a natural way into the Dionysian scenes as elements of the world of the god, they do get together quite often without the company or protection of the god, which is very significant[21]
Summary
“with them [the Nymphs] the Sileni and the sharp-eyed Slayer of Argus mate in the depths of pleasant caves Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, 262-263. The creation and definition of the polis as designed and regulated framework of Greek man's life entails the creation and definition of the spaces that oppose it or complement it, as an exercise of reflection on human life and their relation to other
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