Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)
Obverse, banqueting scene, possibly Dionysos and Ariadne
Reverse, Herakles and Acheloös
By the second quarter of the sixth century B.C., figural subjects and particularly mythological motifs predominated over animal friezes on Attic vases. The man-headed bull on the reverse identifies the scene as Herakles subduing the river-god Acheloös. The banquet on the obverse may depict the god of wine, Dionysos, with Ariadne, a daughter of King Minos of Crete. Dionysos married her after she was abandoned by the Athenian hero Theseus.
Reverse, Herakles and Acheloös
By the second quarter of the sixth century B.C., figural subjects and particularly mythological motifs predominated over animal friezes on Attic vases. The man-headed bull on the reverse identifies the scene as Herakles subduing the river-god Acheloös. The banquet on the obverse may depict the god of wine, Dionysos, with Ariadne, a daughter of King Minos of Crete. Dionysos married her after she was abandoned by the Athenian hero Theseus.
Artwork Details
- Title: Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)
- Artist: Attributed to the Ptoon Painter
- Period: Archaic
- Date: ca. 570–560 BCE
- Culture: Greek, Attic
- Medium: Terracotta; black-figure
- Dimensions: Overall: 14 3/4 x 10 3/8in. (37.4 x 26.3cm)
diameter of mouth 5 15/16in. (15cm) - Classification: Vases
- Credit Line: Gift of Eugene Holman, 1959
- Object Number: 59.64
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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