ATTRIBUTED TO THE LEAGROS GROUP, CIRCA 520-500 B.C.

Thetis, the daughter of the sea god Nereus, was fated to bear a son mightier than his father.  Because of the prophecy both Zeus and Poseidon abandoned thoughts of possessing her and instead gave her to Peleus, but Thetis resisted, since, as a goddess, she felt the match to a mortal inappropriate to her status.  Peleus was advised to find her when asleep and bind her tightly to prevent her from escaping by changing forms.  While in his grasp she shifted into flame, water, a lioness and a serpent, but Peleus held firm and finally Thetis relented.  Their wedding on Mount Pelion outside the cave of the centaur Chiron was attended by all the gods but for Eris, goddess of discord, who had not been invited.  Her gift was a golden apple tossed in spite into the midst of the attending goddesses who fought each other for the prize until it was decided that Paris would award it to the one he judged to be the fairest.

For another lekythos attributed to the Leagros Group also depicting Peleus grasping Thetis, see the example in Munich, Beazley Archive Pottery Database no. 302369. The lekythos presented here is considerably more elaborate, for in addition to a gesticulating goddess, here Chiron stands to the right, a branch over his shoulder from which are suspended a hare and a fox, while white-haired Nereus is seated to the left looking on.