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DOURIS
Diana Buitron-Oliver
6. Middle Period Part 2
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Two women preparing wool are featured in the tondo of a cup in Berlin
(Berlin F 2289;
Illustration 49; Illustration 50;
Illustration 51).
The seated woman is spinning or combing wool without implements, rolling
the fibers between hand and shin, a process for which an onos or epinetron
might be used, although it is absent in this scene. Douris and his
contemporaries often represented women occupied with the crafts for which they
were esteemed in antiquity. The scenes on the interior and exterior of this
cup might be interpreted as illustrating the different social lives of men and
women. The males on the exterior are revelers perhaps returning home from a
party. One of them wears a sakkos instead of a wreath, perhaps in imitation of
'Anacreontic' dress, a style of clothing associated with Anacreon's stay in
Athens.[13]
Among the mythological scenes painted in the Middle Period is one of
Douris' masterpieces: a cup in Paris with Eos and Memnon in the tondo
(Louvre G 115;
Illustration 52; Illustration 53).
The forms of the composition work in harmony with the subject matter to
evoke a feeling of noble pathos. Eos forms a strong central vertical, her
robes and wings powerful yet graceful. The impression of her strength is
reinforced by the ease with which she lifts the stiff, brittle corpse of
Memnon. His body forms a diagonal across the tondo, his right leg, arms, and
head (but not his hair) drooping, while his torso remains stiff. His body
seems almost weightless. Eos' wings are lifted suggesting her imminent flight
to carry her son home to Africa. Her face is without emotion, and it is her
strength and larger size in relation to Memnon that convey her protective,
maternal role and elicit our compassion. This masterly adjustment of the size
of the figures in relation to the space of the tondo, the sense of repose and
inevitability with which the story is told again bring forth a classic spirit.
The exterior shows fight scenes. On side A, Menelaos chases Paris, whose
mouth is open as he gasps for breath; Hera and Artemis are in the wings. On
side B, Athena and Apollo flank Ajax, who, armed with shield and spear, has
hurled a rock at Hector, a method of combat he resorted to several times
according to Homer
(Hom. Il. 7.268-272;
Hom. Il. 14.409-415).
[13]Kurtz & Boardman 1986, 50-70; for
another interpretation see Keuls 1985, 357; compare
Munich 2647 below.
Part 3 of this Section
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