The narrative draws from the ancient Greek play The Bacchae, written by Euripides in 405 BCE, wherein Dionysus descends on Thebes seeking retribution for slander against him. The

Another new discovery in the ruins of Pompeii has shed light on the wilder side of the ancient Romans. An extremely rare frieze known as a “megalography,” or painting with life-sized figures, has been unearthed in an area where ongoing excavations have produced some of the ancient site’s most important finds.

Archaeologists exploring what Pompeii was like before it was famously destroyed by Mount Vesuvius have made a huge discovery after finding evidence of secret cults and rituals. It has been almost 2,000 years that the ancient Italian city of Pompeii, near Naples in Italy, was completely destroyed after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

A downright bacchanalian frieze has just been unearthed in Pompeii, one so large it spans three walls of a massive banquet room.

The House of Thiasus got its name from the “thiasos,” or sacred procession, of Dionysus. The fresco matches the Second Style of Pompeian wall painting, which was prevalent between the 40s and 30s BC. This means the painting had already existed for over a century when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried it under ash and pumice.

Archaeologists in Pompeii have uncovered rare, nearly life-sized frescoes that offer fresh insight into religious practices in the ancient city before it was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, the site said on Wednesday.

A major new fresco has been unearthed in Pompeii depicting the procession of the god of wine Dionysus, with hunters, dancers and beautifully dressed women, site authorities announced Tuesday. The near life-size fresco,