mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, "the most enduring mythological interpretation". Dionysos greeting Ariadne with her sacred serpent, in the sacred grove for their marriage, symbolized by Cupid with a nuptial torch, in the presence of his foster-father, Silenus The story of the Emperor Augustus' supposed siring by the god Apollo in the form of a snake The younger man is Mark Antony being lured by the wiles of the reclining woman, Cleopatra VII (accompanied by an asp, the alleged type of venomous snake involved in the death of Cleopatra), into losing his manly romanitas and becoming decadent, with the bearded elder male figure being his mythical ancestor Anton looking on. The dream of Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, who is emerging from the building to greet her, with his father Apollo as the serpent. This was the first theory, dating to 1633, and connected to Severus Alexander and his mother, "of whom a similar tale of reptilian paternity was told". Scene 2 Interpretations include: A divinatory dream by Hecuba that the Judgement of Paris would lead to the destruction of Troy Ariadne languishing on Naxos The woman languishing is Octavia Minor, abandoned by Mark Antony, between her brother Augustus (left, as a god, as on the contemporary Sword of Tiberius) and Venus Genetrix, the ancestor of Augustus and Octavia's Julian gens. Octavian theory Another variant theory is that the vase dates back to circa 32 BC, and was commissioned by Octavian (later Caesar Augustus), as an attempt to promote his case against his fellow triumvirs, Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus in the period after the death of Julius Caesar. It is based on the skill of the famous Greek carver of engraved gems Dioskourides, who is recorded as active and at his peak circa 40–15 BC and three of whose attributed cameos bear a close resemblance in line and quality to the Portland vase figures. This theory proposes that the first two figures are Gaius Octavius, father of the future emperor, and Atia, his mother (hence Cupid with the arrow) who had a dream of being impregnated by Apollo in the form of a sea serpent (ketos), note the snake's prominent teeth. The onlooker with his staff, could be Aeneas, a hero of the Trojan Wars who saved his father by carrying him over his back (hence his hunched position, and his Trojan beard) and who is