The North Wall contains scenes V, VI, and VII.
Scene V shows Silenus who is seated and looking at the terrified woman in Scene IV. He lifts a metal vessel which a faun looks into as another faun behind Silenus holds up a mask of terror.
Scene VI* is the central theme of frescos. It is the only one that is damaged however scholars are in agreement that it is a portrait of Dionysus and Ariadne. This scene depicts DIONYSYS + ARIADNE as he leans against her, his staff lies across his knee. The myth of these two gods offers many symbols as is thought that in this context they represent unity of Self by allowing the unknown psyche to be realized. Figures from other scenes do not look at this scene, eyes are averted. While this scene is the only one that is partially missing it is central to the frescoes. See below for more details.
Scene VII is known as the flagellation scene where a woman wearing a cap kneels before a winnowing basket that reveals a great phallus, symbolic of the creative principle. There are two women behind her and in front of her is a winged angel with a whip in hand.
*SCENE VI
Fierz-David points out that Dionysus and Ariadne are the largest portraits and that no other figures in the remaining scenes look toward or at them. This is likely to represent the gods as "being there invisibly" (p. 24). According to Jungian psychology, Dionysus and Ariadne also symbolize the Self as having unknown and known aspects. Fierz-David suggests the central purpose of the initiation chamber may be emphasized by this picture, that is, to provide a space for an initiate to undergo Orphic or Dionysian rites.Symbolic meaning surrounding Dionysus and Ariadne follows.
Here's a brief synopsis of their geneology:
- Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos (bull) and Pasiphae (heavenly cow and mother of Minotaur) SEE MAJENA'S DISCUSSION OF THE MINOTAUR ON THE "FLOOR" and "DOORWAY" POSTS
- King Minos is the son of Zeus who in the form of a bull conceived Minos with Europa
- Dionysus is also a bull god and son of Zeus (derived from Zeus' thigh) and represents nonrational forces of physical nature and human emotion (Harris & Platzner, 2008, p. 6). He is Ariadne's half uncle. There is another version of Dionysus' origins, that he is Zagreus, son of Zeus who transformed from a bull to a snake when he approached Persephone who conceived Zagreus. Snakes are considered lucky, honored domestic animals in Roman times, called "Lares" or guardians and "Phanes" or lights and symbolic torches used in Baccantes' procession torches (Fierz-David, 2005, p 45). This could be referenced by the staff that lies across Dionysus' lap in the fresco painting.
Dionysus + Ariadne's story:
- Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos. As she mourned her loss and rejection of her unknown psyche, she called out for death. Dionysus, god of the underworld emerged from the seas to consummate their marriage. As he embraced Ariadne as his beloved she was resurrected as Aridela, which means "very clear, very visible" and Dionysus became the god of wine.
- the union of Ariadne and Dionysus represents transformation, Ariadne's clarity or consciousness of the unknown and Dionysus the bull-god's animal instinct embraced as all- heart. Together the unconscious and conscious aspects of the psyche becomes real (p. 38).
