Situla with the banquet of the gods

The situla is a vessel used in Magna Graecia, as part of grave goods, to hold wine for the deceased to drink in the blessed symposium that would take place in the afterlife, a setting suggested in the image that decorates the vase. Under a leafy pergola full of huge bunches of grapes, three participants in the symposium recline on a single bed: Dionysius is on the right, holding the thyrsus and a pomegranate, the symbol of immortality; Hermes is in the centre, with the caduceus in one hand and the Dionysian jug in the other; on the left, Apollo holds a branch of laurel while turning his head upwards. There is a small table in front of the bed, laden with fruit and white cakes and a krater where wine and water are mixed. Pan, lying on a rug, plays a small role in this banquet, turned towards the young cupbearer who offers him a fiale. On the far right of the scene, an auletris creates a magical ambience at this divine banquet by filling the air with the sounds of his double flute.