Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, between eyes, warrior and woman (Menelaos and Helen?) Reverse, between eyes, fight Graffito under the foot: I am Melousa's prize; she won the girl's carding contest The special interest of this kylix lies in the inscription. It is surprising that a girl who won a carding contest would choose or be given a cup decorated with military scenes. One explanation is that the prize was chosen from the potter's stock. When Menelaos reclaimed his wife, Helen, at Troy, he approached her threateningly but was disarmed by her beauty. If this is the subject of the obverse, the other combats also concern the Trojan War.

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