IV. Our next class includes certain groups of personages (all feminine) which for the most part hold their own throughout all periods of art and literature, and are, so to speak, more crystallised into definite mythological personages, associated with the gods and human beings of the legendary ages. These are the Muses, the Charites or Graces, the Horae or Seasons, the Moirae or Fates, and the Erinnyes or Furies.
The Muses do not appear so frequently in vase-paintings as in sculpture, and mostly on later vases. Two fine R.F. examples of the whole nine (with their appropriate attributes) call for mention[[1003]]; other vases give a more limited number, or even single figures[[1004]]; but it must be remembered that in such cases identification is difficult, as characterisation by means of a lyre or scenic mask does not necessarily connote the presence of a Muse. On one vase Terpsichore is seen with two figures inscribed as Mousaios and Melousa[[1005]]; but these may be no more than fancy names for an ordinary group of musicians. Five of them are seen in a group with Apollo, Thamyris, and Sappho,[[1006]] and elsewhere they accompany Apollo.[[1007]]
The Graces can nowhere be identified on Greek vases, though they form a well-known type in sculpture; but there is an Etruscan kylix in the British Museum (probably copied from a Greek original), which appears to represent them as an interior group.[[1008]] The Horae or Seasons appear (without distinctive names) on the François vase at the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, and on the Sosias cup[[1009]] in an Olympian assemblage (three in each case); also two of them at the sending forth of Triptolemos.[[1010]] The three Moirae (Fates) appear on the François vase (as above), and once also at the birth of Athena[[1011]]; the Furies have already been discussed.[[1012]]
V. The personifications having reference to physical conditions (as distinguished from ethical ideas) are comparatively few in number. They include Hebe (Youth), who by virtue of her divine attributes has already been discussed in another section (p. [77]); Hygieia (Health), who is also a fully developed goddess, but only once occurs on a vase, except among the somewhat vague personifications surrounding Aphrodite (see pp. [43], [76]]); and three others, regarded as of masculine sex. These are Geras (Old Age), Hypnos (Sleep), and Thanatos (Death). Geras is seen in combat with Herakles[[1013]]; Thanatos has already been discussed (p. [71]). Hypnos as a winged youth hovers over Alkyoneus, whom Herakles overcame while asleep[[1014]]; causes Ariadne to sleep while Theseus escapes[[1015]]; and with Thanatos carries the body of Memnon,[[1016]] or an ordinary mortal,[[1017]] to the tomb.
VI. Social advantages as apart from ethical qualities are perhaps difficult to determine exactly; but we may fairly rank under this heading such ideas as are suggested by Chrysos (Gold) and Ploutos (Wealth); Eirene (Peace); Nike (Victory); and the numerous attendants of Aphrodite and Dionysos, such as Eunomia, Eudaimonia, and others already named (pp. [43], [65]). Chrysos and Ploutos as boys accompany Nike in her chariot[[1018]]; Eirene’s appearance on vases is doubtful, but she may appear in one instance carrying the infant Ploutos.[[1019]] The birth of Ploutos seems to be represented in one instance.[[1020]]
But by far the most important personage in this class is Nike (Victory), whose appearance as a winged female figure is so often attested by inscriptions on R.F. vases that she can generally be identified with certainty. She is especially popular as a single figure on the Nolan amphorae and lekythi of the “severe” and “strong” periods, some of which are conspicuously beautiful examples.[[1021]] Altogether her appearances rival those of Eros in number, though on the Italian vases they are far fewer. Whether Nike ever occurs on B.F. vases is a very doubtful point, and has been denied by many scholars, but some figures are not easy to explain in any other way.[[1022]] On other works of art she does not appear before 480 B.C., unless the “Nike” of Archermos is to be so identified; it seems probable that she was an offshoot from Athena, whom we know to have been worshipped under the name of Nike, as in her temple on the Athenian Acropolis.
She is frequently associated with the gods, either in scenes from mythology or in groups apart from action[[1023]]; usually she pours libations to them, or crowns them in reference to some achievement. Thus we find her with Zeus,[[1024]] with Hera,[[1025]] with Athena,[[1026]] with Poseidon and Dionysos,[[1027]] with Apollo (especially at his victory over Marsyas),[[1028]] with Artemis Elaphebolos,[[1029]] and with Aphrodite.[[1030]] She frequently crowns or pours libations to Herakles, or attends him at his apotheosis[[1031]]; on the later vases she takes Athena’s place in conveying him in a chariot to Olympos.[[1032]]