POMPEII THE DEATH OF A CITY

Your task is To examine the remains of Pompeii and think about what they tell us about life in a 1st-century Roman town. You may choose a fresco or a mosaic or a simply a photo from a typical street:

You will use this resource to describe an aspect of social life; for example, RELIGION You must: Provide a clear reproduction Identify your resource Describe in detail what it shows AND how it relates to your chosen aspect of Pompeian life Conclude by explaining:  What it tells us about the life & culture of Pompeii  its limitations

Your resource are the frescos from THE VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES IDENTIFY YOUR RESOURCE: Eg: This is a fresco, often called the “Initiation frieze”. It is found in the triclinium (dining room) of the Villa of the Mysteries. PROVIDE A CLEAR REPRODUCTION SO: You must:

EXPLAIN WHAT IT SHOWS: It shows aspects of a special religious ceremony, celebrated in honour of Dionysus, god of fertility (among other things). This ceremony was celebrated only by women and young girls. It was a ceremony celebrated by members of a secretive religious cult (hence the name, Villa of the Mysteries). The purpose of the ceremony: To prepare privileged and well-protected girls for the transition from childhood to womanhood and in particular, to life as a married woman. In order to become a member of this cult you had to go through some secret initiation rites / rituals. You might want to explain: What are Initiation rites? [Certain ceremonies / customs performed during a religious ceremony]

You must work your way around the frieze and explain every aspect of this religious ritual, in detail.

AN EXAMPLE OF A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OF THE SCENES: The two themes of this scene are torture and transformation. This is the climax of the ritual. The initiate (young girl) hides her head in the lap of a woman (perhaps her nanny) as she is about to be whipped (she is whipped by the angel in the previous scene). This woman is about to give a thyrsus to the initiate. The thyrsus is a sexual symbol of Dionysus. This will complete her initiation – so now the young girl is ready for marriage. This woman dances almost naked and clashes celebratory cymbals. Music and dancing are typical features of religious ceremonies

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRESCOES: The frescoes in the Villa of Mysteries enable us to learn about the rites of passage that girls of Pompeii had to go through in order to prepare for marriage. For example……. [ This is a fairly basic conclusion. What else would you say??] AND THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS RESOURCE: What occurred during the initiation ceremonies was only known by the initiates as this religious cult was secretive; so, what we see here is only an artist’s idea of what may have happened. Frieze depicting the god Dionysus