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Terracotta pelike (wine jar)

Attributed to the Pasithea Painter
ca. 400–375 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 159
Obverse, Herakles in the garden of the Hesperides with Okeanos, the personification of the ocean, and two Hesperids. Three names are inscribed: Herakles, Okeanos, Pasithea
Reverse, two youths and a boy

One of the labors of the hero Herakles was to go to the island of the Hesperides beyond the ocean that circled the world and to bring back golden apples guarded by a serpent and a group of immortal women known as Hesperids. A number of vases of the fifth century B.C. show Herakles relaxing with the beautiful Hesperids, who have quieted the serpent and picked the apples for him. Here the seated Hesperid raises her veil in a gesture associated with brides.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta pelike (wine jar)
  • Artist: Attributed to the Pasithea Painter
  • Period: Late Classical
  • Date: ca. 400–375 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; red-figure
  • Dimensions: H.: 9 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (24.8 x 21 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1908
  • Object Number: 08.258.20
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
Bell, Leaded bronze, Greek
Bell
Greek
3rd or 4th century BCE (?)
Terracotta pelike (jar), Dechter Painter, Terracotta, Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Terracotta pelike (jar)
Attributed to the Dechter Painter
ca. 360–340 BCE
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Eretria Painter, Terracotta, Greek, Attic
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)
Attributed to the Eretria Painter
ca. 420 BCE
Cauldron attachment: bull's head, Bronze
Cauldron attachment: bull's head
ca. 7th century BCE
Terracotta pelike (jar), Perth Group, Terracotta, Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Terracotta pelike (jar)
Attributed to the Perth Group
ca. 350–300 BCE

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