CIRCA 420 B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURED HYDRIA
CIRCA 420 B.C.
With Eos pursuing Kephalos to the right, the goddess stepping forward with outstretched arms, her wings upraised, her garment billowing behind, Kephalos looking back, wearing a chlamys and a short chiton, holding spears in his lowered right hand, his petasos tied at his neck and falling behind; bands of dotted ovolo below, above, and on the rim
6 15/16 in. (17.7 cm.) high

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 8 April 1998, lot 204.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1999 (Art of the Ancient World, vol. X, no. 107); 2006 (Art of the Ancient World, vol. XVII, no. 107); 2010 (One Thousand Years of Ancient Greek Vases II, no. 86).

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Lot Essay

Pursuit scenes are quite common on Classical vases of the 5th century B.C., typically with a male chasing a female, whether human, god, or hero. However, in this example, the roles have been reversed, with the goddess Eos chasing one of her mortal lovers. Kephalos' abduction is a popular subject on Attic vases. As Reeder explains (p. 402 in Pandora: Women in Classical Greece), "The popularity of this myth is easily explained by its inversion of the typical pursuit scene...To the Greek male, the reversal of traditional sexual mores was probably both threatening and titillating." For a similar example, see no. 131, p. 401 in Reeder, op. cit.

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