Le tombeau d'Amphion et de Zethos et les fruits de Dionysos

Abstract

Pausanias reports that every year when the Sun was passing through the constellation Taurus, Tithoreans planned to steal earth from the tomb of Amphion and Zethos in Thebes of Boeotia. Bringing this earth in their city and pouring it over Antiope's tomb they would have fllvoured the fertility of their fields. In order to preserve the fruits of their country and following the oracle of Bakis, Thebans kept watch over the tomb of Amphion and Zethos. An analysis of Pausanias' text suggests that a quarrel divided the two cities, every part claiming the right to have in its land the tomb of Antiope's sons. The involvement of the mythical figures and the peculiar phase in the vineyards' life during that period of the year (April-May) both suggest that Thebans tried to protect the growth of the fruits of Dionysos.