Black-figured Neck Amphora (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)
attributed to, Diosphos Painter, Greek, active ca. 500 – 475 BC (Artist)
“But Athena, the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, came to confront Ares, holding her dark aegis.” —Pseudo-Hesiod, Shield of Herakles
The balanced composition contrasts Athena—goddess of wisdom, fierce in war, protectress of Athens—and Ares, the god of war. Both brandish spears as they stride toward the other side of this vase, where the hero Herakles struggles with Kyknos, Ares’s bloodthirsty son. Kyknos wished to build a temple of human skulls to honor his father, but Herakles kept his head and defeated Kyknos with Athena’s help.
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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