Terracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a woman

Terracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a woman

Syriskos Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Athena seated between two women Reverse, symposium (drinking party) Athena, flanked by two seated women who must also be deities, overlooks the head of her favorite hero, Herakles, identifiable by the lion's skin around his neck. This amusing cup would have enlivened drinking parties like the one shown on the other side above the female head.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a womanTerracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a womanTerracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a womanTerracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a womanTerracotta kantharos (drinking cup) in the form of the heads of Herakles and of a woman

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.