Figured vases in ancient literature—Mythology and art—Relation of subjects on vases to literature—Homeric and dramatic themes and their treatment—Interpretation and classification of subjects—The Olympian deities—The Gigantomachia—The birth of Athena and other Olympian subjects—Zeus and kindred subjects—Hera—Poseidon and marine deities—The Eleusinian deities—Apollo and Artemis—Hephaistos, Athena, and Ares—Aphrodite and Eros—Hermes and Hestia.
The representation of subjects from Greek mythology or daily life on vases was not, of course, confined to fictile products. We know that the artistic instincts of the Greeks led them to decorate almost every household implement or utensil with ornamental designs of some kind, as well as those specially made for votive or other non-utilitarian purposes. But the fictile vases, from the enormous numbers which have been preserved, the extraordinary variety of their subjects, and the fact that they cover such a wide period, have always formed our chief artistic source of information on the subject of Greek mythology and antiquities.
Although (as has been pointed out in Chapter [IV].) ancient literature contains scarcely any allusions to the painted vases, we have many descriptions of similar subjects depicted on other works of art, such as vases of wood and metal, from Homer downwards. The cup of Nestor (Vol. I. pp. [148], [172]) was ornamented with figures of doves[[1]], and there is the famous description in the first Idyll of Theocritus[[2]] of the wooden cup (κισσύβιον) which represented a fisherman casting his net, and a boy guarding vines and weaving a trap for grasshoppers, while two foxes steal the grapes and the contents of his dinner-basket; the whole being surrounded, like the designs on some painted vases, with borders of ivy and acanthus. The so-called cup of Nestor (νεστορίς) at Capua[[3]] was inscribed with Homeric verses, and the σκύφος or cup of Herakles with the taking of Troy[[4]]. Anakreon describes cups ornamented with figures of Dionysos, Aphrodite and Eros, and the Graces[[5]]; and Pliny mentions others with figures of Centaurs, hunts and battles, and Dionysiac subjects[[6]]. Or, again, mythological subjects are described, such as the rape of the Palladion[[7]], Phrixos on the ram[[8]], a Gorgon and Ganymede[[9]], or Orpheus[[10]]; and other “storied” cups are described as being used by the later Roman emperors. But the nearest parallels to the vases described in classical literature are probably to be sought in the chased metal vases of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.[[11]] We read of scyphi Homerici, or beakers with Homeric scenes, used by the Emperor Nero, which were probably of chased silver[[12]]; and we have described in Chapter [XI]. what are apparently clay imitations of these vases, usually known as “Megarian bowls,” many bearing scenes from Homer in relief on the exterior.
In attempting a review of the subjects on the painted vases, we are met with certain difficulties, especially in regard to arrangement. This is chiefly due to the fact that each period has its group of favourite subjects; some are only found in early times, others only in the later period. Yet any chronological method of treatment will be found impossible, and it is hoped that it will, as far as possible, be obviated by the general allusions in the historical chapters of this work to the subjects characteristic of each fabric and period.
Embracing as they do almost the whole field of Greek myth and legend, the subjects on Greek vases are yet not invariably those most familiar to the classical student or, if the stories are familiar, they are not always treated in accordance with literary tradition. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the popular conception of Greek mythology is not always a correct one, for which fact the formerly invariable system of approaching Greek ideas through the Latin is mainly responsible. The mythology of our classical dictionaries and school-books is largely based on Ovid and the later Roman compilers, such as Hyginus, and gives the stories in a complete connected form, regarding all classical authorities as of equal value, and ignoring the fact that many myths are of gradual growth and only crystallised at a late period, while others belong to a relatively recent date in ancient history.[[13]]
The vases, on the other hand, are contemporary documents, free from later euhemerism and pedantry, and presenting the myths as the Athenian craftsmen knew them in the popular folk-lore and religious observances of their day. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that a vase-painter was never an illustrator of Homer or any other writer, at least before the fourth century B.C. (see Vol. I. p. [499]). The epic poems, of course, contributed largely to the popular acquaintance with ancient legends, and offered suggestions of which the painter was glad to avail himself; but he did not, therefore, feel bound to adhere to his text. This will be seen in the list of Homeric subjects given below (p. [126] ff.); and we may also refer here to the practice of giving fanciful names to figures, which obtains at all periods, and has before now presented obstacles to the interpreter.
