Chapter III

.

A few other general words for cooking-vessels and domestic utensils may also be mentioned here. The θερμαντήρ mentioned by Pollux[602] is presumably identical with the θερμοπότις and ἀναφαία of Athenaeus (475 D, 783 F), the former, as its name implies, being a vessel in which hot drinks were prepared. It seems to have been exclusively made of metal, and may, indeed, only be another name for the λέβης. It has, as we have seen, been identified with the κελέβη. Pollux gives a list of vessels used for warming water.[603]

The ἡθμός, or strainer,[604] answers to the modern colander, and is represented by a flat round vessel with long handle, of which some late fictile examples exist.[605] It is mentioned among the vessels in the Sigeian inscription,[606] but is there spelled ἡθμός. Most of the existing specimens are of bronze. The ὁλκεῖον mentioned by Athenaeus[607] appears to have been a bowl used for washing cups. The σκάφη (“boat”) is a general term used in the classics for vessels of varied import: basins, troughs, washing-tubs, bowls, etc.[608] It is the name used in inscriptions relating to the Panathenaic festival to describe the flat dishes or trays borne by the maidens who were called Skaphephori in the procession, as represented on the Parthenon frieze.[609] The diminutive form σκάφιον or σκαφεῖον also occurs, and is identified with καλπίον. The ὅλμος, generally used to denote a mortar,[610] also signified a bowl,[611] and had the special signification of the hollow bowl in which the priestess of Apollo sat when delivering oracles from the Delphic tripod. It may here be noted that the word τρίπους appears to be used in ancient writers[612] not only for the stand which supported the λέβης and other vessels, but for a vessel itself when thus supported on three feet. Most of the existing tripods are made of bronze,[613] but one or two fictile examples are known, including a very remarkable one in Berlin,[614] found at Tanagra, and covered with archaic paintings in the B.F. method.

On bathing and washing vessels our best authority is Pollux (x. 63); it is not, however, likely that they were often of earthenware. The ποδανιπτήρ at all events was of metal; it is often seen on R.F. vases with the subject of Theseus killing Procrustes.[615] Large vessels, resembling modern baths, were known by the names of πύελος: and ἀσαμινθος[616]; the λουτήριον, or laver, on a high stem, is frequently represented on South Italian vases,[617] but is a purely decorative adjunct. It is there painted white to indicate marble.

The λεκάνη[618] should also perhaps be included here, as according to the literary accounts it was a basin used for washing feet or clothes, or for vomiting. It also served the purpose of a mortar, and was used in the game of kottabos. A method of divination sometimes practised was known as λεκανομαντεία and consisted in placing waxen images in a lekane full of water, which became as it were animated and sank, thus signifying the destruction of an enemy. In Pseudo-Callisthenes we read how Nectanebos, the supposed father of Alexander, made use of this procedure.[619]

[Illustration: FIG. 43. OINOCHOË (7TH CENTURY).]

The next series with which we have to deal is that of vases used for pouring out wine and serving it at the table. They fall into two classes: the wine-jug for pouring, and the ladle for filling it out of the mixing-bowl. We begin with the series of wine-jugs, as being the more important.

[Illustration: FIG. 44. OINOCHOË (5TH CENTURY).]

Of these the most conspicuous is the =Oinochoë= (οἰνοχόη, from οἴνος, “wine,” and χέω, “pour”), one of the most beautiful shapes among Greek vases. It appears in several forms, but the name is generally restricted to one, which corresponds most closely to the modern beer-jug. It is found at all periods, and the form never varies to any marked extent, except that the later examples are rather more graceful than the earlier, and some of the fine R.F. specimens reach the perfection of elegance in form and decoration (Fig. 44). Its chief characteristic is the trefoil-shaped mouth, but this is not invariable, many specimens having a plain circular lip. It is very commonly found in the Rhodian wares of the seventh century, with designs in a continuous frieze (Fig. 43); and a peculiar form appears in an Ionic fabric (see page 359), with egg-shaped body and coarse designs. In the B.F. period the subjects are nearly always in framed panels. Among the R.F. vases of the fine style, many diminutive oinochoae occur, nearly all of which were found at Athens, the subjects being those of children playing with go-carts and other toys, and sometimes with jugs of the same shape. As these appear to have been found in children’s tombs, it is evident that these painted specimens were actually used as playthings.[620]

