is an error for
, the
for Η. This inscription, be it noted, is painted, contrary to the general rule in these vases, as they are generally incised; but an exception seems to be made in favour of inscriptions on stelae and similar objects, which are not uncommon, though many are open to suspicion. In the British Museum there are several examples,[[2239]] but by far the most curious is on an amphora in Naples (No. 2868), where a stele is inscribed:
νώτω [μὲν] μολάχην τε καὶ ἀσφόδολον πολύριζον
κόλπῳ δ’ Οἰδιπόδαν Λαίο(υ) υἱὸν ἔχω
“On my back I bear mallow and many-rooted asphodel, but
in my bosom Oedipus, Laios’ son.”[[2240]]
A curious and unique inscription is found engraved on a kotyle from Chiusi: οὗτος τὸν δᾶμον ἔφα ποναρόν, “This fellow said that the people were a depraved lot.”[[2241]] The η of πονηρόν was first written Ε, and then corrected into Α, the Doric form. It may be supposed that the inscription is due to a workman who did not approve of the democracy under which he lived.
On an amphora from Gnatia (Fasano), with a goose and a cock, in white on the black ground, is the quaint dialogue:
