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Delos - 08 Columns with phallus at the Stoivadeion
Identifier
022519
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The platform of the Stoivadeion dedicated to Dionysus bears a statue of the god of wine and ‘the life-force’. On either side of the platform, a pillar supports a colossal phallus, the symbol of Dionysus. The southern pillar, which is decorated with relief scenes from the Dionysiac circle, was erected c. 300 BCE to ‘celebrate a winning theatrical performance’.
The statue of Dionysus was originally flanked by those of two actors impersonating Paposilenoi (conserved in the Archaeological Museum of Delos). The marble theatre is a rebuilding of an older one, undertaken shortly after 300 BCE.