holy shit this took forever
DEATH DANCE! :D
below is just the background and me explaining the symbolism!
first tier is the flower and skull one! the coins on the skull represent the charon's obol, which was a ancient greek funerary rite where they put coins(specifically obols) in the corpse's mouth to pay for the ferryman however its actually a myth that they were placed on the eye lids, i kinda did that here for aesthetic reasons. the flowers are hyacinths, chrysanthemums and poppies which all respectfully represent death in one way or another. chrysanthemums in particular where the go to flowers for funerals.
second tier is the spinning coin, which in a athens obol, although obols minted in different parts of ancient greece would have different designs, the athen obol was the most comon in excavation so i did that design bc its most recognisable.
3rd (5th and 7th) are meanders, theyre a sacred pattern in ancient greece seen on alot of architecture, it symbolises the cycle of life, birth, reproduction, death, rinse and repeat. some cults believed in reincarnation but not everyone subscribed to that idea
4th tier are just satyrs dancing. I used alot of inspiration from greek art, although satyrs are usually depicted with having constantly erect dicks, i decided to just make their pubes like super long, even though satyrs are male nature spirits, because theyre a species here i added some women (they have pseudo penises, like hyenas. bc i said so) also fun fact satyrs used to be depicted as horse like humans, but later adopted more goat traits.
6th tier are just the coffin carriers, so before the sun rises they would carry the body to the burial ground. this funerary process was called ekphora
8th and last tier are the overfilling cups and vases (mainly) used for wine. there are multiple types of vases used for storing, pouring, stirring and drinking wine and water (or oil, not for drinking though). i specifically used the oinochoe as the pouring cup, pouring into the skyphos which was the drinking cup. and amphora for the storing vases.
and the character displayed in the foreground is none other than my dnd character! Orion! (surpisingly the name orion doesnt have symbolic meaning, its just a nice name)
