The House of the Vettii
Art and Architecture of
Pompeii and Herculaneum
Extra Information
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Dates from around 1st century BC
1 100m squared in area and occupies less than 1/3
of insula
Limited axial symmetry; south ala was walled off
(storeroom?)
Peristylium set at 90 degrees to entrance axis
Seclude area on eastern side containing one large
and two smaller rooms, may have been used as
women’s quarters; however evidence for this not
strong
Entry - Priapus
Atrium
Atrium - Cupids
Lararium
Pentheus Room
Pentheus Room - Heracles
Dirke
The wife of King Lycus. To fulfill
his oath to his brother Nycteus,
king of Thebes, to get his daughter
Antiope back, Lycus and his army
marched towards Sicyon,
destroyed the city and killed
Antiope's husband Epopeus.
Lycus put Antiope in his wife's
care, but Dirce mistreated Antiope
severely, using her as a slave.
Antiope managed to escape and
was finally reunited with her sons
Amphion and Zethus, her children
with Zeus. Her twins exacted a
terrible vengeance upon Dirce.
They tied her to the horns of a wild
bull and in that fashion she was
killed.
Pentheus Room
Ixion Room
Daedalus presents
the wooden cow
to Pasiphae
Minos was challenged as king and prayed to
Poseidon for help. Poseidon sent a giant white bull
out of the sea. Minos planned on sacrificing the
bull to Poseidon, but then decided not to. He
substituted a different bull. In rage, Poseidon
cursed Pasiphae, Minos' wife, with zoophilia.
Daedalus built her a wooden cow, which she hid
inside. The bull mated with the wooden cow and
Pasiphae was impregnated by the bull, giving birth
to a horrible monster, the Minotaur. Daedalus then
built a complicated maze called the Labyrinth and
Minos put the Minotaur in it. To make sure no one
would ever know the secret of the Labyrinth,
Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in
a tower.
Daedalus and Icarus flew away on wings
Daedalus invented, but Icarus' wings melted
because he flew too close to the sun. Icarus fell in
the sea and drowned.
The Punishment
of Ixion
Ixion tried to take revenge upon
Zeus, by seducing Hera. When
Zeus learned of Ixion's plan,
Zeus fashioned a cloud to look
like his wife and consort. Most
authors say that the cloud or
false Hera was named Nephele.
When the unsuspecting Ixion
boasted of having slept with
Hera, Zeus sent him to Tartarus
where he was to suffer from
eternal punishment. Ixion was
chained to a fiery wheel, which
revolved around from ceaseless
wind.
Ariadne and
Bacchus
Culina
Peristylium
Peristylium Walkway
Garden
Triclinium with
cupids