The ship of Theseus… sailing away

written by Corey Hynds

As I’ve contributed to MANTO there has been a few examples of recurring myths within Pompeiian wall paintings. Heracles and the Trojan war come to mind as frequent examples but there’s also quite a few events which themselves are depicted incredibly often., enough that they become very memorable despite mostly being the same. Although in some instances the depictions can differ greatly, to the extent that you might need to make sure that they are the same myth and not another, similar but extremely different story (there are several myths that involve bulls and they can look very similar in wall paintings). But amongst all of these wall paintings, all of these different depictions, one stands above all the rest as the one that I have seen the most. Ariadne being abandoned by Theseus at Naxos.

This particular event was depicted across Pompeii numerous times, in fact more times than I can count. (We have currently identified 71 depictions of Ariadne at Pompeii, which means she appears in almost 10% of the ties related to Pompeiian wall paintings we’ve collected so far.) I daresay that this event, for reasons only a Pompeiian native or an expert in Roman history could explain, might have been one of their favourites. But because it has been depicted so often, how and in what way changes a lot. Most examples will feature Adriadne sleeping alone, possibly with a representation of Theseus sailing away, others will emphasise the god Dionysos who arrived to save Adriadne and some contain all three. They may also include other individuals such as Cupids/Eros symbolising love or even in a few rare examples the gods Athena and Artemis. In line with a few variations of the myth that depict a cause behind Theseus’s abandonment and a tragic ending with Ariadne’s death.

19th-century drawing by Geremia Discanno of a wall painting from the Casa degli Archi in Pompeii (IX, 7, 20, space i) depicting Dionysos discovering a sleeping Ariadne.

1st c. CE. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

This scene is intended to be a somewhat romantic one although to a casual observer it doesn’t have many of the hallmarks or themes we typically associate with the genre. It is worth noting that a lot of the themes we associate with romance are of course more modern, we for example don’t look too fondly on someone tricking someone into love, something that happens incredibly often in mythology. But in this case, this myth is closer to something like damsel in distress stories which have become more popular over the last few centuries. Looking past the fact that Theseus, a Greek hero, for one reason or another did abandon Aridane on a rock, it does lead to the arrival of Dionysos and his subsequent “rescue” (as we’ve been referring to it in MANTO) of Ariadne. A positive event which results in a surprisingly faithful marriage amongst the gods that is shown across artworks as Dionysos and Ariadne often cameo in other stories. Including some stories which are absolutely absurd such as the time Pan and the personification of love, Eros, got into a fight.

Wall painting from the Casa dei Vetti in Pompeii (VI, 15, 1, space e) depicting Pan and Eros preparing to fight with the audience of Dionysos and Ariadne. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

But interestingly beyond Pompeii depictions of the same myth, characters and events have been found in one of the most peculiar places, on coffins. Specifically sarchophagi from second to third century CE Rome that are often engraved with a representation of one or more myths. Such as one particular sarcophagus present within The Met’s collection which depicts the entire myth of Theseus in three parts, from the battle with the Minotaur through to Ariadne again abandoned on a Naxos. Although there is a bit more action here than usual its worth noting the involvement of Ariadne throughout. She and Theseus are the protagonists in this depiction emphasising the relationship between them that forms over the course of the myth… that quickly falls apart on Naxos.

Roman marble sarcophagus found near Capranica, Roman Campagna, depicting the myth of Theseus and Ariadne (c. 130-150 CE).

The Metropolitan Mueseum of Art, New York, No. 90.12ab. Image: The Met. Distributed through the MET Open Access Policy.

This depiction does also show a difference in medium as typically Roman sarchophagi will contain an entire myth engrained across its surface meanwhile paintings in Pompeii usually contain a singular event or only references to certain events from a larger myth. There’s a few examples within Pompeii of an entire saga being depicted across one large painting or across a room, a prominent one I’ve seen a few times is the Actaion myth depicted in two or three parts across one or more paintings. But more often than not single figures or prominent events appear the most, like Ariadne on Naxos.

To be honest I did want to look into the Roman sarcophagi in the hope that I might’ve been able to avoid once again seeing Ariadne sitting on a rock but alas the people of ancient Rome and their obsession with the rocks of Naxos has no bounds. And there could be a number of reasons as to why this particular story may appear more often, such as it being popular amongst the people of Pompeii, who were pretty big fans of Dionysos, to being particularly alluring for artists (something which is true even today). What I do know for certain is Theseus abandons Ariadne on Naxos and Dionysos rescues her. For all the little details that change between these different wall paintings such as a god appearing in a story they were previously absent from, this particular episode remains surprisingly consistent.

There aren’t any crazy alterations or artistic liberties taken with any of these artworks and (moreso than other examples) the Ariadne depictions can often be so similar i’ve been tricked a into thinking two different paintings on the opposite sides of Pompeii were actually one and the same. And now following their addition to MANTO you will be able to browse through every single example of Ariadne on Naxos yourself and play the hardest game of spot the difference across Pompeii.

 This is the second in a series of blog posts from students at Macquarie University who are participating in this semester’s PACE internship.