http://collections.mfa.org/collections/315164/objects/rdfAGR.Greek Mythologyhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/988392/resize%3Aformat%3Dfullhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1016167/resize%3Aformat%3DfullArchitrave relief from the Temple of Athena at Assos with a scene of Herakles and Centaursabout 540–525 B.C.AndesiteThe taenia and regula (without guttae) of a Doric architrave are at the top of the block, a similar taenia at the bottom, and a narrower, raised band at the right end. Within this frame appears the adventure of Herakles with the centaurs of Mount Pholoë. The upper part of the centaur Pholos, the host of Herakles, is preserved at the left end. He is bearded, nude, and has human forelegs. He holds a large wine cup in his right hand, and lifts his left in a gesture of astonishment.In front of him Herakles, beardless and nude, stands in profile to the right, bending forward, with his left leg advanced. He is drawing his bow, while before him three centaurs flee rapidly to the right. All three are bearded and have human forelegs. The first and third look back as they run, and carry what appear to be clubs, one in his right, the other in his left hand. The centaur in the middle is without a weapon, stretching out one arm in front and one behind him. The lower parts of all three centaurs are exactly alike; the left foreleg is advanced and the equine hind legs are placed side by side. The hind legs of two of the centaurs overlap the thigh of the following figure.Broken in two, the relief is incomplete and broken irregularly, at the left end; the upper right-hand corner has been broken off. The surfaces are worn, both chipped and weathered. The surfaces are now a crusty brown.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151022/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/856758/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCameo with the wedding of Cupid and Psyche, or an initiation rite50–25 B.C.TryphonOnyxLayered onyx. Cameo. The wedding of Cupid and Psyche. Incised Greek inscription: "Tryphon made it."http://collections.mfa.org/objects/155692/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/942489/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCovered drinking cup (kylix) with Apollo and a Museabout 460 B.C.the Carlsruhe PainterCeramic, white ground technique with added clay and gilding on interior of cover; red-figure technique on rim and exteriorBoth the form and decoration of this cup are extremely unusual. The cover, seen here from above, was not designed to open. The cup was filled through a hollow in its stemmed base, and libations were poured out through the opening in the cover. The cup depicts the god Apollo appearing before one of the nine Muses, goddesses of the arts, whom he led and inspired. The lyre this Muse holds was originally gilded. She sits on a rock and wears a light brown dress (chiton).The exterior sides of the cup are decorated with two (one on each side) fully draped women running, carrying sprigs.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/154002/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1012854/resize%3Aformat%3DfullDrinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey550–525 B.C.the Painter of the Boston PolyphemosCeramic, Black FigureSide A: Circe and the companions of Odysseus, eight figures. Circe appears in center mixing her potion for Odysseus' men. The men have animal heads and arms, but retain their human lower bodies. Eurylochus escapes the scene at far right and Odysseus enters at far left. Side B: Odysseus in the cave of Polyphemos, seven figures. Polyphemos is the central figure, kneeling on one knee in a state of drunkenness. Odysseus' companions bring more wine from the left. Odysseus appears at right with an oinochoe containing more wine. Athena stands behind Odysseus, as his guardian. Meaningless inscriptions. A large break in B. Entire foot restored.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153469/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/988392/resize%3Aformat%3DfullHead of Polyphemosabout 150 B.C. or laterMarble, Dolomitic from the Greek island of ThasosThis head comes from a group, probably of the blinding of Polyphemos, similar to that constructed from fragments found in the grotto at Sperlonga, along the Italian coast southwest of Rome. Polyphemos is based, in details of hair and beard, on a Pergamene centaur. The sculptor was wise in rejecting the older tradition, one seen in Hellenistic terracottas, of showing the monstrous giant as a kind of fat-faced baboon, with large ears and his eye set like a beacon light in the middle of his forehead. Here the rugged, animal power of the creature has been stressed.Broken off through the neck and the lower whiskers, the head is in relatively excellent condition, save for the damage to the beard below the mouth. The marble has a yellow-buff tone. This is the head of the one-eyed, man-eating Cyclops whom Odysseus finally outwitted and blinded. Here the monster is in a peaceful mood, either waiting to receive the cup of wine offered him by Odysseus, or, more likely, gazing love-struck at the indifferent sea nymph Galatea. The head comes from a sculptural group that might have adorned a public fountain or a luxurious seaside villa. The type originated in the second century B.C., yet the lively and direct style of this piece makes difficult to judge whether it is a contemporary variant or a Roman copy.Scientific Analysis: Marble has been scientifically tested with X-Ray Diffraction and determined to be Dolomitic. Harvard Lab No. HI363: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.85 / delta18O -3.03, Attribution - Thasos-Cape Vathy, Justification - Dolomitic by XRD.