Black-Figure Hydria (Water Vessel): Frontal Quadriga (Body); Theseus and Minotaur (Shoulder)

c. 520 BCE

attributed to Antimenes Painter

(Greek, Attic, active c. 530–510 BCE)

Culture

Greece, Attic

Medium

ceramic

Measurements

Overall: 43.2 cm (17 in.); Diameter of rim: 24.7 cm (9 3/4 in.); Diameter of foot: 15.2 cm (6 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1975.1

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Location

102B Greek

Did You Know?

This type of water vessel, a hydria, takes its name from hudor, Greek for water (and still familiar in the English root hydro).

Description

Although their subjects differ, the three fields of figured decoration on this vessel relate to one another metaphorically through the theme of victory. Just as Theseus defeats the Minotaur on the shoulder, two lions converge on a deer in the predella (the small, lowermost panel). In the largest panel, victory is still to come, presumably for all three warriors shown: one in the chariot behind his driver, and one on foot on either side. Somewhat unusually, two of the warriors look directly out at the viewer, their frontal faces an interesting complement to the much more common frontal chariot.