Art Institute of Chicago

Mastoid (Drinking Cup)

Attributed to the Caylus Painter

Date

about 500-480 BCE

Medium

terracotta, black-figure

Culture

Athens

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This cup was shaped to fit easily in the dirnkers hand, and was likely used as part of the Greek symposium. Much like modern academic symposiums, in which people discuss a topic of common interest, debunking old theories and putting forth new hypotheses; the men of ancient Athens regularly got together in private homes to exchange ideas. Afterward the participants might continue the conversation, discussing their impressions in greater detail or simply socializing over a drink. As the evening progressed, participants engaged in other pleasures, including games, performances, and sex. Wine played a major role in fueling these evenings, and as such the myriad vessels used in the symposium often paid homage to drink. Here, in a continous scene that could be read much like today's comic strips, the god of wine Dionysos (seated) is accompanied by his half man half goat followers called satyrs, identifiable by their thick beards and long tails, as well as one of his famle follower, a maenad. She is depicted dancing and the artist has rendered her with white glazed skin and a wide eyed expression.

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