Getty Museum

Attic Black-Figure Siana Cup

Date

about 560 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek (Attic)

Department

Vessels

Institution

Getty Museum

Hunters and dogs swarm around a massive boar on one side of this Athenian black-figure Siana cup. In Greek mythology, Meleager gathered a band of heroes to drive away a monstrous boar sent by the goddess Artemis to ravage the countryside of his father's kingdom of Kalydon. Although the depiction on this cup lacks the inscriptions that usually identify the mythological heroes, the size of the boar--almost as tall as a man--argues against this being an ordinary boar hunt. The other side of the cup depicts another mythological scene, the battle of the Lapiths and centaurs. While attending a wedding, the centaurs--creatures part-human and part-horse--got drunk and attacked the bride and female guests, sparking a battle. One of the wedding guests, Kaineus, was magically invulnerable. Therefore, the centaurs fought him the only way they could; they drove him into the ground. He is shown in the center of this scene, already driven into the earth to thigh level, while a centaur wields the boulders that will complete the job. The interior of the cup has a simple scene of a young horseman.

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