Mildenhall Great Dish

This (4th c.) silver dish from Mildenhall, England centers on Oceanus, the sea-god with weedy beard and dolphin-crest hair. Around him, Nereids (sea nymphs) ride Tritons (mermen) and sea-stags. The outer frieze honors Bacchus, god of wine, with grapes and a thyrsus (ivy-staff). Hercules, Pan, the goat-god of the wild, and Maenads, Bacchus’ frenzied female followers, complete this layered celebration of mythic revelry.