1. Starting from the upper right row, baby Dionysos is presented sitting on Hermes’ lap. The latter is about to hand him over to old Tropheus, a Selenos and his future teacher, and to the nymphs of Mount Nysa, who are preparing his bath. Near the bath the personifications of Mount Nysa and Anatrophe are shown. The young god is accompanied by three personifications: Theogonia, Nectar and Ambrosia.

2. The panel on the upper left shows Leda, queen of Sparta, ready to enter the river Eurotas for her bath. Zeus, who transformed himself into a swan, approaches. The scene depicts the personifications of Eurotas and Lacedaemonia (Sparta).

3. The central panel is composed of two scenes: one takes place on land, while the second in the sea. In the centre of the panel, Aion, God of eternal time (from whom this building took its name) presents Cassiopeia, winner of the beauty contest. The young winner reveals her beautiful body to the judges while she is crowned by the winged goddess Krisis. A young boy, the personification of Time, gives the lucky lot to Cassiopeia. In the sea scene, three of the fifty daughters of the King of the Sea Nereus (Thetis, Doris and Galatea), are depicted as dissatisfied with the outcome of the competition. The girls are sitting on the backs of Bythos (Sea Depth), a sea centaur, and of Pontos, a young triton who personifies the sea surface. A sad Eros (Cupid) is sitting on a bull, while Zeus and Athena are saluting the winner Cassiopeia at the top of the scene.

4. The lower right panel depicts a music competition between the flute player Marsyas (piper), a Selenos, and Apollo, God of the arts, patron of the Muses and a magnificent lyre-player. After being defeated by Apollo, Marsyas is sentenced to death for daring to challenge the god. Apollo is shown seated on a rock, next to a female figure bearing the inscription Plan (Delusion). Two Scythians carry out Apollo’s order. Marsyas looks pleadingly towards Apollo. In front of the god’s feet, Olympus, his young student, begs the god to show mercy.

5. The lower left panel depicts the Triumphal Procession of the god Dionysos through the world. Dionysos rides on his chariot, which is drawn by two centaurs, holding a lyre and a flute. A half-naked Maenad leads the procession, while a young satyr, in the centre of the panel, offers fruit to the god. The chariot is followed by Tropheus, the god’s tutor, and a girl with a basket on her heard. Today, only Dionysos’ hand is visible holding a torch as well as his crossed legs. This scene here differs from other Dionysiac processions since it is presented as a serious ceremony where drunken satyrs and dancers in ecstasy are absent.

That's it for our look at the mosaics of Aion and Theseus. In the next blog we will head north towards the main designs, in the House of Dionysos.