Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Painter of the Nicosia Olpe

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse and reverse, birth of Athena from the head of Zeus Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, had the distinction of being born fully formed and fully armed from the head of Zeus, the chief of the gods. Much favored during the first half of the sixth century B.C., scenes of this event include numerous figures and allow for various responses to the unusual circumstances. Here the birth has occurred, and Athena is about to sally forth from her father's lap.

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