The Roman god Bacchus corresponds to the Greek god Dionysus and was adopted more or less one-to-one by the Romans. His name derives from bacchos (shouter, shouting), as he was called because of the noise caused by his boisterous entourage. Bacchus is the Roman god of fertility and ecstasy, of wine and viticulture. His external attributes are the thyrsos staff wreathed with ivy and vines (fertility symbol) and the kantharos (drinking vessel for wine). He travels through the lands accompanied by the satyrs (mixed creatures of man and goat representing revelry and fertility demons devoted to dance and wine) and nymphs led by the god Pan. The Bacchanalia (boisterous festivities with excessive consumption of wine) named after the god correspond to the Greek Dionysia. Images of Bacchus have been created by countless painters and sculptors; among them a bronze statue from Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79 AD during the eruption of Vesuvius. AD, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
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