Terracotta hydria (water jar)

Antimenes Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the body, Herakles and Triton On the shoulder, combat of warriors between two fleeing woman In the predella, animals Triton was a sea-creature born of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite. The combat between Poseidon and Herakles was popular during the later sixth century B.C. and is particularly appropriate to hydriai. This encounter has no story but mainly highlights the strength and resourcefulness of Herakles. The warriors on the neck may be Achilles and Memnon, identifiable by their mothers who witnessed the duel.

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