Magna Graecia: An Introduction

Hydria (about 530-520 BC) Paestum, Heroon of the agora Bronze, cast, hammered, repoussé, incised Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum, inv. 49801 [Cat. no. 3]	Paestum This bronze hydria, or water vessel is from Paestum, called by the Greeks Posidonia. The city was founded in about 600 BC by colonists from the Greek colony of Sybaris. The hydria was discovered in an underground chamber, together with five other bronze hydriae and two other bronze vessels. This hydria still had the solidified remains of an organic substance inside, thought to have been honey. The chamber and its contents may have been a kind of memorial to the mythical founder of the city. The hydria is a tour de force of exquisite workmanship in bronze, with its solid cast handle in the form of a lion, a symbol of authority and power flanked by snakes, and its vertical handles embellished with paired foreparts of horses
Taranto Taranto, Greek Taras, was founded about 710 BC under unusual circumstances. The settlers were said to be the illegitimate children born to Spartan women while their warrior husbands were away fighting. Because they were denied full rights of citizenship, these dispossessed children, when grown, left Sparta for the West. Led by a man named Phalanthus, they established a city with the finest harbor in South Italy near excellent farmlands. It was famous for its wine and other agricultural products, as well as for the purple dye obtained from the murex shellfish in its harbor. Taranto was also a center of Pythagorean philosophy, which attempted to understand nature through the study of mathmatics.
Taranto goldsmiths were among the most skilled in the Greek world. This gold ring, dated to the last quarter of the fourth century BC, bears a figural scene incised into its oval bezel. It shows an aged Odysseus, now bent and leaning on his stick, as his faithful dog Argo appears to lead the way. The portrayal of the emotional bond between the now infirm Greek hero and king of Ithaca and his dog is an extraordinary departure from other depictions of the pair. The exhibition features other fine examples of Tarantine gold jewelry: earrings, finger rings, necklaces, and an armband.			Odysseus and Argo Ring (about 320-300 BC) Taranto, Via Regina Elena Gold, incised Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 12019 [Cat. no. 18]
Reggio Calabria The National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, located in Reggio, ancient Rhegium, houses artifacts from several Greek sites in the region of modern Calabria, among them Medma and Locri. Also included in this section of the exhibition are bronzes from the National Archaeological Museum of Sybaris. Rhegium was established on the 'toe' of the Italian peninsula by residents of Zancle, which was located across the Strait of Messina, on the opposite Sicilian shore, giving these two cities control of the Strait. Locri was founded by citizens of the city of the same name in Central Greece. According to ancient sources, the first law code in the Greek world was written by a certain Zaleucus, an early political leader of the colony in ca. 661 BC. Medma was in turn founded by colonists from Locri in ca. 600 BC. Sybaris was established by Achaean Greeks from the Greek mainland in ca. 720 BC.
Pinax with Woman Packing a Chest (about 470-460 BC ) Locri Epizephirii Terracotta, mold-made, hand-finished, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Reggio Calabria, inv. 28266 [Cat. no. 39]	A type of object particular to Magna Graecia is the terracotta tablet called a pinax. This especially fine example has been reassembled from several fragments, but is complete. Mold-made and once brightly painted, the pinax depicts a woman wearing a garment called a peplos, her hair held in a wrap called a sakkos. She bends over to place a folded piece of fabric into an elaborately decorated lidded chest. Behind her is a throne with lathe-turned legs and double cushions. Hung on the wall are, a two handled wine cup called a kantharos, an oil vessel called a lekythos, a bronze mirror, and a flared basket. There are more than 5000 Locrian pinakes, mostly fragmentary, kept at the museums of Reggio Calabria and Locri. They were made in Locri and dedicated there at the sanctuary of Persephone, the goddess responsible for the fertility of the earth. Despite its apparent domestic setting, the scene probably represents a ritual involving the preparation of a piece of fabric or a dress, perhaps as part of a marriage ceremony.
Palermo Founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Regional Archaeological Museum "A. Salinas" of Palermo became a repository for many archaeological finds discovered in western Sicily. Greek vases excavated in the ancient cemeteries of Agrigento were sometimes sent to the regional museum in Palermo for study and display - a magnificent example being the red-figure krater, a wine-mixing bowl, depicting the mythical youth Triptolemos seated in a fantastic, winged chariot. In vase-painting, Triptolemos is often represented receiving the gift of grain from Demeter as he is about to depart in his winged chariot, dispersing knowledge of agriculture to humankind.			Red-Figure Bell-Krater (about 470-450 BC) Agrigento, necropolis, 1841 Ceramic Museo Archeologico Regionale "A. Salinas" di Palermo, inv. 2124 [Cat. no. 80]
Made in Athens but found in Agrigento, this krater would have been a relatively expensive import in antiquity and demonstrates the surplus of wealth that Agrigento must have possessed. The centuries-long trade relationship established between the Greek cities of Sicily and those of mainland Greece, especially Athens, enabled thousands of similar red-figure pottery vessels to be transported from Athens to Magna Graecia and Sicily. The mythological scenes decorating this krater would have held a special meaning for Greek inhabitants of Sicily, known as it was for agricultural wealth and particularly for its prolific production of grain.
Syracuse The Greek historian Thucydides records that Syracuse was founded by colonists from Corinth in ca. 734 BC, led by a man named Archias. After displacing the Sicel inhabitants, the Greek colonists first settled on the island of Ortygia, famous for its fresh water spring, Arethusa. Syracuse was blessed with the best harbor in Sicily, and grew to become the wealthiest and most powerful Sicilian Greek city. Hieron I, the ruler of Syracuse from ca. 478-467 BC, was host to several famous Greek poets: Aeschylus, Pindar, Simonides, and Bacchylides. The poets Theocritus and Moschus were residents. Archimedes, the most renowned mathematician of antiquity was born in Syracuse. Syracuse's wealth and power attracted the envy of Athens, who attacked the city under the command of Alcibiades in ca. 415 BC. The Athenians, however, were repelled and defeated with the help of the Spartans in ca. 413 BC.
