Terracotta Vase in the Form of a Lobster Claw
ca. 460 BC
Greek, Classical
Because so many aspects of Greek life depended on the sea, a vase in the shape of a lobster claw is not surprising. It is, however, exceptional and may be a variant of the askos—a bag-shaped oil container provided with a vertical mouth and strap handle. The Dionysiac iconography of the lobster claw suggests that it was a novelty item used at symposia (drinking parties).
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Marble statue of kouros (a youth)
Greek, Attic
Archaic, 590 - 580 BC
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
Golden armband with Herakles knot
Armband inlaid with garnets, emeralds and enamels. The herakles knot was thought to cure wounds and evert evil. This made the knot a very popular piece of jewellery.
Hellenistic
3rd - 2nd century BC
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
Marble statue of a lion
Lions were often placed in tombs as decoration or guardians.
Greek.
Classical Period, 400 - 390 BC
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
Golden rosette with the head of a griffin
Greek, Rhodian
Archaic Period, 630 - 620 BC
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
Mirror handle
c.490-460 BC
Classical Greece
Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a female figure, perhaps Aphrodite, holding a dove in her right hand. Two flying erotes are attached to the arms of the support.
(Source: The British Museum)
Greek, Athens
Fish Plate400–350 B.C.
Terracotta, red-figure technique
5.1 x 34 x 34 cm (2 x 13 3/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
Source: Art Institute Chicago
Head of Votive Figure
Greek (Cyprus)
Limestone
early 5th Century BC
This monumental head, originally painted, belonged to an over-life-size statue of a votive figure or deity from Cyprus. While its exact function is unknown, the statue probably stood in a sanctuary. The amalgam of styles evident here reflects the tumultuous history of Cyprus during the first millennium B.C.: this eastern Mediterranean island was ruled by Assyria and Egypt in quick succession, and in the mid-sixth century, it developed strong ties with eastern Greece while both were part of the Persian Empire.
The sensitively modeled oval face with almond eyes, high cheekbones, and smile indicate an affinity with art from eastern Greece in the Archaic period. On the headdress a throng of maenads and silens, companions of the Greek wine god Dionysos, dance through a colonnade topped with rosettes. Whereas column capitals in the form of heads of the goddess Hathor reveal artistic kinships with Egypt, the feathered brows and the treatment of elaborately curled and patterned tresses suggest Assyrian influence.
Source: Worcester Art Museum
And a saying is reported of one Geradas, a Spartan of very ancient type, who, on being asked by a stranger what the punishment for adulterers was among them, answered:
“Stranger, there is no adulterer among us.”
“Suppose, then,” replied the stranger, “there should be one.”
“A bull,” said Geradas, “would be his forfeit, a bull so large that it could stretch over Mount Taÿgetus and drink from the river Eurotas.”
Then the stranger was astonished and said: “But how could there be a bull so large?”
To which Geradas replied, with a smile: “But how could there be an adulterer in Sparta?”
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus XV.10, trans. Bernadette Perrin (Loeb, ‘Parallel Lives by Plutarch’, 1923)
(Source)
Bronze helmet
Archaic Period, Late 7th century BC.
Part of a set. Shows two (young) people strangeling a pair of snakes. Decoration is elaborate with many floral elements.
Greek, Cretan.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum
