Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Athena, Athanasia, the wounded Tydeus with the head of Melanippos Reverse, satyr The obverse depicts a remarkable, and key, episode in the myth of the Seven against Thebes. Eteokles and Polyneices, sons of Oedipus, join a force to regain control of their city, Thebes. Tydeus, an ally, was morally wounded by Melanippos, a Theban. Athena had intended to heal and confer immortality on Tydeus. As she approached, she saw Tydeus gnawing the head of Melanippos, and revolted by his action, she departed, taking Athanasia with her. The krater shows the failing Tydeus with Melanippos' head at his feet and Athena drawing away Athanasia, who raises her hands in horror.

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