LA ·t Wt:~TERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

AUG 1 R 20nR

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

MEDITERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Vol. 17, 2004

FESTSCHRIFT IN HONOUR OF

J. RICHARD GREEN

Edited by Lesley Beaumont, Craig Barker, and Elizabeth Bollen

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YET ANOTHER RED-FIGURE PANATHENAIC AMPHORA*

J enifer Neils

As often occurs in scholarship, just as soon as one publishes a definitive list of data, another example comes to light. I trust this has also happened to Richard Green who has written so many accounts of Greek pottery shapes, theatrical scenes, and Gnathia vases. Here I offer an overlooked red-figure Panathenaic-shaped amphora that I came across in the storerooms of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University (pls. 9: 1-2) just after I and two colleagues had published a (nearly) complete list of such vases .1 It is of particular interest for its iconography which, like that of many red-figure amphorae of Panathenaic shape, can be related to the Panathenaic festival.

The vase in question was acquired by Harvard in 1960 as part of the bequest of David M. Robinson, but surprisingly it was not published in any of the three CVAs devoted to his collection.2 As a result it was not known to J.D. Beazley and so remained unattributed. The amphora measures 34 em in height, has a disk foot (unslipped on the exterior sides) and a tall echinus-shaped mouth. The subsidiary decoration consists of a band of meander below the figures, black tongues at the shoulder, and red-figure palmette-lotus on the neck. In shape and ornament the Harvard amphora is closest to those produced in the workshop of the Polygnotos Painter, and so can be dated to the last quarter of the 5th century BC, c.420.3

The figural decoration, consisting of three frontally posed figures, is also Polygnotan in style. On A (pl. 9: 1) two standing males flank a low-lying altar. The unbearded youth at the left wears his himation tied around his waist and holds an oinochoe in his lowered right hand. The bearded man at the right wears an ependytes over his sleeveless chiton and is in the act of pouring wine from a stemless kantharos clutched by one handle in his right hand. Both figures are wreathed and hold small pebble-like objects in their extended left hands. They seem to gaze at each other in rapt concentration. On the other side of the vase (pl. 9: 2) is a second, poorly preserved, similarly draped youth holding a kanoun in his left hand and

* I thank David Mitten and Amy Brauer for examining side B of the Harvard amphora, and Ina Boike for assistance in obtaining the illustration of the Darmstadt amphora. I am also very grateful to John Oakley for the measurements and other details of the Harvard vase, as well as useful discussion regarding its attribution .

Standard abbreviations are used in addition to the following:

Bentz-Eschbach

Gebauer

Matheson

Miller 1997

M. Bentz-N. Eschbach (eds.), Panathenalka. Symposion zu den Panathenaischen Preisamphoren (2001)

J. Gebauer, Pompe und Thysia. Attische Tieropferdarstellungen auf schwarz- und rotfigurigen Vasen (2002)

S. B. Matheson, Polygnotos and Vase Painting in Classical Athens (1995)

M. C. Miller, Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC (1997)

MEDITARCH 17,2004,61-64

van Straten F. T. van Straten, Hiera Kala . Images of Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece ( 1995)

1 For the list of red-figure Panathenaic-shaped amphoras compiled by myself, J. Oakley, and H. A. Shapiro, see Bentz­Eschbach 199-202.

2 Arthur M . Sackler Museum , Harvard University Art Museums 1960.371. Bequest of David Moore Robinson. Group of Polygnotus, c.420 BC. H. 33.6-34.1 em, diam. of mouth 8.0 em, diam. of foot 23.2 em. Added red: wreaths and wine on side A; twigs on peaks of kanoun on side B. The vase was originally thought to be South Italian , and only later recognized as Attic by A. D. Trendall. Although unpublished , the vase is listed in the checklist for the exhibition , The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, May 1 to September 20, 1961, p. 20 no. 125. It is also mentioned in Miller 1997 179, n. 180 erroneously as 'formerly Cambridge, Seltman collection '. 3 For amphorae of Panathenaic shape from the Polygnotan group, see Matheson 182-3 .

62 Jenifer Neils

looking to his right. It appears that he also holds an oinochoe in his lowered right hand. In addition to the calm stances of the frontal figures, many details recall the Polygnotan style, namely the curly hair, the foreshortened vases rendered with an interior view, and especially the patterned ependytes.

