The Kleophrades Painter
Michael Padgett, Princeton University

8. Harvard 1960.236: The Return of Hephaistos Part 1

The subject is the Return of Hephaistos to Olympus. Because of his lameness, the god of fire was not respected by his parents Zeus and Hera, who flung him out of Olympus so that he fell to earth (Hom. Il. 1.590-94; Hom. Il. 18.395-97). To trick them into recalling him, the crafty god sent Hera a throne; she sat on it and was unable to rise, and only Hephaistos knew how to release her. Ares was sent to bring him back, but Hephaistos drove him off with hot coals. Dionysos succeeded with a gentler method, getting him drunk on wine, putting him on a donkey, and bringing him back amid a raucous procession of satyrs. A comic version of the story was included in the Komastai of Epicharmos, a Sicilian contemporary of the Kleophrades Painter,[49] but the subject had long been a favorite with Attic vase-painters, beginning with Kleitias on the François Vase (Florence 4209; ABV, 76, 1).[50]

A continuous procession circles the vase to the right, as on the painter's later version of the subject (see below), but the central placement of Dionysos and Hephaistos on opposite sides divides the frieze into two halves. On the side with Dionysos, the satyr at the far right is, like all the satyrs on the vase, nude and ithyphallic, but unlike the others, who have thick hair and long flowing tresses, he is bald on top and has shorter hair (Illustration 41). These traits and the position he occupies may be intentional hints that this satyr is at the head of the procession. The satyr's lower body is in profile to the right, but he twists around to tickle the testicles of the satyr behind him (Illustration 42).[51]

Illustration 41

Illustration 42

Illustration 43

Illustration 44

There is a red wreath in his hair, and with his left arm he clutches a large and apparently full wineskin, which like all the animal skins on the vase (except the flute-case) is tinted brown with dilute glaze. The tickled satyr throws his head back as he plays the double-pipes (auloi); a leopard skin covers his shoulders (Illustration 43). Behind him, at left, Dionysos is striding to the right while looking back to the left, a grapevine with leaves of added red in his left hand, a black-bodied kantharos in his right. He wears a leopard-skin over his short chiton and has a himation slung over both shoulders; the brown, spotted skin makes a handsome contrast with the stylized folds of the cloak (Illustration 44). There are laced shoes on his feet (tinted brown with dilute glaze) and a wreath of ivy with reserved leaves on his head. In physique, he is every bit as stocky and thick-limbed as the satyrs, a powerful figure in which the influence of Euthymides is at its most evident.

Illustration 45

Illustration 46

Illustration 47

Illustration 48

The satyr to the left of Dionysos is playing a barbiton, striking the strings with a plektron attached to the lyre by a red cord (Illustration 45). His head is thrown back and his mouth opened in song (Illustration 46). Like the piper, he wears a red wreath and a spotted leopard-skin; in this case, the head of the cat can be seen hanging at his shoulder. Next in line is a satyr carrying a large volute-krater, the handles of which overlap the rim above (Illustration 47). [52] His knees are bent and his face is turned frontal, giving him a distinctly comical appearance.[53] The next satyr, on the handle side, wears a red wreath in his long, lavishly detailed tresses and carries a pair of hammers, the tools of Hephaistos (Illustration 48).

51. Cf. the hetaira who uses her flute to bestir the komast on the reverse of Würzburg L 507; Illustration 62

Illustration 62

52. Cf. the satyr carrying a volute-krater in an earlier black-figure depiction of the Return of Hephaistos, by an artist of the Medea Group: Anonymous (Moon No. 56); Moon 1979, 96-97, no. 56.