Getty Museum

Fragment of an Apulian Red-Figure Bell Krater

Date

about 375–350 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek (South Italian, Apulian)

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

This fragment of a bell-krater made in Apulia in South Italy depicts Scylla, a monster who personified the terrors of the sea and was believed to live in the straits between Sicily and the toe of Italy. Feared for grabbing sailors from their ships and devouring them, Scylla was a hybrid creature, having a woman's upper body, a fishy lower body, and a ring of dogs' heads around her waist. It is difficult to determine the narrative context in which she appears here, although the dolphins at the lower edge make clear that Scylla is swimming in the sea, and she appears to hold a trident and a conch shell. Above her head, a section of a wing and a garment decorated with stars are visible. Just in front of Scylla, the chest and hooves of a bull are preserved. The vase could have depicted the myth of the rape of Europa, in which Zeus turns himself into a white bull and carried the princess off across the sea.

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