Dionysos Reclining

This sculpture (438–432 BC) from the Parthenon’s east pediment shows Dionysos, youthful god of wine, reclining on a rock draped with a feline skin. His relaxed pose and missing right hand, probably once holding a cup, stress his association with wine and revelry. Originally part of a triad with Persephone and Demeter, goddesses of the underworld and agriculture, it linked divine ecstasy to cycles of death and renewal.