The subjects on the white lekythi and later vases almost invariably take the form of mourners,[[1579]] or men and women making offerings to the dead, or placing sashes, wreaths, and vases on the tomb.[[1580]] Or, again, we may note interesting parallels with the Athenian sepulchral reliefs of the fourth century, which are mostly contemporaneous with the vases.[[1581]] Thus we have “farewell scenes” between a man and woman,[[1582]] or between two women[[1583]]; or the equestrian figure of a warrior, as on the famous stele of Dexileos,[[1584]] or a warrior charging with his spear[[1585]]; or, again, a hare-hunt at a tomb, perhaps with reference to the occupations of the deceased.[[1586]] Sometimes the tomb of a warrior is indicated by his armour.[[1587]] The interior of a tomb is occasionally shown, with a dead boy in it,[[1588]] or a series of vases,[[1589]] or as in the story of Polyeidos.[[1590]] In one instance a group of figures is placed on the top of the tomb.[[1591]] Mythological figures are sometimes introduced, as Charon ferrying the dead in his bark,[[1592]] or Hermes Psychopompos[[1593]]; or the type of Thanatos and Hypnos (or that of Boreas and Zephyros) with Memnon is borrowed for that of a warrior, a youth, or a woman whom they place in the tomb.[[1594]] Occasionally we see the soul of the deceased as a small flitting winged figure.[[1595]] On the Italian vases the figure of the deceased usually appears inside the heroön, painted white, as if to indicate a sculptured marble figure: a warrior with armour,[[1596]] or a youth with his horse or dog,[[1597]] or pouring a libation from a kantharos.[[1598]] These heroa are always surrounded by figures of women bearing baskets of offerings, unguent-vases, and wreaths, and by youths as mourners.[[1599]]
PLATE LV
Scenes from Funeral Lekythi (British Museum).
1, Prothesis; 2, Cult of Tomb.
Apart from the under-world scenes already described,[[1600]] the future life is not illustrated by the vases, except in a curious scene on a B.F. Cyrenaic cup, representing a banquet of the blessed, attended by Sirens.[[1601]] There is also one single representation of the subject so common on later Greek reliefs—the sepulchral banquet.[[1602]]
3. The Drama
The relation of vase-paintings to the drama has already been discussed in Chapter XI., in which it has been shown how the tragedies of Euripides and the farces of Rhinthon influenced the artists of Southern Italy. It may, however, be worth while to recapitulate here the actual representations of actors or of scenes taking place on a stage, together with some account of the numerous burlesques of mythical subjects.
On one curious B.F. vase (probably late and imitative) we see a rude representation of a tragic and a comic chorus,[[1603]] and occasionally on vases of this period we find figures of actors dressed up as birds, or otherwise in comic fashion.[[1604]] More important in this connection are the fifth-century vases found on the site of the Cabeiric temple at Thebes, several of which have parodies of well-known subjects, such as Odysseus and Kirke, or Peleus bringing the young Achilles to Cheiron.[[1605]] It seems probable that these scenes are actual reproductions of burlesque performances connected with the worship of the Kabeiri.