form for
, and the complete absence in the earlier vases of the H and Ω forms, which are not found among the Acropolis fragments. The hydria of Meidias (B.M. B 224), which marks the zenith of the “fine” period, has a purely Ionic alphabet. The Ionic forms seem to have come in with the “fine” R.F. style after 480 B.C., and for some time we find a mixed alphabet on the vases.[[2234]] It is also interesting to note the appearance in some cases of the Thasian alphabet, with its use of Ω for Ο (as in Ἀλκιμάχως καλώς, B.M. E 318), which has been traced to the influence of Polygnotos.[[2235]]
We conclude our account of inscriptions on Greek vases with a brief survey of those found on the vases of Southern Italy[[2236]]; it will be seen that they are neither numerous nor specially interesting.
The inscriptions are for the most part in the Doric dialect and Ionic alphabet, with the addition of the Doric sign
for the aspirate. Generally speaking, these Doric forms are found on the Apulian vases, whereas on the products of Paestum they are mainly Ionic, with admixtures of Doric. Attic forms also occur. It seems probable that the Doric tendencies of the Apulian inscriptions are due to the influence of the great Laconian colony of Tarentum (although the vases were not made there), while Paestum was influenced, on the other hand, by the neighbouring Ionic colonies, such as Cumae.
The latter, being for the most part of earlier date, will first occupy our attention. They include two artists’ signatures, which appear in the form
