Art Institute of Chicago

Kylix (Drinking Cup)

Greek; Athens

Date

540-530 BCE

Medium

terracotta, black-figure

Culture

Ancient Greece

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

In the center of this scene, a young man dons armor for battle, affixing a shin guard to his left leg. His helmet rests on the ground, and the woman standing before him holds his shield as attendants look on. Approaching riders on rearing steeds and a running youth give the impression of urgency. Because the soldier is not bearded, which indicates youth, and is so much taller than the other figures, which often indicates special status, he may represent the Greek hero Achilles, whose mother, upon learning that her son would fight in the Trojan War, gave him a suit of armor that she had specially commissioned from Hephaistos, blacksmith to the gods.

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