Classical Studies

Contenuto in (pp. 39-41): 'Locri Survey 2017: Materiali e contesti dalla Preistoria al Medioevo'

The paper provides a historical and topographical insight into the ancient territory of Lokroi Epizephyrioi. In particular, it focuses on a specific area of the ancient rural settlement, located a few hundred meters from the urban center. Particular attention is placed on the typology of ceramic materials found during the survey.

In this article the lekanis lid 27232 attributed by Beazley to the Berlin Painter and on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Palazzo Nieddu del Rio (Locri) is reconsidered. The interpretation of the scene depicted on the lid is still uncertain. The iconographical analysis of the object makes it possible to recognize in the episode painted the rape of Amphitrite. The lekanis is then considered in relation to the context in which it was dedicated and rediscovered, i.e. the Mannella sanctuary. The vase and its iconography are examined in comparison to the other objects dedicated in the sanctuary, including the pinakes. Through this analysis, the semantic value that this vase acquires in the sacred sphere of the Mannella sanctuary is investigated and, moreover, some remarks on the function of myth in this specific context are presented.

I.Erythrai I 15. Greek text with critical apparatus, English translation and a commentary focusing on historic and economic problems posed by the document. All technical information has been provided along with existing critical editions and selected bibliography. The text is marked up using the EpiDoc encoding conventions.

For the history of Greece, one of the main 'anchor' dates is 480 BCE. In that year, the Persian armies led by king Xerxes occupied large parts of Greece. For the history of Greece, both before and after the Persian wars, the watershed of 480 has developed as one of the main anchors on which the interconnected fabric of relative dates seems to depend. The solidity of this framework is the topic of this conference. The conference brings together specialists in subdisciplines of Greek history and archaeology to share, debate, and test shifting views on the significance of 480 on the chronology of Greek history of the Archaic and Classical periods.

In this paper, the problematic relationship between theatre and vase-painting is investigated by focusing on Assteas’ calyx-krater in Buccino. This depicts a parody of the rape of Kassandra. Since the scene has never before been the subject of an iconographic analysis, first a detailed comparison with other southern Italian depictions of the episode is expounded. Besides showing how Assteas’ example is rooted in the southern Italian tradition, all the visual elements that depart from the ‘canonical’ iconography of the rape are identified in order to better understand the geloion. This exercise also helps to challenge the assumption that the image’s origin lies in the treatment of the rape as found in drama. Comparing the Assteas fragment with the corpus of the phlyax vases, this article demonstrates how the former does not in fact represent a theatrical scene, as well as investigating how the comic effect was achieved differently in the visual field. Finally, an analysis of the literary sources entirely supports a non-theatrical origin for the parody, and instead reveals Assteas’ iconopoietic ability to use different comic devices.

This paper aims to discuss the interaction between iconography and mythopoetic process in relation to the episode of the rape of Kassandra. In particular, the vascular examples parodying this myth are taken into account. Specific attention is devoted to a Paestan vase fragment signed by Assteas, in which the roles of the main characters are reversed. A first in-depth iconographic analysis of this example allows to outline the complexity of the parodic overturning and, more generally, to highlight the contribution of the painter in shaping the canonical representation of the prophetess.