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151108/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1270844/resize%3Aformat%3DfullHigh-handled cup (kantharos) with scenes from the Gigantomachyabout 470–460 B.C.the Amphitrite PainterCeramic, Red FigureThis high-handled cup (kantharos) has struts and thumb rests on handles. The kantharos is the type of wine cup favored by the god Dionysus and the hero Herakles.Side A: Poseidon attacking the giant Polybotes. He hurls a mass of rock, the island of Nisyros, in his left hand and holds a trident in his right hand. His long hair is wreathed. The giant, wounded on his right side, turns and falls, but tries to strike out with his sword. Side B: Dionysos attacks a giant with the end of his thyrsos and a serpent. He wears a wreath of ivy. The giant is fallen on one knee, but still grasps his sword. Around upper surface of foot inscribed in Greek. Signed by the potter "Hieron, son of Medon" (IEPONMEΔONTOSEΠOI[E]). Condition: Repaired with some restoration, not affecting images.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153642/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1146358/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMixing bowl (bell krater) with the death of Aktaion and a pursuit sceneabout 470 B.C.the Pan PainterCeramic, Red FigureTwo sided red-figure bell krater used for mixing wine and water. Side A: Artemis shooting an arrow at Aktaion who has fallen to the ground attacked by his hunting dogs. Aktaion was a hunter, and the goddess of the hunt killed him by turning him into a stag, so that his own dogs tore him to pieces. This elegant rendering of the myth, with Artemis drawing her bow for the coup de grace, and the helpless hero sinking beneath the onslaught of the hounds, is considered one of the greatest of all Athenian vase paintings.Side B: The artist is named the Pan Painter after this scene of the goat-god Pan chasing a young shepherd wearing a fawn-skin (nebris), and a rustic sun hat. The god of flocks obviously has love on his mind, perhaps inspired by the ithyphallic herm standing on a hill in the background. Herms were stone or wooden shafts with the head of the god Hermes, rudimentary arms, and a large carved phallos. Apart from their religious significance, which is poorly understood, they often served to mark boundaries and the intersections of roads. The rustic setting of this herm relates it to Priapos, or some other god of fertility. Pan is not represented in Athenian art until after the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., when he was said to have caused a "panic" in the Persian ranks. When one remembers that, like the Persians, Aktaion was punished for his pride, and that his death occurred on the slopes of Mt. Kithairon, the site of the Persian defeat at Plataia, the entire vase becomes a symbol and a memorial of triumph of Athens over Persians. Condition: Broken and repaired.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153654/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/863753/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMixing bowl (calyx krater) with the killing of Agamemnonabout 460 B.C.the Dokimasia PainterCeramic, Red FigureBoth sides of this vase illustrate tragic scenes from the story of King Agamemnon's return to Mycenae after the fall of Troy.While Agamemnon was away at war, his wife Klytemnestra took as her lover Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthos. On the king's return home, Aegisthos and Klytemnestra plotted to kill Agamemnon. In one scene, Aegisthos gets ready to plunge a sword into Agamemnon, wet from the bath and trapped in a net. Klytemnestra carries an ax to assist her lover. Three other women witness the horrific crime. These women are perhaps Chrysothemis and Elektra, Agamemnon's younger and older daughters, and Kassandra, his slave. Following the first brutal murder, the honorable children of Klytemnestra and Agamemnon avenged the death of their father. Orestes, whipped to action by his sister Elektra, enters the palace to kill Aegisthos who was seated playing the lyre (barbitos). Elektra stands to the right encouraging her brother's actions, while her mother Klytemnestra rushes in with a double axe aimed at her son's head.The Aeolic columns under the handles suggest the palace of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra at Mycenae.