Side A: cult initiation of Herakles to the Mysteries
[Image not available]
Three-dimensional approximation of the vase
Side A: Dioskouros on far right
| Collection: | London, British Museum |
| Summary: | Side A: Cult initiation of Herakles to the Mysteries. Side B: Dionysos and Hephaistos. |
| Ware: | Attic Red Figure |
| Painter: | Attributed to the Pourtalès Painter |
| Date: | ca. 360 BC - ca. 350 BC |
| Primary Citation: | |
| Shape: | Bell krater |
| Beazley Number: | 218148 |
| Period: | Late Classical |
Decoration Description:
Side A: The initiation of Herakles and the Dioskouroi into the mystery cult. On the far right, Triptolemos is seated in his winged car drawn by two white serpents. He is nude, with his mantle partly draped over his shoulder, and wears a laurel wreath in his hair. Holding up his right hand, he appears to be speaking to Persephone, who stands before him, half turned to the left. She holds a torch in her right hand, and looks over her shoulder at Triptolemos. She wears a white chiton with a cloak wrapped around her waist, a wreath in her hair, a necklace, armlets, and sandals. Her body is also painted white. In front of her Demeter is seated, with her body turned to the left but looking over her shoulder at Triptolemos. She wears a sleeveless chiton fastened at the shoulders, a wreath in her hair, earrings, a necklace, and armlets. She holds a sceptre in her right hand, and her body is painted white. Behind and above her is Artemis, also wearing a sleeveless knee-length chiton, lace-up boots, and a wreath in her hair. She holds a torch in her right hand, and gestures with her left towards Triptolemos. At the same level in the background as Artemis, but standing on the other side of Persephone, is Hekate. She wears a knee-length chiton similar to Artemis' and a wreath in her hair, and she also holds a torch in her right hand. She is leading one of the Dioskouroi forward from the far right. He is nude, with a cloak thrown over his shoulder, and holds a kind of fasces (painted white) decorated with projecting knobs, probably made of tied together palm branches. In front of him is a star. Corresponding to this figure on the far left of the composition is the other Dioskouros, moving forward towards the center. He carries the fasces, and his cloak is wrapped around his lower body and flung over his shoulder. He does not have a star in front of him. Below him, in the foreground, is Herakles, who moves toward the center of the scene. He holds a club in his left hand, and the fasces in his right. He looks back and upward, over his shoulder, as he strides forward. Above Persephone's head, and meant to be represented as far away, is an uneven line of a mountain, and above it an architrave and columns of a Doric building (probably meant to represent the Temple of Demeter at Agra, Catalogue, 57). The architecture is painted white. The identification of the two figures leading in the Dioskouroi and Herakles (Artemis and Hekate), have been suggested to be Iacchus and Eumolpos (or Eubuleus) instead (
The Cult of the Mysteries was one of the most important cult celebrations in Athens, and for reasons of politics as much as religion, the initiation of Herakles and the Dioskouroi was a favorite theme (Simon, Festivals, 28). Triptolemos is depicted because he was the mortal chosen by Demeter to bring grain to mankind; the chariot he sits in was her gift to him. Eumolpos was the ancestor and founder of one of the Athenian clans, the Eumolpidai, and Iacchus is thought to have been Dionysos in another guise (Simon, Festivals, 32). Iacchus has been described as "Semele's son and giver of wealth (schol. Aris. Frogs 479).
Side B: Dionysos and Ploutos recline on a kline while Hephaistos walks toward them. In the center of the scene is a vine, under which Dionysos and Ploutos recline on a kline, covered with a panther skin and embroidered pillows. Dionysos is seated on the left, and turns his head to the right to look at his companion. He holds a thyrsos in his right hand, and props himself up with his left elbow. His long hair is encircled with an ivy wreath and a diadem, and a mantle covers the lower half of his body. His companion, Ploutos, is beardless, and has short hair bound with a laurel wreath. A mantle also covers his lower body, but he is nude from the waist up. He looks towards Dionysos, and holds a keros (drinking horn) with both hands. To the left of Dionysos, and slightly behind him, is a woman dressed in a chiton with black border and wearing earrings and armlets. Her hair is bound up in a bun at her neck, and she wears an ivy wreath. She holds a flat basket of fruit in her left hand, and extends her right over Dionysos' head as if she were placing something on it. In the upper left corner of the composition a woman sits with her body to the left, but looks to the right. Her hairstyle is the same as the other woman's, and she wears a sleeveless chiton. She holds a dish of fruit with her right hand, and with her left she pulls the hem of her chiton over her shoulder. Below her is a satyr bringing a dish of fruit to Dionysos; a nebris (fawn skin) hangs from his left arm, and he wears an ivy wreath in his hair. On the far right, Hephaistos walks in, supported by another satyr. This satyr also wears an ivy wreath, and carries a torch in his right hand. Hephaistos has his right arm slung around the satyr's shoulders, and walks unsteadily. He wears an ivy wreath, and a cloak over his shoulders. He carries a pelekys (double-edged axe) over his left shoulder. In the center of the composition, below Dionysos, a small Eros runs bent over to the right; he holds a string in his hands, the other end of which is held in the beak of a running duck or swan.
Sources Used:
Other Bibliography:
Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg 12 (1975), 27, fig. 8Griechische Töpferkunst. Herstellung, Handel und Gebrauch der antiken Tongefässe (Munich, 1983) 64, 67, fig. 63.AntK 9(1966) 89, 90, fig. 5