According to Greek mythology, Stafylos was the son of the god Dionysus and Ariadne. In another legend, Staphylos was a shepherd of the king of Aetolia, Oeneas. As he was grazing his goats, he noticed that one of them, eating a certain fruit constantly, became fatter than the others. He then gathered several and offered them to his king. He made a juice which he called “oinos” (wine), and gave the fruit the name of his shepherd (stafyli which means grape).
A moment of innocent pleasure
A moment of enjoyment set in the upper left corner of Syntagma Square; a young naked boy sitting on a basket full of grapes prepares to eat a bunch. The result of a teenage scandal or the enjoyment of the fruits of his labor? Be that as it may, such an image in the heart of the city catches the eye because it brings the forgotten nature into the urban reality and the childish carelessness into a world of anxious adults. The grape, since ancient times, is full of symbolism. Dionysus, the god of wine and feasting, has been depicted countless times with a bunch of grapes. A little modern Dionysus here too, a naughty and eternal teenager, one could say? The grape; the fruit of the transition: with one foot in late summer and with the other in autumn. Syntagma Square also symbolizes a transition: it took its name from the Constitution granted by King Otto to the Greek people after the Revolution of September 3rd, 1843, when the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy took place. Within this city everything is connected. As long as you have the desire to observe and think – in the case of this particular sculpture, as much as the table seats allow, unfortunately.
Original sculptor:
Dimitrios Filippotis
Material:
Βronze