Agriculture is represented by vases in Berlin and the Louvre with scenes of men ploughing with oxen (Fig. [136]) or hoeing, sowers, and mules carrying sacks of grain[[1743]]; and certain vase-paintings have been interpreted as referring to the digging of a well.[[1744]] A man is seen cutting down a tree,[[1745]] and another birds’-nesting.[[1746]] Shepherds with flocks of sheep and goats are seen on two early Boeotian vases,[[1747]] and also fishermen,[[1748]] and men crushing grapes in a wine-press.[[1749]] The various stages of oil-making include the gathering of the olives from a tree,[[1750]] the pressing in an oil-press,[[1751]] and lastly the merchant measuring out and selling his oil.[[1752]] A butcher is represented cutting up meat,[[1753]] and also the preparing and cutting up of a tunny-fish,[[1754]] and the baking of bread[[1755]]; on a B.F. vase two men weigh goods in a balance[[1756]]; and the export of the silphium (?) on the Arkesilas vase may also be mentioned here.[[1757]] Lastly, we have a shoemaker in his shop,[[1758]] a carpenter working with an adze,[[1759]] and a boy going to market with two baskets carried on a pole.[[1760]]
6. Daily Life of Women
Scenes from the daily life of women form our next heading, and we include therewith those relating to marriage or preparations for nuptials, which play so important a part in woman’s life. The “type” of a marriage procession on B.F. vases is, as we have seen (p. [16], and Vol. I. p. [378]), liable to be confused with the subject of the marriage of Zeus and Hera; the bride and bridegroom appear in a four-horse chariot, accompanied by persons who, if not deities, at any rate bear similar attributes, such as the caduceus of Hermes or the torches of Artemis (as pronuba).[[1761]] In scenes of simpler character the wedding party walk in procession or drive in a cart.[[1762]] On later vases the bride is generally led by the hand by her husband, accompanied as before in appropriate fashion.[[1763]] We also find scenes representing the bridal pair on their marital couch (lectus genialis),[[1764]] and the return of the bride after the ceremonies.[[1765]] Other scenes may possibly represent a betrothal,[[1766]] a bridal toilet,[[1767]] or a nuptial sacrifice,[[1768]] and, finally, the arrival of the bridal pair at their house, with a servant preparing the marriage-bed.[[1769]]
More common, especially on R.F. vases of the fine style, are scenes taken from the life of the women’s apartments (γυναικωνῖτις),[[1770]] such as women at their toilet,[[1771]] spinning wool,[[1772]] or bleaching linen,[[1773]] or embroidering.[[1774]] Under the heading of toilet scenes are included single figures of women arranging their hair,[[1775]] painting their faces,[[1776]] fastening on their girdles[[1777]] or shoes,[[1778]] or putting clothes in a wardrobe.[[1779]] They also play with cats or dogs[[1780]] or pet birds,[[1781]] and there is a subject identified as a “consolation” scene.[[1782]] Again, we see women bathing both in private and public baths,[[1783]] or even swimming[[1784]]; but in some of these scenes the bath merely forms part of the toilet. Many of these toilet scenes may perhaps be idealised and regarded as groups of Aphrodite, the Graces, etc.[[1785]]
A favourite subject, but almost confined to the B.F. hydriae, is that of maidens with pitchers on their heads fetching water from a fountain, which is usually in the form of a building with columns and lion’s-head spouts of water; the maidens, five or six in number, carry the empty hydriae flat on their heads, the full ones upright.[[1786]] Women are sometimes seen in gardens or orchards, gathering fruit[[1787]] or (on late R.F. vases) frankincense.[[1788]] Other miscellaneous scenes which cannot be classified are: a woman in bed,[[1789]] woman with foot-pan,[[1790]] at a meal,[[1791]] reading from a scroll,[[1792]] burning incense,[[1793]] spinning a top,[[1794]] balancing a stick,[[1795]] riding in a mule-car[[1796]]; two or more women wrapped in one large cloak[[1797]]; and an accouchement scene.[[1798]] Those in which children appear include a nurse and child[[1799]]; a child learning to walk[[1800]]; a mother, and a child in a high chair[[1801]]; and a woman beating a child with a slipper[[1802]]; subjects of children playing with toys, etc., have already been discussed (p. [167]). Finally, there are the scenes in which women appear as jugglers[[1803]] or performing dances in armour,[[1804]] of which mention has been made; these were probably amusements associated with banquets (see p. [182]; also ibid. for banquets in which women, i.e. courtesans, take part).
A very common decoration of vases, especially the inferior ones of Apulia, is that of a woman’s head, either as the main subject or in some subsidiary part of the decoration; these, however, are so common that they hardly call for detailed description.[[1805]]
7. Military and Naval Subjects
Subjects of a military character on vases are chiefly confined to three—the arming of warriors,[[1806]] their setting out in chariots, on horseback, or on foot,[[1807]] and combats of two or more figures.[[1808]] In all these cases we are confronted with the often-recurring difficulty as to when such subjects have a mythological significance. Especially on B.F. vases, familiar types—such as the departure of Hector or the combat of Achilles and Memnon, to be identified in other cases by inscriptions—occur again and again in the same form, only diversified by the varying number of bystanders, which is generally regulated by the space at the painter’s disposal. Even when names are added they are often of a fanciful kind; and thus, for instance, we find combats between Homeric heroes which have no counterpart in literary record.[[1809]]
In the scenes of warriors arming we may note certain motives as recurring with more or less frequency—such as that of a warrior putting on his greaves,[[1810]] helmet,[[1811]] or cuirass (Fig. [137]),[[1812]] or lacing up his helmet.[[1813]] Kindred subjects are that of a warrior taking his shield out of his case,[[1814]] or an archer drawing an arrow from his quiver,[[1815]] testing an arrow,[[1816]] or stringing his bow.[[1817]] We may also note the rarer occurrence of such scenes as the harnessing of a chariot ([Frontispiece])[[1818]] or the equipping of a war-horse.[[1819]] In the departure scenes the usual type on B.F. vases is that of a four-horse chariot to the right, which the warrior is mounting or has mounted; a woman sometimes give him drink, and an old man stands at the horses’ heads. This “type” is used for the departure of Amphiaraos (cf. Berlin 1655), Hector, or other heroes.[[1820]] It is sometimes varied by placing the quadriga to the front.[[1821]] Or, again, the warrior is seen on horseback, accompanied by his groom,[[1822]] or a company on foot set out in marching array.[[1823]] On later vases the more usual version is that of a warrior receiving a libation or “stirrup-cup” from a woman before his departure, but the same scenes might be interpreted as referring to his successful return.[[1824]] Unmistakable instances of the return are those scenes where he receives a crown,[[1825]] or is brought back as a corpse by his comrades.[[1826]] There are scenes representing warriors taking oaths or omens at a tomb, or omens by the inspection of the liver of a victim, all before departure for battle[[1827]]; and single figures are countless, especially inside R.F. kylikes.[[1828]]
