Dionysus in Arkadia and his relationship with the god Pan

Abstract

The Pan-Dionysus dyad was highly successful in much of the Mediterranean as of the middle of the fifth and, above all, the fourth century BC, until the end of the ancient world. However, in Arkadia neither was there a Dionysian tradition, nor did Pan form part of the Bacchic thiasos. On the contrary, neither did the two gods usually appear together nor is there any mythical tradition that establishes Dionysus in Arkadia doing anything noteworthy. As the infrequent representation of the god in Arkadia deserves to be studied, an analysis is performed here on the Arkadian Dionysus in relation to the figure of Pan and on the reasons behind the schism between the two deities in Arkadia.