Terracotta hydria (water jar)

Group of B.M. F 308

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The abduction of Persephone by Hades surrounded by gods The myth of the abduction of Persephone was situated in Sicily. Hades’ chariot occupies the most prominent area of the vase. All around appear deities connected with the event—Zeus, Hades’ brother, whose sanction was needed; Aphrodite and Eros, abettors of Hades’ desire; Demeter, Persephone’s mother; torch-bearing Hecate; and Athena. The vegetation in the scene and the choice of a water jar as the shape emphasize the aspect of fertility in the story. Mythological subjects such as this commonly decorated funerary vases.

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