Relief with Heroic Banquet

Surrounded by sumptuous furnishings, a bearded, semi-draped man reclines on a couch, leaning with his left arm on two pillows. In his outstretched right hand, he holds a phiale, a shallow bowl frequently used to pour libations or liquid offerings to the gods. The man is wearing a diadem, and there is an ivy leaf discernible on his right temple. A nude servant boy stands to the left at the foot of the couch, ready to refill the phiale from a large krater that would have held a mixture of wine and water. In front of the figure of the man is a three-legged table with ritual cakes; the legs of the table are fashioned as feline legs. Between the boy and the table is a panther, which wears a collar and sits with his left paw raised. The relief belongs to a category known as "Totenmahl" (literally "Feast of the Dead"). These types of reliefs served both votive and funerary purposes. Reliefs such as this one depicting heroic banquets were popular in eastern areas of the Greek world in the Hellenistic period. First made as devotional offerings to various deities, they were also used to honor those mortals elevated to heroic status and as grave markers. This relief is a simpler example of the type. Missing are the wife, who usually stands at the end of the couch, and any attributes, such as weaponry or horses, denoting the man's status. This absence of attributes probably indicates that the relief had a votive rather than funerary purpose. Although this relief has fewer figures and attributes than others of the type, it is exceptional for its elegant workmanship and rich detail. The tripod table with feline legs is characteristic of the Hellenistic period. The presence of the ivy leaf, panther, and large wine krater strongly suggests that the man is either Dionysos or a devotee of the god.