Also common among Polygnotan Group vases are scenes of sacrifice.4 Typically the priest, dressed in a himation, stands next to the altar and is assisted by one or more youthful acolytes who wear their mantles knotted at the waist. A prototype for the scene on the front of the Harvard amphora can be found on a Nolan amphora from Vulci, attributed to the Niobid Painter.5 Here the oinochoe-holding youth gestures toward the stone altar as the priest pours wine from his stemless kantharos. The priest also has a handful of the pellet-like objects. On both vases it appears that the youth has filled the cup with wine, which the priest then pours onto the altar. However, the altar on the Niobid Painter's vase is a standard b6mos type, whereas that on the Harvard amphora is the rarer eschara type.6 It is unusual in resembling a low, wide, amorphous mound. A smaller mound altar in front of a herm can be found on a bell-krater by the Nicias Painter in the Vatican, but here the mound is surmounted by firewood? Another topped with a bucranium appears in a scene of sacrifice to Heracles on an oinochoe in the circle of the Cadmus Painter, now in Kiel.8 It is conceivable that the painter exaggerated the size of the eschdra because of the wide girth of the vase.

Another exaggerated element is the snake-like object that falls over the edge of the mound at the left and curls up prominently in the centre. It is the osphCts or animal tail and sacrum that is often shown on burning altars in Attic vase-painting. F. T. van Straten has demonstrated that this part of the sacrificial animal was considered the 'god's portion', and the curling of the tail during burning was regarded as an auspicious sign? Here the tail is excessively long, and suggests that the artist was depicting a larger sacrificial animal, such as a cow or an ox.

One of the as yet unsolved aspects of sacrifice scenes is the identification of the pellet-like objects held by the officiant and/or his assistant. On the Harvard amphora both the priest and his acolyte hold a bunch of these small spherical balls in their left hands. While Beazley and T. B. L. Webster identified these pellets as barley corns or olaf, 10 van Straten has argued that they are the thutemata mentioned in conjunction with animal sacrifice in two Attic comediesY The scholion on Aristophanes' Peace (1040) defines the thulemata as alphita (barley meal) added to the god's portion of the sacrifice. Van Straten suggests that this meal was mixed with wine and oil into small lumps so as not to risk extinguishing the fire. This seems a reasonable assumption since the god's portion is already on the altar, and it appears

4 For scenes of sacrifice on Polygnotan vases. see Matheson 276-9. 5 Brooklyn Museum of Art 59.34. Beazley, ARV 604, 57 and 1701; Beazley, Paralipomena 395; Beazley, Addenda2 267. See van Straten no. V303 fig. 147; Gebauer 430 Bv 79; J. Neils-J. Oakley, Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past (2003) 292-3 no.I06.

6 For a recent discussion of altar types as depicted on Attic vases, see G. Ekroth in: C. Scheffer (ed.), Ceramics in Context: Proceedings of the Internordic Colloquium on Ancient Pottery held at Stockholm, 13-15 June 1997 (2001) 115-26.

7 Rome, Vatican 17924. Beazley, ARV 1334, IS; van Straten no. V206 fig. 144; Ekroth art. cit. 118 fig. lb; Gebauer 422 B62 fig. 290.

8 Kiel, University B 55. CVA Kiel1, pl. 40: 7-8; van Straten no. V382 fig. 168. The vase is erroneously listed as van Straten Vl31, fig. 134 in Ekroth art. cit. 117 n. 10. See also Gebauer 431, Bv 83.

9 van Straten 118-41; F. van Straten in: R. Hagg et al., Early Greek Cult Practice: Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens 26-29 June, 1986 (1988) 51-68.

10 J.D. Beazley, The Pan Painter (1931) 22; T. B. L. Webster, Potter and Patron in Classical Athens (1972) 142. 11 van Straten 141-4. For other images of these pellets in the hands of priests and their assistants, see van Straten figs. 148 (V196) and 149 (V306). They are clearly associated with the splanchna or roasting part of the sacrifice, and not used to entice the animal to the altar.

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Yet Another Red-Figure Panathenaic Amphora 63

that both males are about to throw their pellets onto the flame. It is also likely that the youth on the reverse has brought these thutemata to the altar in his kanoun.

