Final Draft - Preview Matter - Florida State University

would then be repeated six times around the vessel. 546 I again object to this interpretation, not
only because the scene is repeated, in identical fashion six times, but also because there is little
conflict between the man and bull. Brendel offers one last interpretation that may be closer to
the mark; he sees neither a religious rite nor a myth but instead a series of “bull tamers”
represented on the vessel. 547
As we can see from the literary and archaeological evidence presented here, bull imagery
was quite prominent in ancient classical religion. The bull denoted an elemental power
associated with both land and sea in addition to the underworld and could also be used as a
symbol of strength and savagery. The fearsome nature of the bull hybrid is clear when we
examine gods such as Dionysos and Achelous who could manifest themselves in bull form.
Even though we cannot be certain that Liber and Fufluns partook of the bullish persona of
Dionysos Tauromorphos, certain qualities of these Italian deities indicate many affinities with
the liminal and transgressive nature of this aspect of Dionysos. In addition, the Minotaur known
for his cruelty and the consumption of human flesh also appears in Italy and, at least in one
example, seems to possess a function similar to the figure of Achelous commonly represented in
architectural decoration. While the general meaning of the animal iconography of bull
therianthropes is thus easily grasped, it is not always clear which god is being represented. As
we have seen, scholars differ as to whether the horned god represented on antefixes, such as Fig.
V.8, is Achelous or Dionysos. This ambiguity may be intentional and both figures would have
shared the power to ward off evil spirits. One important point that we may take away from this
is that from an early time, as shown by the Regia Plaque (Fig. V.5), therianthropic deities
appeared in Roman and Etruscan art. The power of hybrid imagery was great and lasted for
quite some time beyond these early phases as well.
546 Sprenger and Bartoloni 1983, 87.
547 Brendel 1995, 140.
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