Eros and Psyche

White marble relief inserted above a water basin in the podium's Mithraeum. The relief which was carefully framed with a red border, represents a nude winged child Eros with a flaming torch in his outstretched left hand. With his right hand he takes Psyche under one arm to lead her away. She is wearing a long diaphanous dress the hem of which she is holding in her right hand. She has on her shoulders delicate wings like those of a butterfly.

It is remarkable that a marble group of Eros and Phyche has been found in the Iseum at Savaria also. This means that in the Mithraic and Isaic mysteries, as in Christian art, the two children have a symbolic meaning: the soul is illuminated and guided by Eros on its journey to the hereafter. This is the reason that both often occur on funeral monuments.

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