Gorgon Tablet (about 610-590 BC) Syracuse, via Minerva, old temple of Athena Terracotta, orange clay with inclusions, pale yellow-beige slip, mold-made, hand-finished, painted Museo Archeologico Regionale "Paolo Orsi" di Siracusa, inv. 34540, 34543, 34895 [Cat. no. 50]	This mold-made, painted terracotta tablet is pierced with four holes, suggesting that it was once attached to a large piece of furniture or altar, or served as decoration for a temple. It represents the Gorgon Medusa, in a conventional pose, half-kneeling and half-running, indicating that she is sprinting at great speed. Her wings, curled up over her shoulders, are painted black and purple as is the preserved wing of her right boot. In her right hand she holds her child, the winged horse Pegasus. The figure of her other child Chrysaor was once held under her left arm and shoulder. According to Greek myth, Pegasus and Chysaor were born of her union with the god of the seas, Posidon. In a gory detail not shown by the tablet, these children were born simultaneous with Medusa's decapitation by the hero Perseus. Because the horrifying expression of the Gorgon Medusa was capable of turning men into stone, Perseus accomplished this difficult and dangerous task by viewing her reflected image in a polished shield. The image of the Medusa with her children was derived from Corinthian antecedents, and became a theme for Sicilian sculptors working in terracotta. This is one of the earliest examples of the theme in Sicily, dated to the end of the seventh, or the beginning of the sixth century BC.
Gela Located on the southern coast of Sicily, Gela was founded by a joint expedition of colonists from the islands of Rhodes and Crete in ca. 692 BC. The city was named after the River Gela. Its fertile plain produced abundant crops of wheat, and provided good grazing for the rearing of horses, for which the city was famous. Gela's colorful political history included the reigns of several tyrants: Kleandros, in the sixth century BC, and Hippocrates and Gelon in the fifth century BC. Hieron I, born in Gela, became the ruler of Syracuse in 478 BC. Apollodoros, the fifth century comic playwright was born in Gela, and the Athenian tragic playwright Aeschylus spent the last years of his life in Gela.
Altar with Gorgon, Pegasus, and Chrysaor (about 500-475 BC) Gela, acropolis at Bosco Littorio Terracotta, painted Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. Sop. BL 10 [Cat. no. 56]	Discovered in the vicinity of Gela's ancient commercial district near the sea in early 2000, this large painted terracotta altar is one of three that were apparently being stored for some special purpose. The front of the altar is decorated with the image of the Gorgon Medusa and her children, Pegasus and Chrysaor, executed in deep sculpted relief, and once brightened with paint. Dated to the first quarter of the fifth century BC, it is later than the painted terracotta tablet with a similar scene that we have already seen from Syracuse. Most impressive is the vigorous and bold modeling of the figures. This strong sculptural quality infuses the figure of Medusa with a demonic energy fully in keeping with her monstrous reputation in Greek myth. She is hardly contained within the parameters of the altar. Her preserved left wing and knee protrude past its lateral sides, as does the tail of Pegasus, whose back legs are propped up on her leg near the ankle.
Agrigento Agrigento, called Akragas by the ancient Greeks, was among the last colonies to be established by Greeks in the West - and it became one of the richest. Named after the nearby river Akragas, the city was founded about 580 B.C. by Greek settlers from the city of Gela and the island of Rhodes. The landscape allowed a perfect site for the location of a city - high ridges adjacent to rivers flowing into a fertile plain leading to the sea several miles away. The shores form one of the nearest approaches to a suitable harbor along Sicily's southern coast and provided ready access to trade with Greece and lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The region's abundant agricultural resources - fields of grain, vineyards, and hillsides planted with olive trees - contributed to those riches which inspired ancient historians in their descriptions of the city and its people. Breeding and racing of horses was also highly regarded and as a result Agrigento was known for its victories in chariot races held at the Olympic Games.
Highlighted in this exhibition, the Youth of Agrigento is likely to have graced a temple precinct in antiquity. Discovered in Agrigento in 1897, this rare masterwork of marble sculpture dating to the early fifth century B.C. is the finest example of its type found outside mainland Greece and one of the most important early classical sculptures known. The sculpture owes its extremely good state of preservation to the fact that it was found in a cistern near the river Akragas and the Temple of Demeter. The smooth surface of the marble retains much of its ancient luster. Even rarer, the original red paint of the finely delineated hair is well preserved.			Youth of Agrigento (about 480 BC) Agrigento Marble, East Greek Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento, inv. C 1853 [Cat. no. 72]
The pose and naturalistic modeling of this sculpture dates it to a transitional period in the development of Greek art. During this time, the first quarter of the fifth century B.C., sculptors abandoned the patterned anatomical conventions of the Archaic period in pursuit of what we recognize as the classical ideal, the embodiment of physical perfection in the depiction of the human figure. Spanning the archaic and classical styles, this sculpture joins the two in perfect unity. Evidence for transition between the two styles can be found in the slightly lingering smile on the face of the youth, which hearkens back to the "archaic smile" of earlier sculptural tradition, in combination with aspects that look forward to the Classical period, such as a more natural representation of anatomy and an attempt to represent the figure as moving in three-dimensional space. Marble transfigured by hand and chisel into human form, it stands as one of the most notable monuments of Western Greek art.

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