The Chest of Cypselus at Olympia

• Section 2

  The Francois Vase Attic black-figure volute krater, circa 570-560 BC Found in Francois Tomb in Etruria Collection: Florence, Archaeological Museum Image from Furtwangler & Reichhold, pl. 3 For colored image of vase from the Agnes Scott College web page, click here.

  According to Peter Levi (Levi, 1971, p. 250), based on the description of Pausanias, the most striking analogies to the rich, crowded narrative composition of the chest of Cypselus are on the Francois vase, although the style of the painter Kleitias on the Francois vase is more vigorous and sharply conceived than most Corinthian work of this date.

  Pausanias' general descriptions of statues dedicated at Olympia in honor of victorious athletes (and the inscriptions written on their bases) show that themes of interest were the city-state from which the athlete came, his family, which pan-hellenic games he had participated in and won, and any battles or military victories in which he had taken part.

  The poetry of Pindar, which also served a similar function in the immortalization of athletic heroes, shows the same interest. In Pindar's Nemean Ode 5, he states his recognition of the role of his poetry: "I am not a sculptor, to make statues that stand motionless on the same pedestal. Sweet song, go on every merchant ship and rowboat. . . " Both the statue inscriptions and the poems of Pindar use images from mythology to establish or to remind their audience of the renown of the city-state from which the athlete came. In a parallel fashion, the chest of Cypselus focuses on the mythology surrounding the Olympic games, the agonistic struggle for power at Corinth, and various colorful scenes.

  Curiously enough, as Pausanias points out, none of the mythological scenes proper to Corinth are represented. (Paus. 5.18.7). Based on Pindar's Olympian Ode 13, typical mythological allusions to the city included the story of Pegasus and Bellerophon, and the figures of Poseidon and Aletes. In the case of the Cypselid dedication, the focus is removed from the city-state of Corinth and is placed squarely on the person of Cypselus, who is virtually represented in personified form by the object from which he took his name.

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  Introduction
  Background: tyrants of archaic city-states
  Brief biography of Cypselus
  The Chest of Cypselus
  Other Dedications of Cypselus and the Cypselids at Pan-Hellenic sites
  Conclusion
  Bibliography

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