Attic white goblet, 490-485 BC.

Depicting a Maenad dancing ecstatically, holding a thyrsus in her left hand and a leopard in her right. White Attic goblet (deep round glass).

Dimensions: 25 x 19 x 8 cm.

Maenads the female entourage of God Dionysos Lyknites. Maenads are distinguished in art from other female figures. In ancient Greek vase paintings, they are often depicted dancing with Selenes - Satyrs, or when they offer a sacrifice to Dionysus, or during the scene of the punishment of Pentheus and Orpheus. In classical and later art, Maenads are also depicted alongside the Goddess Aphrodite and her circle, or alongside Irene and the Muses. Among the sculptural representations of the Maenads, two statues of dancing Maenads stand out. One of them, kept in Dresden, is related to the sculptor Skopa, while the other dates back to the Hellenistic Era.

The Maenads wore wreaths of ivy, smilac and nevride, light dresses of nevre (= deer) skin. They roamed the mountains and were able to associate with the wild animals, which they took in their hands and nursed. They worshiped God with songs, with "manic" dances and with shouts. In their excitement they could uproot trees and kill powerful beasts. Such was their power, after all it is known that activation, trance gives superhuman powers. They hunted animals and ate their meat raw. However, they are also associated with peaceful works, such as the harvest and winemaking, as represented in vase paintings.