Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
Obverse, Gigantomachy (battle of gods and giants)
Reverse, Dionysos with satyrs and maenads
During the latter part of the sixth century B.C., black-figure artists mastered their medium sufficiently to create compositions with many figures in action and in complex spatial relationships. Battle scenes were ideal subjects. The presence of Athena identifies the combatants here. The arms and armor are those that contemporary Greek soldiers would have used.
Dionysos and his followers on the reverse could, potentially, create similar din and confusion. Here, they appear sprightly but orderly.
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