DESCRIPTION:

The three porticoes that run along the North, South and East sides of the atrium depict hunting scenes. The composition develops into a long, narrow continuous frieze where there are pairs of hunters and animals or moving animals that are running in different directions. Hunting was a very popular activity of the elite and is one of the most common themes on mosaic floors, mainly in North Africa. As the theme spread throughout the Roman empire so did the depiction of many wild animals that did not exist in the areas that used the theme. Therefore, in the mosaic of the “House of Dionysos” there are depicted animals such as lions, tigers, leopards and bears that do not belong to the indigenous fauna of Cyprus. However, in the Eastern portico, among the wild animals are included two moufflons, the well-known animal of the Cypriot fauna, which has survived to this day mainly in the dense forest of Pafos. Of particular interest is the scene at the Eastern end of the Northern portico where a leopard holds in its mouth the head of an onager lying dead behind it.