File:Bacchvs.jpg

English: "Penates (Household Gods) Dug Up at Devises in Our Belgium in the Year 1714, Table 9.

"...another and most beautiful Bacchus...

"XIV. THE LAST two Figures, designated 18 & 19 in Number, do not correspond to the size of the Prototypes. They are truly less than them. The first of these seems to be Bacchus, as a Horned Youth, well fleshed (eusárkou), well colored, and his head encircled with a Rosy garland. I do not properly understand, however, what he might hold in his Right Hand unless it is a Culleus or Leather Sack for carrying wine such as the figure of the greater Lion in the sacrifice to Bacchus that Augustine wrote of. In Greek it is called an Askòs and was the prize of the Prince of Drinkers.

"BACCHUS'S Shape the ancients described as showing Youth, Strength, & Beauty, in all of which of course this one of ours stands out. He is always strong and the Companion of Youth. There is a Debate about his Shape. Unsurprisingly, he could be made into a drunk and swollen boy whose

"fatted Little Paunch extends a foot and a half out.

"HIS FORM's Honor is shown, particularly as far as his Horns are beautiful. While it may be well known today that Horns have been a mark of Infamy for so many centuries now that among the common people it can scarcely mean anything more, it is certain that among the ancients they meant Honor, Glory, and Health. The Pagan Authors showed this time and time again in as many places as possible. Among them is "In the Horn is my Salvation". To them, the Horn was the splendor in the moonlit dawn [phengobólos augḕ]. From this Horned Moses was painted by painters and sculpted by sculptors. It is said that his Face was Horned—that is, that "the Skin of his Face glowed as if Horns were thrown out" (Septuagint: Dedóxastai hē ópsis toû krōtòs toû prosṓpou autoû).

"Among the Pagans, most [intending many] Men and Gods were horned: The Coins of Philádelphon, changed from Ptolemy , had him Horned. This was done, as indeed had Alexander the Great, as if born to Jove Amun.

"AS the Pagans took in Theology from the Jews—first the Egyptians, then through them the Greeks, and last of all the Latins—Horns were handed out to their Bacchus, whom they wanted to be a rival for Moses. For the older they were long and sharp, as may be seen on the Carchesium of the Benedictine Monks in France, but on either Bacchus of ours among these Penates—which is to say the Younger—the little horns are just like Walnuts ("Jove's Acorn").

"IN the news of the literary Republic, a discussion is recorded concerning a certain Image of Bacchus that was dug up near the Atrebates and not very dissimilar from ours.

"OURS is this one who—Young and Handsome and most of all Horned—the Authors, speaking of Bacchus, illustrate more than a little: Among this number are Horace, Ovid, Propertius, Diodorus Siculus, Seneca, and Herodian, from whom I will excerpt some passages.

"On Bacchus, Horace says:
"'Unsleeping Cerberus saw you,
"'Adorned with your golden Horn.'


"In his Hymn to Bacchus, Ovid says:
"'Your Youth is never gone,
"'You eternal Boy. You are the most beautiful "'Seen in high Heaven as, when you stand without Horns,
"'Your Face is like a virgin's.'

"It's the same in his Letter of Sappho to Phaon:
"'There is Your face and there are years fit for games.
"'O your Face is so dangerous for my eyes!
"'Take string and a quiver and you become Apollo manifest.'
"Place Horns upon your Head and you will be Bacchus.

"Propertius:
"'That which remains of life, let me live through You and Your Horns
"'And by your virtues, Bacchus, I will be considered a poet.'

"The Phallic Poet:
"'...and tender Bacchus traces the shape of a Virgin.'

"And in another Song:
"'Lyaeus is also drawn as beautiful.'

"THUS did Diodorus of Sicily describe him: 'conspicuous for his beauty and strength' [tōî kállei kaì tēî rhṓmēi diáphoron]—that is, excellent in Form and Strength. He also held that in his honor the painters and sculptors represented him with horns" [parásēmon d' autōî poiē̂sai kérata toùs kataskeuázontas tàs graphàs ḗ toùs andriántas].

"BY Seneca it is said that he had "perpetual Youth and a Virginal Head". Later Herodian wrote about Bacchus "the image of beauty" [kalâis eikósin], which his soldiers likened to Bassianus [either Caracalla or Elagabalus].

"FROM the other side, it remains to be asked who could be said to have had these Signs of Honor—that is, the Horns—able to descend into marks of Infamy. This seems to have been due to the Painters and the race of uneducated and audacious people who—when it was the custom to give Horns to Satyrs and other monsters of that kind—finally wronged them and caused them to be defamed by attaching them to people.

"That is [enough] concerning Bacchus, his form, and his Horns.

"THIS is a Group of Gods in which—if the spirit might Bark or Whinny or Bray or wishes to practice the Art of Love or Carpentry or the founding of great Cities or the nursing of their Founders—here stands a God who might teach it. This God, I say, isn't so much explained by the ancient Authors as it is him who explains them since—damaged less by the injury of time—it is the more sincere and uncorrupted in all things. In the same vein, I also judge these Figures to be not without use in correcting the errors of the Sculptors, Painters, and others of this age who are far descended and removed from the customs and uses of the ancients, as these witnesses of unquestionable fidelity show."

Notes: "To the Most Noble Prince Frederick, the destined Royal Heir, Great Britain's hope, Delight, and most yearned for Spirit, son of the Most High George and grandson of the Most August George, William Musgrave, Fellow (?) of Exeter College, Oxford, of his own will and in Obedience to his Oath wished these here Penates, hidden by the Earth for 1500 years, to be dedicated.

"These Penates [found] by William Cadby, Gardener at Devizes, engraved on Brass and printed on Imperial Paper, are available for sale at the Booksellers Knapton in London, Clements in Oxford, and Yeo in Exeter. 1717."

The 3rd figure from Musgrave's 6th illustration of the Southbroom Hoard discovered outside Devizes, Wiltshire, in 1714. This statue is now lost, while others from the hoard are held by the British Museum. Durham categorized it as #382. Scholars continue to classify it as Bacchus, Dionysus, or a Gallo-Roman equivalent via Interpretatio Graeca or Romana.

See also:

• Emma Durham, "Depicting the Gods: Metal Figurines in Roman Britain", Internet Archaeology, No. 31, 2012.
• Emma Durham, "Style and Substance: Some Metal Figurines from South-West Britain", Britannia, No. 45, November 2014, pp. 195–221.