The figures on this vessel are fleshy, large, and full of animation; the painter draws them in silhouette, outline, and incised line. The largest band around the body of the vessel is one of the earliest representations in Greek art of a mythological story.

The hero Herakles strides ahead on powerful legs, holding a naked sword. He is about to kill the centaur Nessos on the left. Nessos kneels on his human knees and stretches out his human hands, as though begging for mercy; his horse body extends behind him. Behind Herakles stands a chariot with four stately horses. Herakles’ wife, Deianeira, sits inside. You can still make out her hair, although her face has been lost.

After Herakles and Deianeira were married, they came to a river. Nessos lived there, and offered to help them across. Herakles needed no help himself but asked the centaur to help Deianeira. Nessos decided to keep her for himself and rushed away with her.

On the vase, Herakles has returned Deianeira to the chariot and turned to punish Nessos. The zigzag pattern behind Deianeira’s head reminds us of the water of the river. If you walk around the vase to the place almost beneath the other handle, you'll see another figure, a little man running in, as though he can see everything happening here. On the neck of the vase, in another violent scene, a lion attacks a deer, a motif you will see again in vase-painting and sculpture.