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153661/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1350670/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOil flask (lekythos); with figure of a Siren at frontlate 5th–early 4th century B.C.Ceramic, figuralFront in form of Siren, profile to right, head in full front, playing the sambuca (small harp). Body of Siren and base of vase are white. Red and blue are used. Handle missing, vase chipped in places.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/154025/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1350700/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOval gem with Kassandra kneeling at Palladionlate 1st century B.C.CarnelianIntaglio. Image carved on convex side. Set in modern gold bezel and loop ring. Kassandra, nude except for a garment draped over her right thigh and upper arm, kneels before a statuette of armed Athena (the Trojan Palladion). She bows her head and holds a branch in her left hand, while clasping the image of Athena with her right. Her hair flows down her neck and shoulders in waves; she wears a laurel wreath. Her torso is rendered in three-quarters view, while the head and legs are in profile. The statuette of Athena stands with one leg forward, wearing a long, belted garment (chiton) and a crested helmet. She holds a spear across her left shoulder; and on her right arm, a shield decorated with a gorgon's head. The statue is placed upon a rectangular pedestal, atop a separate plinth. Motif situated on a ground line.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/242518/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/889076/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSarcophagus with triumph of Dionysosabout A.D. 215–225Marble, from the island of Proconnesus in the Sea of Marmara near IstanbulThe god of wine and dramatic festivals, in full choral attitude, steps into a biga drawn by two Indian elephants with fringed cloths on their backs. He is supported by his companion the satyr Ampelos and attended by the complete Dionysiac train of Sileni, pans, satyrs, maenads, and the exotic animals of his triumph in India.The inscription reads :M~VIBIO~M~FIL~LIBERALI~PRAET~M~VIBIVS~AGESILAVS~IVNIOR~NVTRICIO~SUO~FEC ("Marcus Vibius Agesilaus junior made (it) for Marcus Vibius Liberalis, son of Marcus, the praetor, his foster-father" ).The condition is, generally speaking, superb, with the small breaks, missing limbs, and absent attributes apparent from illustrations. The surfaces, particularly of the nude or seminude figures, retain their high polish. There are no restorations of the kind that ruin so many sarcophagi. The sections cracked or broken through have been carefully rejoined, and the missing pieces of the lid hardly detract from the visual sweep and rhythm of the triumphal procession. The three-volume corpus of Dionysiac sarcophagi reveals that very few of these monuments of Greek art in the Roman Empire have their original (or any) lids preserved in any form or condition.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151242/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1071200/resize%3Aformat%3DfullStatuette of Aphrodite rising from the sea (Anadyomene)100 B.C.–A.D. 70MarbleNude female figure of Aphrodite Anadyomene arranging her long hair, based on a Hellenistic prototype. The goddess of love and beauty, is shown drying herself after being born full-grown from the sea. In Greek the theme is entitled "Aphrodite Anadyomene," and the birth was thought to have taken place off the coast of Cyprus. She stands on her own pedestal, her left hip resting against a support in the form of a drapery-covered stump. A garment for her use is draped over the tree stump. This composition could also be interpreted as Aphrodite emerging from her bath. Such sculptures had a great popularity in gardens where water basins or fountains were present.This statuette is intact, with an even yellow patina on the surfaces.Scientific Analysis: Harvard Lab No. HI224: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.34 / delta18O -5.99, Attribution - Naxos, Sardis, Justification - Medium to coarse grained marble.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/150256/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1086013/resize%3Aformat%3DfullTwo-handled jar (amphora) depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes450–440 B.C.the Achilles PainterCeramic, Red FigureSide A: Sphinx on Doric column; youth (Oidipous) facing her.Side B: Youth in himation, stands facing left.[Label text]:Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes are depicted on this vase. Having solved her riddle, Oedipus saved the city of Thebes from the wrath of this bizarre monster.On the back of the amphora is another youth.Nolanhttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/153615/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1037632/resize%3Aformat%3DfullTwo-handled jar (amphora) depicting the Judgment of Paris and the recovery of Helenabout 510–500 B.C.the Group of Würzburg 199Ceramic, Black FigureSide A: Judgment of Paris. Hermes, with a dog walking beside him, leads Hera, holding a long scepter, Athena, fully-armed, and Aphrodite. Side B: Scene from the Iliupersis. Menelaos walking right, looks back and turns to seize veiled Helen by the edge of her himation while threatening her with his sword. Behind her, a warrior (Agamemnon?) carrying two spears and a shield walks left, looking back.