Terracotta pelike (wine jar)

Painter of Munich 2365

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, battle between Arimaspeans and griffins Reverse, three youths conversing The Greek historian Herodotus described a legendary race of one-eyed men living in the far north who were in constant battle with the griffins guarding hoards of gold. The men were called Arimaspeans by the nomadic Scythians who dominated the steppes north of the Black Sea, and also by the Greeks. The subject matter is appropriate indeed for a group of fourth century Attic vases that were found in considerable quantity in southern Russia, specifically Kerch, whence that name, which is often used for them.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art