Terracotta calyx-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Obverse, the death and apotheosis of Herakles Reverse, Amymone surprised by satyrs Horribly burned by a charm that his wife gave him in a misguided attempt to revive his love, Herakles had a funeral pyre built and threw himself on it to die. In the elaborate scene on the obverse, he is already in a quadriga (four-horse chariot) driven by Nike and preceded by Hermes and is on the way to Mount Olympos, where Dionysos, Apollo, and Ares await him. Herakles leaves behind on the fire a corselet signifying the husk of his mortal self. Below, Athena urges nymphs to quench the funeral pyre. The youths are Herakles' nephew, Iolaos, the hero Philoktetes (with quiver and bow), and probably Herakles' son, Hylos. The scene on the reverse is in rather light-hearted contrast. Beset by satyrs, Amymone is defending herself with an available thyrsos. She was finally rescued by Poseidon, who took her for himself. A spring, named after her, welled up where the god struck the ground with his trident. The power of water clearly connects the representations on each side of the vase.
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.