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153421/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/851995/resize%3Aformat%3DfullTwo-handled jar (amphora) with Herakles driving a bull to sacrificeabout 525–520 B.C.the Andokides PainterCeramic, Black Figure and Red Figure (Bilingual)This amphora is decorated on both sides but in different painting techniques. One side has a scene depicted in the Red Figure style, and the other side shows the same scene in the Black Figure style. This type of decoration puts the vase into the so-called Bilingual group.The traditional attributions for the painter is: the Black Figure (side A) is by the Lysippides Painter, and the Red Figure (side B) is by the Andokides Painter.Both sides depict Herakles driving a bull to sacrifice, past a tree, holding his club in his right hand, and in his left the rope fastened round the horns of the bull, also a bundle of spits. He wears a short tunic (chitoniskos), a lionskin, a belt, has sword and quiver slung, by crossbands, at his left flank, carries two small wineskins, apparently empty, over his left arm. The bull's head is filleted with colorful ribbons, and the woollen fillet has the form commonly used for this purpose as for others, tied at intervals and the ends splayed. Condition: Considerably restored.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153401/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1000612/resize%3Aformat%3DfullUpper part of a grave stele: seated sphinx (sphinx and capital)about 530 B.C.Marble, either island (sphinx and plinth) or Pentelic (capital)Sphinx and plinth were carved in island marble separately from the Pentelic marble capital. This plinth was let into a socket at the top of the capital and secured in a bed of molten lead. There is a large socket on the underside of the capital, with a pour hole from the back side. The abacus and the base of the capital are flush with the volutes, and all surfaces have been smoothed, except the plinth of the sphinx, which shows point or punch marks. The sphinx crouches to the right, with hind-quarters lifted and head turned to the front. The end of her curving tail rests on her right haunch. The hair, originally black, is shown as a mass descending to the shoulders and divided vertically and horizontally by grooves. The feathers of the wings are carved in relief and were painted alternately green, black, red, and blue. The feathers on the breast form a scale pattern, painted in alternate rows of red and green. The rib of each wing and the flat molding at the top of each foreleg are green. The capital is of lyre design, consisting of two double volutes, with palmettes in all the interstices. It is open in the center and richly decorated with incised and painted designs. The front and ends of the base are enriched with a delicately carved guilloche. The abacus has four-pointed stars set on three-petaled palmettes, three in front and one on each end. The outer sides of the volutes are incised and painted with a large lotus and palmette pattern. Alternating red and black colors complement the form, carving and incision. Sphinx and capital have been broken into a number of pieces and rejoined, with slight restorations at the joins. There is more restoration in the lower part of the capital than elsewhere, but this is to a great extent supplanted by an extra piece acquired nearly twenty years after the original purchase was first undertaken. The surfaces are very fresh. The fragments with the parts of the dedicatory inscription have the handsome golden yellow patina of the best Pentelic marble.See: 40.724a-b for inscribed fragments.See also Cls. Inv. 186. Nov. 2012: please note that Cls. Inv. 186 is actually 40.724b.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151019/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1354995/resize%3Aformat%3DfullWater jar (hydria) with the chariot of Achilles dragging the corpse of Hektorabout 520–510 B.C.the Antiope GroupCeramic, Black FigureA hydria with the dramatic scene of Achilles dragging the body of Hector behind his chariot; to the left Priam and Hecuba, parents of Hector, mourn him in the Trojan palace as Achilles with round shield stares at them; to the right, the tomb of Patroklos with his soul charging out from it; snake in front. Winged figure of Iris sent to plead for a ransom of Hector's body. Greek inscriptions of the name 'Hector' (HECTOR) above the body of Hector, and 'Patroklos' (PATROKLOS) on the tomb.On the shoulder: Two quadrigae, one driven by Athena. Herakles pursues Kyknos while Ares rushes from left.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153447/rdf