Mortal Ariadne was wandering the shores on an island after being abandoned by her lover, when she was spotted by the God Bacchus on a drunken procession. It was love at first sight, and he proposed marriage, offering to turn her into a constellation after her death. The constellation ‘Corona Borealis’ is associated with Ariadne, and decorates the top of the trunk. Bacchus, the God of wine, ritual madness, and throwing inhibitions to the wind, is represented by the four bunches of grapes that spill out from under the piece.
Bacchus and Ariadne’s wedding procession was a common theme for sarcophagi around the 2nd C AD, when burials became popular, reflecting a positive attitude towards an afterlife. I wanted to use a trunk, and make a shrine to Marsyas, a minister to Bacchus.
Marysas, a satyr (half-man, half-goat) fell upon misfortune when he picked up pipes that were cursed by the Goddess Athena, resulting in a painful death. The keyhole illustrates his mouth, and the key makes a sound when turned in the lock, so his music will live on forever.