The impact of Dionysos from paganism to Christianity (4th–7th c. CE): a confrontation of written sources with material culture

Abstract

This thesis aims to explain the prevalence of Dionysiac representations, which continued significantly in the context of Late Antiquity. The method applied for the research is, in its most general sense, the comparison between written sources and material culture, and in its most specific form, the comparison of both written sources and material culture within themselves. While the works such as Exhortation to the Greeks by Clement of Alexandria and the Dionysiaca by Nonnus of Panopolis are the main written sources referenced in the thesis, selected examples from material culture were determined from different archaeological sites belonging to the Eastern Mediterranean cultural geography. As a result of the research, two main reasons were revealed for the prevalence of Dionysiac representations in Late Antiquity. The first is “religious syncretism”, and the second is “conviviality”. This is the conclusion reached when the iconographic representation of the selected materials and their archaeological contexts are examined together with the historical period they belong to and the written sources they are contemporary with. Thus, the thesis attempts to shed light on a different and not-so-explored issue about the cult of Dionysus in Late Antiquity and its projection on material culture.