CIRCA LATE 5TH CENTURY B.C.

The chous (meaning “libations”) is associated with the Anthesteria, the Athenian festival that celebrated the year’s new wine. As B. Cohen informs (p. 104 in The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases), during the festival’s second day, known as Choes, “adults engaged in a drinking contest, guzzling wine from full-sized oinochoe of this shape with a capacity of several liters.” Smaller choes, like those presented here, were given to children, who may have had their first tastes of wine from these small vessels. Their association with children is also reinforced by their subjects, which often show children playing or parodying Dionysian themes.