The oinochoë is frequently represented in vase-paintings, chiefly in scenes of libation, in which ceremony it was invariably used for pouring wine into the phiale or _patera_, from which the libation was made. It occurs on the Parthenon frieze. In conjunction with the krater, or mixing-bowl, it is seen on a “Cyrenaic” kylix in the B.M. (B 3), in a scene representing a sacrifice. In reference to this may be quoted a curious injunction given by Hesiod (_Op. et Di._ 744),

μηδέ ποτ’ οἰνοχόην τιθέμεν κρητῆρος ὔπερθεν πινόντων,

which seems to imply that it was considered an unlucky thing to put the jug back in its place on the edge of the krater during a banquet.[621] Thucydides[622] speaks of silver oinochoae in the temple at Eryx, in conjunction with libation-bowls and incense-burners, and Athenaeus[623] mentions similar offerings at Metapontum.

[Illustration: FIG. 45. PROCHOÖS.]

A variety of the oinochoë, which is not found before the middle of the R.F. period, but becomes very popular in Apulia, has a very high curved handle and tall stem, the body tapering straighter downwards (Fig. 45). This is usually known as the πρόχοος, and corresponds in form to our claret-decanter. The πρόχοος served the same purpose as the οἰνοχόη, and is frequently mentioned in Homer. It was used not only for pouring wine, but for water to wash the hands of guests.[624]

[Illustration: FIG. 46. OLPE.]

A third form, usually known as the ὄλπη (Fig. 46), is almost cylindrical in shape, with plain or trefoil lip and no marked neck; it is more usually found in the B.F. period. In early B.F. wares the subjects on the olpae are usually painted on the _side_, adjoining the handle on the right[625]; they are always in panels. The word is mentioned by Sappho and Ion of Chios.[626]

[Illustration: FIG. 47. EPICHYSIS.]

Lastly, we have a curious form, only found in Apulia, and belonging to the extreme decadence of vase-painting (Fig. 47), which has a flat cylindrical body like a round toilet-box (see Pyxis, p. 198) with moulded edges. This is surmounted by a long narrow neck and beak-like semi-cylindrical mouth[627]; and the whole effect is awkward and inartistic. The name ἐπίχυσις, derived from the list given by Pollux,[628] is generally given to this form.

For the ladle used for drawing wine out of the krater to fill the oinochoë the ordinary name was κύαθος (Lat. _simpulum_). This word also commonly denoted a measure of about one gill. Among the painted vases it is represented by a rare but particularly graceful shape, the body fashioned like a straight-sided bowl, with a high looped handle (Fig. 48). In the early B.F. examples a high stem is added. This shape is not found in the later R.F. period or in Southern Italy. The long handle is obviously for convenience in dipping.

[Illustration: FIG. 48. KYATHOS.]

A series of names, all of which are derivatives from the word ἀρύω, “draw” (used only of drawing water), appear to represent ladles of various forms and uses. Herodotos[629] mentions the word ἀρυστήρ, and the forms ἀρυστεῖς, ἀρυτήρ, ἀρυσάνη, ἀρυστρίς, are also found.[630] The ἀρύταινα appears to have been a bronze ladle, used in the baths for collecting oil, and for filling lamps.[631] The ἀρύςτιχος, on the other hand, was a wine-ladle, also known as an ἔφηβος; it appears to have been used in voting in the law-courts.[632] Another word used by Aristophanes is οἰνήρυσις[633]; two parallels to which are the ἐτνήρυσις and ζωμήρυσις of the same author[634] and other comic writers, both words meaning “soup-ladle.” It is doubtful if any of these words were in use for fictile utensils.

* * * * *

The next branch of the subject is concerned with the various forms of =Drinking-cups= in use among the Greeks. In these the potters may perhaps be said to have attained their highest excellence, not only in regard to beauty and grace of form, but also, so far as concerns one variety at any rate—the R.F. Athenian kylix—in regard to the decoration. The _locus classicus_ on the subject is the eleventh book of Athenaeus, to which frequent reference has already been made[635]; but there are of course frequent references to these cups in Homer and other poets. Athenaeus devotes a discourse by one of his “Doctors at Dinner” entirely to this subject, the different names being discussed in alphabetical order. Many of them are, as will be seen, only alternatives names or nicknames for well-known shapes, while others included in his description are certainly not drinking-cups at all. It must also be borne in mind that many of the names are purely generic, like the Latin _poculum_, and are not intended to connote any special form; this is particularly the case in the descriptions of Homer, where, indeed, we should not look for scientific accuracy.

