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A Hidden Telete: Mythological Images as Symbols of Initiation in Roman Wall Paintings and Mosaics




Author(s)

Nava Sevilla-Sadeh

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2022.10.004

Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Initiation was one of the most substantial experiences undergone in Antiquity. The term Les rites de passage introduced by Arnold van Gennep, accommodates the multifaceted significance of initiation in the social structure. The two main aspects of initiation were defined as the social and that which belonged to the religious sphere; or, the profane and the sacred. Initiation or rites of passage in the social realm were intended to delineate the transition from childhood to adult status, while the sacred initiation was intended to promise eternal life and a merging with the divine. As van Gennep has indicated, however, acts of apprenticeship of any kind were enveloped in ceremonies, since no act was entirely free of the sacred. Sacred initiations were intended to remain secret in Antiquity, thus explicit depictions of sacred rituals are rare in ancient art. As this study will demonstrate, however, signifiers of such initiation can nonetheless be found in Roman wall paintings and mosaics depicting mythological protagonists. The point of departure here is that initiation is the main issue manifested metaphorically in the depictions under discussion, with the sacred initiation rather than the social mostly featuring in the visual images. The analysis is based on literary and philosophical sources, and focuses on four personalities: Narcissus, Endymion, and Achilles, who are represented in their mythological context on wall paintings from Pompeii, and Heracles, who is shown in Roman mosaics in a scene familiar as the “Drinking Contest between Heracles and Dionysus”.

initiation rites, mysteries, Platonism, Neo-platonism

Nava Sevilla-Sadeh. (2022). A Hidden Telete: Mythological Images as Symbols of Initiation in Roman Wall Paintings and Mosaics. Philosophy Study, October 2022, Vol. 12, No. 10, 557-582.