Worshipping Priapos: Erotes and Psychai in Dionysian imagery : iconographic notes on the ivory veneers from the Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum

The present article focuses on the iconography of the ivory veneers from the Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum, in particular on the visual association of Priapos with Dionysos, Cupids, and Psychai. The iconography on the ivory veneers – mainly the sacred landscape and Priapos – will be contextualized within the domestic spaces of the Villa and other cases from Pompeii. Furthermore, literary sources, in particular the Carmina Priapea, will allow us to better understand meaning and messages of the peculiar combination of Priapos with Cupids and Psychai, imbued with Hellenistic resonances. The ivory reliefs confirm the owner’s (Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus?) highly-cultivated erudition and his material and intellectual appreciation towards these luxurious objects and the iconographic motifs.