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Drinking cup (kylix) with Athena, Herakles, and Eros
Italic, Etruscan
Late Classical Period
380–350 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
10.1 cm (4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of William Norton Bullard
Accession Number90.69
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Vase-Painting in Italy (MFA), no. 168.
DescriptionInterior: Kneeling female figure (Athena), before whom a man (Herakles) holds an Eros.
ITALIAN VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #168 (90.69)
Fragment of a Kylix
380-350 B.C.
Interior: A nude male holds the struggling Eros in a tight embrace, as though crushing him. Athena, identified by her aegis and wearing a bordered peplos and shoes, stands at the right, one foot resting on low support. Her right hand rests on her knee. If the object leaning against Athena's footrest is a club, the man is Herakles,but the identification is not certain.
Beazley (EVP, p. 298) noted the "fine style" and "unique subject." In the richness and freedom of its composition and in it's rendering of anatomy, the cup outdoes practically all other Etruscan kylikes, but the surprisingly mannered arrangement of the undulating hemline looks forward to the kylikes of the Clusium Group (cat. no. 169). No ancient author mentions any animosity between Herakles and Eros, but an allegorical meaning may be intended: the hero conquers love, just as he overcomes old age when he attacks Geras. Some Attic vases show Aphrodite punishing the mischievousness of Eros; perhaps the god of love has been caught trying to steal Herakles' weapons, as the satyrs occasionally are shown doing.
ITALIAN VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #168 (90.69)
Fragment of a Kylix
380-350 B.C.
Interior: A nude male holds the struggling Eros in a tight embrace, as though crushing him. Athena, identified by her aegis and wearing a bordered peplos and shoes, stands at the right, one foot resting on low support. Her right hand rests on her knee. If the object leaning against Athena's footrest is a club, the man is Herakles,but the identification is not certain.
Beazley (EVP, p. 298) noted the "fine style" and "unique subject." In the richness and freedom of its composition and in it's rendering of anatomy, the cup outdoes practically all other Etruscan kylikes, but the surprisingly mannered arrangement of the undulating hemline looks forward to the kylikes of the Clusium Group (cat. no. 169). No ancient author mentions any animosity between Herakles and Eros, but an allegorical meaning may be intended: the hero conquers love, just as he overcomes old age when he attacks Geras. Some Attic vases show Aphrodite punishing the mischievousness of Eros; perhaps the god of love has been caught trying to steal Herakles' weapons, as the satyrs occasionally are shown doing.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: William Norton Bullard Collection; gift of William Norton Bullard to MFA, March 1890