It is not always easy to read scenes on Greek vases. This oinochoe is one example that has caused much speculation. An actor, who is wearing the mask of a slave and holding a thrysos (Dionysiac fennel rod), holds a sash above a louterion (basin for sacrificial water).
Usually the thyrsos is shown in the hands of Dionysus or his followers, and seldom on comic vases like this one. If the actor, who is dressed in comic costume complete with dangling phallus, is supposed to represent the god Dionysus, it is unlikely he would be wearing a slave’s mask. The exact interpretation remains elusive.
Performance and theatre were transformative events celebrated in honour of this god. In Athenian drama, the putting on of masks was another form of ecstatic release and Dionysiac dramatic festivals were held throughout the Greek world.
