Chapter XIV
.).
The complete absence of inscriptions is an Ionic feature as are the ornamental patterns, such as the tongue-pattern round the handles; the fondness for winged figures also points in this direction. The combination of good technique with feeble compositions points to a late and imitative stage, and is contrary to the Attic tendency to prefer new ideas and new subjects to a high standard of technique. Among other characteristic details we may note the tendency to give the human figures tapering extremities, common to all archaic art, but here greatly exaggerated; also the elaborate ornamentation of the draperies with purple and white flowers or rosettes.
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The =Panathenaic amphorae=, of which some mention has already been made elsewhere (pp. 48, 132), form one of the most interesting groups of black-figured vases.[1238] The Panathenaic games, which were celebrated in the third year of each Olympiad, were traditionally attributed to Theseus, but at any rate were reconstituted by Peisistratos about 566 B.C., when rhapsodic contests were introduced. To these musical contests with flute and lyre were added in 456 by Pericles. The prizes were, as we know from Pindar, painted amphorae containing olive oil, and there is an interesting inscription[1239] which gives the number assigned as prizes for each contest. Thus, for the pentathlon, the first prize was 40 amphorae, the second 8; for the chariot-race, the first 104, the second 40; for the foot-race, the first 50 to 60, the second 10 to 12.[1240] That these vases were greatly valued and buried in tombs we know from the number found under such circumstances. About 130 in all are in existence.
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PLATE XXXIII
[Illustration:
PANATHENAIC AMPHORA (BRITISH MUSEUM). EARLIER TYPE (OBV. AND REV.). ]
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The shape of the sixth-century amphora is peculiar, but not exclusively used for this class[1241]; in height they vary from twenty-five inches to about eight inches. Towards the end of the century, and during the fifth, other forms were sometimes employed, that of the red-bodied amphora and even the “Nolan” being found. In the fourth century a great change took place, the height being greatly increased and the body becoming proportionately slim; the form exactly resembles that of the contemporary Apulian sepulchral amphorae (Fig. 30, p. 162), with the addition of a conical cover. After the end of the fourth century they appear to have been made only of metal, but that they continued to be made we know both from literature and monuments, such as the Athenian coins.
The designs are always in panels, the obverse representing the goddess to whom the games were sacred, in her character of Athena Promachos; the reverse, the contest in which the prize was won (see Plates XXXIII.-IV.). Athena is represented standing to the left, with crested helmet, spear raised aloft in right hand, and shield on left arm, adorned with an emblematic device; her drapery is usually much ornamented. Except in the earliest examples there is a Doric column on either side of her, surmounted by a cock, as the bird sacred to Agon, the god of athletic contests; sometimes in place of it a Sphinx, Siren, panther, or vase. In the fourth century we sometimes find a figure of Nike or Triptolemos in his car surmounting the columns. Down the side of the left-hand column is usually placed the inscription (always preserving an archaic form): [ΤΟΝ Α[Θ]ΕΝΕ[Θ]ΕΝ Α[Θ]ΛΟΝ], τῶν Ἀθηνῆἄθεν ἄθλων, “(a prize) from the games at Athens.” On the earliest known, the Burgon amphora (B.M. B 130), the word [ΕΜΙ] is added. In the fourth century the inscription still reads down the side of the column, but the letters are placed parallel to it, not at right angles. Further, in this period it often becomes customary to add on the right-hand side the name of the archon in whose year of office the games were held, thus enabling us to date the vase exactly.[1242] Of these, some ten examples are known, ranging from 367 to 313 B.C., the list being as follows:—
Polyzelos 367 B.C. B.M. B 603 Found at Teucheira, Cyrenaica Themistokles 347 ” Athens Mus. ” Athens Pythodelos 336 ” B.M. B 607 and 608 ” Cervetri Nikokrates 333 ” B.M. B 609 ” Benghazi Niketes 332 ” B.M. B 610 ” Capua Euthykritos 328 ” B.M. B 611 ” Teucheira Hegesias 324 ” Louvre ” Benghazi Kephisodoros 323 ” Louvre ” Benghazi Archippos 321 ” Louvre ” Benghazi Theophrastos 313 ” Louvre ” Benghazi
The contests represented include the pentathlon, chariot-race, foot-race, armed foot-race, torch-race, tilting on horseback, the παγκράτιον, and musical contests (see