The Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii, dating from the second century BC, is a huge building of about 3000 square meters, with 70 rooms, which until the eruption of Mount Etna, occurred in 79 BC, was inhabited by the family of Istacidii. The villa has undergone a remarkable restoration lasted two years, which now gives back to the World a great masterpiece of classical antiquity. The beautiful frescoes on its walls are dedicated to the myth of Dionysus.
Dionysus,in antiquity, was born, it seems, as a Greek deity; illegitimate son of Zeus, he was afterward, introduced by him within the Olympus. Born as a god of vegetation and nature, he became subsequently linked to vines and wine, with the name, given him by Romans, of Bacchus. The ceremonies in his honor, made far from the city in natural places, they were bloody and liberating; generally attended only by women (the Bacchae). Dionysus is generally portrayed with the mask, which is synonymous with duplicity and mystery.
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