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Imagery of Theseus in Late Attic and Early
Classical Athenian Pottery
Athenian Pottery - Kodros Painter
Fig. 1. Attributed to the Kodros Painter.
440-430 BCE, Red figure cup. 12.7 x 33.02 cm. British Museum, London, England.
This image is a Red Figure Cup attributed to Kodros Painter. This Kylix is completely
devoted to the Deeds of the Athenian hero, Theseus. The center circular panel contains the image of Theseus taking the dead minotaur out of the
labyrinth. The outer inner-ring depicts his youthful deeds clockwise from top: Kerkyon, Prokrustes, Skiron, the
Marathon Bull, Sinis, and the Kronnyonian sow. The outside of the cup shows those same youthful deeds.
A kylix is a stemmed cup with two horizontal handles and a stemmed foot. The wine-drinking vessels were the most common shape for Greek pottery and were used regularly during the Greek symposium. The symposium was an ancient male drinking party. At these parties, upper class Greeks would gather in large groups to share wisdom, wealth, and to discuss politics and philosophy. Having the story of Theseus constantly displayed could inspire conversations of the mythical founding of Athens, or could foster discussion of the budding democracy.