AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED NECK-AMPHORA

Dionysos with his entourage and battle scenes are two of the most popular on subjects on vases by the Antimenes Painter and his followers. On one side of the amphora presented here, Dionysos is seated on a diphros, enveloped in a long chiton and a himation, with vine leaves in his hair. In his right hand he holds an ivy branch that fills the open spaces around him; in the other, he holds a large rhyton. Before him is a gesticulating satyr and maenad, while behind are two other dancing satyrs. On the other side, a horseman in a short chiton and chlamys rides to the right, a spear in each hand. Opposing him is a fully-armed hoplite moving to the right but looking back. He wears a corselet over a short chiton, greaves and a high-crested Attic helmet, and holds a spear and a pelta shield embellished with incised herringbone. Below him, a collapsing hoplite, similarly armed, crawls forward with his head turned upwards, his pelta shield behind him.

The pelta shield combined with an Attic helmet is the typical armour worn by Amazons. For a Scythian warrior on horseback holding a pelta shield similarly embellished with herringbone, see the Type A amphora attributed to Exekias in Paris, p. 145, no. 12 in J.D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters.