
Terracotta hydria: kalpis (water jar)
Erbach Painter
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Poseidon and Amymone surrounded by Eros, Apollo, Dionysos, and attendants Amymone was attacked by a satyr and rescued by the sea god Poseidon who, however, took her for himself. Her name was given to a spring that welled up where Poseidon struck the ground with his trident. In this scene, Eros seems to preside over a harmonious gathering of Dionysos with his followers and Poseidon, who occupies the center of the scene with Amymone standing beside him.
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.