The Mondragone relief revisited - Eleusinian cult iconography in Campania

Abstract

This study of a Classical Attic votive relief found at Mondragone in northern Campania reaffirms the traditional interpretation of the deities depicted on it as members of the Eleusinian cult circle. Drawing on contemporary Eleusinian vase painting, the author argues that the relief depicts episodes from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The figure of Dionysos, leaning on the throne of Hades, indicates that this Attic relief was dedicated in a local or domestic sanctuary in Campania by Eleusinian initiates who may also have participated in the Dionysiac-Orphic Mysteries. Thus, the relief is a crucial piece of evidence for the diffusion of the Eleusinian cult abroad.