The relation of the subjects on vases to Greek literature is an interesting theme for enquiry, though, in view of what has already been said, it is evident that it must be undertaken with great caution. The antiquity and wide popularity of the Homeric poems, for instance, would naturally lead us to expect an extensive and general use of their themes by the vase-painter. Yet this is far from being the case. The Iliad, indeed, is drawn upon more largely than the Odyssey; but even this yields in importance as a source to the epics grouped under the name of the Cyclic poets. It may have been that the poems were instinctively felt to be unsuited to the somewhat conventional and monotonous style of the earlier vase-paintings, which required simple and easily depicted incidents. We are therefore the more at a loss to explain the comparative rarity of subjects from the Odyssey, with its many adventures and stirring episodes; scenes which may be from the Iliad being less strongly characterised and less unique—one battle-scene, for instance, differing little from another in method of treatment. But any subject from the Odyssey can be at once identified by its individual and marked character. It may be that the Odyssey had a less firm hold on the minds of the Greeks than the Iliad, which was more of a national epic, whereas the Odyssey was a stirring romance.[[14]] It may also be worth noting that scenes from the Odyssey usually adhere more closely to the Homeric text than those from the Iliad.
Another reason for the scarcity of Iliad-scenes may be that the Tale of Troy as a whole is a much more comprehensive story, of which the Iliad only forms a comparatively small portion. Hence the large number of scenes drawn both from the Ante-Homerica and the Post-Homerica, such as the stories of Troilos and Memnon, or the sack of Troy. The writings of the Cyclic poets begin, as Horace reminds us, ab ovo,[[15]] from the egg of Leda, and the Kypria included the whole story of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the subsequent Judgment of Paris, and his journey to Greece after Helen, scenes from all these events being extremely popular on the vases.[[16]] The Patrokleia deals with the events of the earlier years of the war, the Aithiopis of Arktinos with the stories of Penthesileia and Memnon, and the death of Achilles, and the Little Iliad of Lesches with the events of the tenth year down to the fall of Troy. All provided frequent themes for the vase-painter, as may be seen by a reference to a later page ([119] ff.). The Iliupersis of Arktinos and Lesches might almost be reconstructed from two or three large vases, whereon all the episodes of the catastrophe are collected together (see p. 134); but when we come to the Nostoi of Agias and the Telegonia, the vase-painters suddenly fail us, the stories of Odysseus’ wanderings and Orestes’ vengeance seeming to supply the deficiency.
Luckenbach[[17]] has pointed out that the only right method of investigating the relation is to begin with vase-paintings for which the sources are absolutely certain, as with scenes from the Iliad and Odyssey. In this way the subjects from other epics can be rightly estimated and the contents of the poems restored. Further, in investigating the sources of the vase-painters, and the extent to which they adhered to them or gave free play to the imagination, the three main periods of vase-painting must be separately considered, though the results in each case prove to be similar. By way of exemplifying these methods he enters in great detail into certain vase-subjects, their method of treatment on vases of the different periods, and their approximation to the text. Thus, the funeral games for Patroklos (Il. xxiii.) are depicted on the François vase (see p. [11]) with marked deviations from Homer’s narrative; and not only this, but without characterisation, so that if the performers were not named the subject could hardly have been identified. To note one small point, all Homeric races took place in two-horse chariots (bigae), but on B.F. vases four-horse quadrigae are almost invariably found.[[18]]
Subjects of a more conventional character, such as battle scenes, farewell scenes, or the arming of a warrior, present even more difficulty. Even when names occur it is only increased. We must assume that the vase-painter fixed on typical names for his personages, without caring whether he had literary authority. In some cases the genre scenes seem to be developed from heroic originals, in others the contrary appears to be the case.[[19]] It is not, however, unfair to say that the Epos was the vase-painter’s “source.” The only doubtful question is the extent of his inspiration; and, at all events, it was a source in the sense that no other Greek literature was until we come to the fourth century.