Machines on Parade
Why might a moving automaton celebrating Dionysus be built for a public procession? A statue of the goddess Nysa (a figure of Dionysiac myth), which stood and performed libations of milk and water unaided, gives us an important clue (Athenaeus Deipnosophistai 5.197c-203b).
Displayed in the Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus in Alexandria c. 279-270 BCE, the self-animated goddess served as a political statement of Ptolemy’s ostentatious wealth and ability to inspire divine wonder, thus underpinning his political power. Yet Nysa’s movement along the ground was provided by the wheels of a cart pulled by 60 men, whereas Hero’s miraculous shrine, once set in motion, needed neither human hands nor feet.
These wondrous, self-animated features not only enhanced the prestige of the performance, but also made it more spectacular.
A Dionysiac procession wraps around the body of the lekythos (oil flask). A satyr holding a rhyton (drinking horn) aloft, a musician playing the aulos (double-headed flute) and men with their hands raised in revelry make up the group. This scene vividly illustrates the way movement, music and the ritual consumption of wine combined in the worship of Dionysus.