Griffin motifs in the 1st C AD

[john m roberts]

I don't see a torch. What I see is an actor's mask in profile. It's the wide-open mouth that identifies it as a theatrical mask. The dolphin was sometimes a symbol for the god Dionysus. Dionysus was of Thracian origin and the griffin was often representative of Thrace. The Thracian gladiators wore a griffin terminal on their helmet crests. As for a link, the great theater in Athens was the Theater of Dionysus. So I am guessing that these ornaments have some Dionysian connection.