December 1, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE, 



269 



Attic legends, especially those of Theseus, the typical Attic 

 hero. Two causes combined at this time to bring Theseus 

 prominently forward among the Athenian people. Firstly, 

 that he was supposed to have appeared in aid of their side 

 at the battle of Marathon ; and, secondly, that in 469 b.c. 

 his bones were brought by Kimon from the island of Skyros, 

 and buried with great solemnity in the Theseion, which 

 building was decorated with paintings also celebrating the 

 hero. It is also probable that Theseus was regarded as the 

 typical athlete and the typical Attic i-phcbos, and his 

 contests as analogous to successes in the pii}n;stra. Hence 

 the grouping of scenes from the labours of Theseus after 

 the manner of groups of athletes variously engaged. 



In the "tine" style the athletic subjects reach the height 

 of their popularity, and Dionysiac subjects are also fairly 

 common ; but there is a certain reaction in favour of 

 mythological subjects, such as battles of gods and giants, or 

 the sending forth of Triptolemos from Eleusis by Demeter 

 (a very characteristic subject of this period; set- Plate, No. 4). 

 Scenes of banqueting and revelry, or mere groups of figures 

 conversing, are more popular on the cups of this period — the 

 mythological subjects on the amphora? and other large vases. 



In the " late " style the popularity of athletic subjects 

 begins rather to wane, and the private life of women comes 

 more to the front. Again, we have many merely fanciful 

 scenes, or figures with fanciful names drawn from mytho- 

 logical sources at haphazard. 



But, for the student at any rate, the inscriptions on red- 

 figured vases offer even more interest than the painted 

 designs. Besides those that we may call descriptive, i.e., 

 which relate to the subjects depicted, we find numerous 

 inscriptions which have a wider and more external interest. 

 These fall into two classes : artists' signatures, and names 

 of favourites. The special value of these inscriptions to 

 the student is that he is thereby enabled by comparison 

 of signed and unsigned vases to attribute many of the 

 latter to known artists ; while in the case of vases which 

 merely bear the names of favourites, the fact that certain of 

 these names are elsewhere associated specially with certain 

 artists allows these vases to be assigned to their sources 

 with even more certainty. 



It should be explained that a favourite name denotes 

 the name of some personage with the word KaXo's, " fair " 

 or " noble," attached; implying that the painter wished 

 to celebrate either some popular man of the day or some 

 much-admired youth. The exact meaning of this practice 

 has been much discussed, the chief difficulty arising from 

 the fact that though many names famous in history, such 

 as Miltiades, Alcibiades, and Hipparchos, occur among 

 the favourites, it is impossible to discover whether they 

 really refer to the historical personages or not. It is clear 

 that if this identity could once be proved, we should have 

 certain chronological data which would be of immense 

 value for the history of vase painting ; at present, however, 

 we must be content with using the favourite-names for the 

 identification of particular artists. 



The artists whose signatures are known to us faU into 

 three well-defined groups, corresponding to the divisions 

 of style given above. They are as follows : — 



(1) The group of Epiktetos, corresponding to the 

 "archaic" style, and including several artists who 

 employed both black and red figures. 



(2) The group of Euphronios, corresponding to the 

 " strong " style, and including the best work of the period, 

 especially as far as the kylikes are concerned. 



(3) The later Attic group, corresponding with the "fine" 

 style. 



The best work of these artists is, as a general rule, to 

 be seen on the kylikes. The productions of Epiktetos 



and his fellow craftsmen are chiefly characterized by 

 simplicity of conception, the natural consequence of the 

 recent change from the old method. {See Plate, No. 1.) 



Euphronios, as we have indicated, is usually associated 

 with the most perfect work of this period. His style is 

 characterized both by grandeur and beauty, combined with 

 elegance and ease in composition, and a careful attention 

 to the smallest details. (>e<; Plate, No. 2.) 



Among his contemporaries, Duris, Hieron, and Brygos 

 take front rank, each, however, being an artist of marked 

 individuality. The chief feature of Duris' work is a 

 preference for quiet gracefulness rather than violence of 

 action, and a love of slim nude figures. The vases of 

 Brygos are comparatively rare, but we are able to see that 

 he stands on the threshold of the next stage, and while 

 stUl retaining certain traces of archaism, yet shows in his 

 fondness for realism and copiousness of detaU a rapid 

 advance towards the freedom of the fine style. ( '<ee Plate, 

 No. 3.) Hieron, again, is not a man of much originality; 

 his tendency is chiefly to sentimental figures and idealized 

 scenes of daily life. (>tv Plate, No. 4.) 



The later group need not detain us long. Hardly any 

 of these artists have left more than one specimen of their 

 work, but Aristophanes has signed a beautiful kylix, with 

 scenes from the battle of the gods and giants ; and Sotades 

 has produced several very delicate drinking-cups of various 

 fanciful forms, some painted with designs of great beauty 

 and refinement. A hydria, the work of Meidias, is also 

 justly celebrated for the richness of its decoration and 

 delicacy of execution. 



We have alluded above to a class of vases with paintings 

 on white ground which was produced exclusively for 

 sepulchral purposes. With a few exceptions from Gela in 

 Sicily, Locri in Southern Italy, and Cyprus, these vases 

 have been all found at Athens or Eretria in Eubcea, and 

 there is little doubt that they were all made at Athens. 

 Their development is parallel to that of the sculptured 

 tombstones, of which such a great number have been found 

 at Athens, and the subjects are similar, but more varied. 

 The commonest type of subject is that of mourners bringing 

 offerings to the tomb of the deceased, represented by a tall 

 monument on a raised base ; the offerings take the form of 

 vases, sashes, etc., for the decoration of the tomb. Other 

 scenes depicted with less frequency are : mourners bending 

 over the death-bed ; the deceased person conveyed in 

 Charon's boat over the Styx ; a dead warrior laid in his 

 tomb by Death and Sleep. In another group the funereal 

 purpose of the vase is only hinted at : the deceased is 

 represented, if a man, hunting or in armour ; if a woman, 

 engaged in some feminine occupation ; the idea being, as 

 we sec it on the sculptured tombstones, to suggest the 

 dead person as he was wont to be occupied in his daily life. 

 {See Fig. 2.) 



The period covered by these vases ranges from about 

 450 to 300 B.C. ; many of the later examples are carelessly 

 executed with rapidly-applied patches of colour, and 

 I suggest that the vases had been hurriedly produced "to 

 order" on the occasion of the funeral. They were placed 

 round the bier at the laying-out of the corpse, and then 

 buried with it. 



For all practical purposes the red-figured style may be 

 said to have an end with the fall of Athens in 401 b.c. It 

 is true that many existing vases can be dated later, as, for 

 instance, the sepulchral lekythi, of which we have just 

 been speaking ; but they are exceptional, and all other 

 vases which cannot go further back than the fourth cen- 

 tury must be regarded as belonging to the period of the 

 decadence, even though many of them were made at 

 Athens, or directly under Athenian influence. But none 



