The Macedonians of northern Greece buried their dead with rich grave goods, including meticulously made gold jewelry. This impressive ensemble shows the incredible refinement of Greek gold work in the fourth century B.C. The earrings in this set are of special interest. Each features a solid-cast nude boy in the clutches of a majestic eagle. The boy is the young Trojan prince Ganymede, whom Zeus carried away up to Olympus to be his cup-bearer. The eagle is Zeus’ bird, or Zeus himself, tenderly holding Ganymede in his talons.

The Greek goldsmith treated the earrings as sculpture in miniature and lavished them with a wealth of fine detail. Look at the eagle’s feathers and the delicate wisp of drapery fluttering in the air. The toes of Ganymede’s front foot are flexed; perhaps he is just touching down on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods.

This motif works beautifully for a pair of drop earrings, dangling over the wearer's shoulders. But the goldsmith probably adapted the composition from a piece of large-scale sculpture. The ancient writer Pliny described one such work in these words: “The eagle senses what a prize he is ravishing in Ganymede, and to whom he is carrying him.”