Side A, upper register: Herakles and Andromache

Side B: komos, swans; deer, panthers; swan, panthers

Side A: Herakles, Amazons; sphinx, sirens; animal frieze

Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Summary: Side A: Herakles and Amazons. Side B: komos between swans.
Ware: Attic Black Figure
Painter: Attributed to the Timiades Painter
Context: From Vulci
Date: ca. 570 BC - ca. 560 BC
Dimensions:

H. 0.394 m., D. Rim 0.518 m., Max. D. 0.244 m., D. Foot 0.151 m.
Primary Citation: ABV, 98, 46.
Shape: Tyrrhenian amphora
Beazley Number: 310045
Region: Etruria
Period: Archaic

Date Description:

From Vulci, Gsell Tomb 49, together with cup by Tleson, Boston 98.920.

Decoration Description:

Three figured registers on body, and palmette chain around neck.

Upper register: side A: Herakles and Amazons. At the center of the scene, Herakles, wearing lion skin over short chiton and a scabbard, grabs Andromache, queen of the Amazons, by the wrist and is about to dispatch her with a short sword. Andromache collapses as she attempts to flee to the right, looking over her shoulder. She wears a short-sleeved chiton with a belt, the chiton decorated with registers of animals and mythical creatures: a sphinx, three sirens and four felines facing alternately left and right. She is armed with an Attic helmet, a shield and a spear, and has a sword at her side. To the left of these, an Amazon, Panariste, defeats a Greek, Timiades. Panariste wears a belted chiton, greaves, an Attic helmet with a wheel below the crest, and carries a spear and a shield with a rosette. Timiades sinks to his knee, and supports himself on his shield; he is naked except for his greaves and helmet. To the right, Telamon attacks the Amazon Aenippe. Telamon is naked except for greaves and a Corinthian helmet, and holds a spear in his right arm and a Boeotian shield on his left. Aenippe wears a short chiton, a leather corslet, and a helmet, and carries a large shield, a spear, and has a sword at her side. All figures are labelled.

Side B: four naked male dancers moving in pairs to left and right, between two swans with raised wings.

Second register: side A: seated sphinx between sirens and panthers, looking in. Side B: goat flanked by two panthers facing in.

Third register: side A: ram walking to right, flanked by panthers. Side B: swan to right, flanked by panthers.

Inscriptions:

[epig-rough]*E*R*A*K*L*E*S, *A*N*D*R*O*M*A*X*E, *P*A*N*A*R*I*S*T*E, *T*I*M*I*A*D*E*S, *T*E*L*A*M*O*N, *A*I*N*I*P*E ("Herakles", "Andromache", "Panariste", "Timiades", "Telamon", "Ainipe.")

Sources Used:

CVA, Boston