We can confidently conclude this by turning to the closest iconographic parallel for the Harvard Panathenaic, another red-figure amphora of Panathenaic shape. Attributed to the Kleophon Painter and now in Darmstadt (pl. 10),12 this vase shares most of the same elements: a half-draped youth at left holding an oinochoe in his right hand, a low altar with osphUs in the centre, and at the right a priest dressed in an ependytes over a long, sleeveless chiton holding a kantharos in his right hand and pellets in his left. One major difference is that the assistant is not holding thulemata in his left hand, but a kanoun. Therefore it seems likely that the youth brought them to the sanctuary in his basket from which the priest scooped a handful in order to throw them onto the burning bones. It looks as if the painter of the Harvard amphora copied but also simplified the Kleophon Painter's composition.

However, one detail seems to be an original touch on the part of the painter of the Harvard amphora, namely the leaf wreath painted on the front of the priest's ependytes at waist level. In other respects the decoration of his overgarment is traditional: combed or rayed borders at top and bottom, rows of circles, and thin horizontal lines resembling press-folds .13 The best­known example of this wreath appears on the famous 'Lenaian' stamnos in Naples attributed to the Dinos Painter, where the ependytes drapes a column surmounted by a mask of the god.14 That this motif was not restricted to the Dionysian or religious realm is indicated by its presence on the ependytai of such varied figures as horsemen, a dithyrambic victor, a nymph, a man with spear at a tomb, and the god Hephaestus .15 Whether the wreath was woven or embroidered onto the garment as suggested by M. C. Miller, it represents a special elaboration of the priest's costume, which is already that of a wealthy, status-conscious Athenian. Given the priest's ependytes with wreath and his kantharos, one might come to the ready conclusion that the sacrifice being performed on the Harvard amphora honours the wine-god Dionysus. However, as already noted, the ependytes with wreath is worn by a variety of figures and so represents class, and not a particular cult. The kantharos is also not exclusive to rituals in honour of Dionysus, but, along with the phiale, is a common vessel for wine libations. If the long tail indicates the sacrifice of a bovine, one thinks of Zeus and Athena who received large animals as sacrifices at state festivals like the Dipolieia and the Panathenaea, where one hundred heifers were ritually killed.16 While the vase-painting under consideration could represent a generic sacrifice, the shape of the vase is our best evidence that the rite probably honours Athena, the patron deity of the cityP

12 Darmstadt , Hessisches Landesmuseum A 1969:4 (478) . Beazley , ARV 1146, 48; van Straten no. Vl73 fig . 146; Bentz-Eschbach pl. 32: 4; Gebauer 395-6 B 33 fig. 257. 13 For discussion of the various decorative patterns found on ependytai , seeM. C. Miller , Hesperia 58, 1989, 325-6; Miller 1997, 176-82. 14 Naples , Museo Nazionale 2419. Beazley, ARV 1151 , 2; Matheson D2 pl. 136. 15 Two horsemen at tomb: Berlin, Staatliche Museen 3209, loutrophoros in the manner of the Talos Painter; Miller 1997, fig . 103 . Dithyrambic victor: Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 10.206, chous fr. attributed to the manner of the Meidias Painter; Beazley , ARV 1324, 37; Miller 1997, fig. 105 . Nymph: Bologna, Museo Civico 303 , calyx krater attributed to the Cadmus Painter; Beazley, ARV 1184, 6 . Man at tomb: Athens , National Museum 1639, lekythos attributed to the Achilles Painter; Beazley , ARV 994, 98; J. H. Oakley , The Achilles Painter (1997) pl. 85 : A-B . (I owe this last example

to J. H. Oakley.) Cf. also another priest on an unattributed bell-krater: Laon 37.1041; R. Etienne- M .-T . Le Dinahet , L'espace sacrificiel dans les civilizations mediterraneennes de l' antiquite (1991) 54 figs. 7- 8; Gebauer 424, B 65 fig . 292 . Hephaestus : Basel , Cahn collection 541 , skyphos attributed to the manner of the Meidias Painter: L. Burn, The Meidias Painter (1987) MM 17 , pl. 34d. I wonder if these olive(?) wreaths so prominently featured on what are clearly special garments might denote victory- military , dithyrambic, or tribal -on the part of the person represented?

16 On the state festivals of Athen s, see E. Simon , The Festivals of Attica (1983) 8-12 (Dipolieia), 55-72 (Panathenaea). On the Panathenaea , see also J. Neil s, Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens (1992).

