Vase Catalog Number: Mississippi 1977.3.61a and b

Decoration:

Side A: Herakles and the Cretan bull. Herakles is depicted as naked and bearded. His sword is at his waist, and his bow and quiver hang in the field over the bull. Herakles has roped the bull around its horns and front legs, causing it to collapse forward into a kneeling position. Hermes stands behind Herakles. He is identified by his traveler's boots with long curling tongues, petasos and kerykeion.

The depiction of Herakles' seventh labor for King Eurystheus begins in Attic vase painting circa 530. This vase shows the typical iconography with Herakles tying or wrestling the bull, into a kneeling position. The unusual feature of the depiction on this vase is the painter's choice of Hermes rather than Iolaos as Herakles' attendant.

Side B: Hermes, Dionysos and a goddess. At the left of the composition Hermes stands facing right. He is identified by his traveler's boots with long tongues, petasos, and kerykeion. Dionysos occupies the center of the composition, moving to the right but looking back at Hermes. He wears a long chiton with himation, and a wreath in his hair. He holds a drinking horn and a vine branch in his hands which are crossed over his chest. At the right, a female figure wearing a chiton and himation holds two small children on her shoulders, with her arms in a position similar to that seen with Dionysos. As is usual for this period, the children are depicted as miniature adults.

The precise identification of this scene, particularly of the female figure, is difficult. Given the female's connection with Dionysos in the scene, she has been identified as Ariadne holding the children of her and Dionysos, Oinopion and Staphylos. However, Robinson 1956 wanted to identify her as Aphrodite holding Eros and Himeros. This identification is supported by a fragment, Athens, Acropolis 2526 on which a female figure holds two infants and the figures are labelled. More recently both Carpenter 1986 and Shapiro 1989 have favored the Aphrodite interpretation over Ariadne. Although the connection between Dionysos and Aphrodite does not seem as clear as that with Ariadne his wife to the modern observer, Carpenter 1986 cites a metaphorical connection between wine and love in sixth century poetry.

As for secondary decoration, the vase has addorsed palmettes on the neck. A zone of tongue pattern separates the neck from the body. The lower body is decorated with a lotus bud chain over a zone of rays. The area under the handles is filled with a palmette and lotus motif. The use of secondary decoration is particularly close to the Antimenes Painter.

Graffiti:

Two mercantile graffiti are preserved on the underside of the foot of the amphora: Johnston 1979 Type 3Eii, and a Type 4E. These same two graffiti appear on a vase in Munich attributed to the Antimenes Painter.

Collection History:

Once in the Robinson collection. Harvard Inv. no. 132.

Shape Description:

Neck amphora with lid.

Sources Used:

Robinson 1956, no. 7; Shapiro 1981a, no. 23; LIMC, V, Herakles no. 2332; LIMC, III, Ariadne, no. 160 and 1069-1070; Carpenter 1986; Shapiro 1989; Johnston 1979

Essay: Shapiro No. 23

(Anne Harrison)