17 In reference to the Darmstadt amphora, Webster op. cit. (n . 10) 132 stated: 'The shape suggests that the artist thought of a sacrifice to Athena '.

64 Jenifer Neils

In a recent study of the imagery of red-figure amphorae of Panathenaic shape, H. A. Shapiro has demonstrated that the painters of these vases deliberately chose images redolent of the city's premier festival: the goddess Athena, musicians, athletes, Nike, religious procession, and sacrifice.18 Some of this imagery naturally recalls that of the official black­figure prize amphoras. Likewise the ornament on many red-figure Panathenaics (palmette­lotus frieze on the neck, tongues on the shoulder) deliberately echoes that of the prize vases. When non-Panathenaic imagery is introduced, it can be found to relate to the goddess, as in some of the mythological scenes like the theft of the Palladium.19 Thus, it seems irrefutable that the Harvard amphora depicts a scene of bovine sacrifice to Athena at her state festival held annually on the 28th of Hecatomboeum.

If this is the case, does the vase's imagery add anything to our understanding of the Panathenaea? On the one hand the painting could represent part of the hecatomb sacrificed to Athena on the Acropolis. Since both extant red-figure Panathenaics with sacrifice scenes depict the low eschara-type altar, this might neatly solve the problem of the absence of an altar to Athena Polias on the Acropolis, i.e. there was no built altar but simply a special plot on the ground which has left no traces.Z0 An alternative is to view this scene as a single animal sacrifice on the part of a victorious Athenian tribe. An ox was at one time the first prize for victory in the tribal contests (pyrrhic dance, euandria, torch race, contest of ships) as shown by the prize inscription /G IP 2311.21 Since the kanoun is carried by a youth, and not a female kanephoros as on the Parthenon frieze, this scenario seems more likely. A number of vases were probably commissioned by tribes to commemorate their Panathenaic victories, notably the red-figure krater by the Nicias Painter in the British Museum on which the victor in the torch race wears a headband inscribed with his tribal name.22 Elsewhere I have argued that the red-figure amphora of Panathenaic shape by the Kleophrades Painter in Boston might depict the winner of that elusive contest in manly excellence, the euandria.23 Thus the red­figure Panathenaic at Harvard might represent a specially commissioned souvenir of a winning tribesman. Unfortunately the vase lacks a provenance, but a large number of the Robinson vases were allegedly found in a cemetery in Attica, including three Panathenaic prize amphoras from a single tomb dated to 430-420 Bc.24 If the Harvard amphora too came from an Attic tomb, then it is not too far-fetched to interpret its painting as a tribal victory celebration, perhaps carried out at the Panathenaea of 422 BC.

18 H. A. Shapiro in Bentz-Eschbach 119-24. Much of this imagery relates to that of the Parthenon 's Ionic frieze, as I have discussed in The Parthenon Frieze (2001) passim.

19 Naples , Museo Nazionale H3235, associated with the Meidias Painter: Beazley, ARV 1316,1. 20 There are few if any traces of the altar of Athena Polias and it is not mentioned by Pausanias. Textual evidence (Porphyrios II 29) indicates that for the bouphonia in honour of Zeus Polieus there existed a bronze sacrificial table. See J. Hurwit, The Athenian Acropolis: history , mythology, and archaeology from the Neolithic era to the present (1999) 190-2. 21 See Neils op. cit. (n. 16) 16. 22 London, British Museum 98.7-16.6; Beazley, ARV 1133,

1. Not only is the torch race victor labelled with the tribe of Antiochis, but the potter Nicias gives his deme as Anaphlystus which belonged to the same tribe. The vase is discussed as a special commission by Webster (op. cit. n. 10) 44. 23 See J. Neils in: W. D. E. Coulson et at. (eds.), The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy. Proceedings of an international conference celebrating 2500 years since the birth of democracy in Greece (1994) 151-60. 24 CVA Robinson 1, pis. 31-32; Beazley, ABV 410. For the suggestion that the Robinson Panathenaics were the work of the Cleophon Painter, see J. Christiansen in: H. A. G. Brijder (ed.), Ancient Greek and Related Pottery. Proceedings of the international vase symposium in Amsterdam, 12-15 April, 1984(1984) 144-8.

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Sacrifice. Attic red-figure amphora of Panathenaic shape. Kleophon Painter, c.430--420 BC. (Photo courtesy of the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.)

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