The ordinary word for a drinking-cup was ποτήριον or ἔκπωμα, but neither is known to Homer[636]; the terms he uses are δέπας, ἄλεισον, and κύπελλον, the first being further defined as ἀαμφικύπελλον. The word κισσύβιον[637] may be once for all briefly dismissed; it was so called from κισσός (ivy), probably as being ornamented with ivy-foliage in relief, and was made of wood. It is seldom that Homer’s descriptions give any details as to form, and where they do they are difficult to interpret aright. Athenaeus devotes a lengthy section of his discourse to the explanation of the famous cup (δέπας) of Nestor,[638] which he names νεστορίς (cf. p. 172), but arrives at no definite conclusion. It has already been pointed out that a hint at its form seems to be given by the gold and silver cups found in Mycenaean tombs, at Mycenae, and Enkomi in Cyprus, although it need not be assumed that these are the products of the civilisation which Homer describes; he may, however, be speaking of traditional forms. Another instance of the δέπας in legend, is in the story of Herakles crossing the ocean in the golden δέπας of the Sun.[639]

Among the names of drinking-cups given by Athenaeus, the following may be taken as used in a purely general sense, without any idea of a

## particular form.

Ἄμυστις.—A cup from which it is possible to drink at one draught (cf. κελέβη, p. 169).

Αμφωτις.—A two-handled cup (see under Skyphos, p. 186).

Ἀντύγονις.—A cup named after King Antigonos.

Ἀργυρίς.—A cup of metal (not necessarily silver). Pollux also gives the word χρυσίς.

Ἄωτον.—A Cypriote name for a cup (“without handles,” from α and οὔς).

Βαυκαλίς.—An Alexandrine variety, of glass or clay.

Βῆσσα.—Also an Alexandrine form, widening out below.

Γυάλας.—A Megarian name (the form of the word is Doric).

Δεπαστρόν.—An uncertain form, variously explained.

Δεπαστρόν.—A bye-form of δέπας, in use at Kleitor in Arcadia.

Ἐνιαυτός.—Also known as Ἀμαλθείας κέρας. See under Rhyton (p. 193).

Ἔφηβος or ἐμβασικοίτας.—The significance of these names is not obvious, but see p. 179 for the former.

Ἡδυποτίς.—A Rhodian name (cf. Pollux, vi. 96). Said to have been made by the Rhodians in competition with the Athenian Θηρίκλειοι (see below, p. 189). They were of light make, and not, like the Thericleian cups, for the exclusive use of the rich.

Ἠθάνιον.—Apparently an Egyptian name.

Ἡμίτομος.—An Athenian cup, probably hemispherical (but see above, p. 174).

Ἴσθμιον.—A Cypriote term.

Κελέβη.—See under Krater (p. 169).

Κόνδυ.—An Asiatic name. Menander describes it as holding ten kotylae, or about five pints.

Κρατάνιον or κρανίον.—Polemon mentions silver specimens in the temple of Hera and treasury of the Byzantines at Olympia.

Κρουνεῖον.—It is doubtful if this word denotes a cup, as it is catalogued with the κρατήρ, κάδος, and ὁλκεῖον.

Λαβρωνία.—A Persian cup, named from “greedy” drinking (λαβρότης ἐν τῷ πίνειν).

Λάκαινα.—A cup made of Laconian clay.

Λέσβιον.

Μάνης.—A cup or bowl placed on the top of the kottabos-stand, and used in the game of kottabos to receive the drops of wine thrown from the kylix (_q.v._)

Μέλη.

Ὄινιστηρία.—A name given to the wine-cup dedicated to Herakles by the ephebi at the time of entry into that rank.

Ὄλλιξ.—A wooden cup.

Παναθηναικόν.—Probably a variety of the Skyphos (_q.v._).

Πελίκη.—See under Amphora (p. 163). A generally disputed form.

Πέταχνον.—A wide flat cup (from πετάννυμι, “spread”).

Πρίστις.

Προυσίας.—Named from the king of Bithynia.

Προχύτης.—Called a cup by Athenaeus, but more probably to be identified with the πρόχοος (p. 178).

Ῥέον or Ῥέοντα.—Probably a variant of ῥυτόν. It is described as taking the form of a Gryphon or Pegasos, both of which occur in rhyta (p. 193).

Σαννακία.—A Persian cup.

Σελευκίς.—A cup named after King Seleukos.

Ταβαίτας.—A wooden cup.

Τραγέλαφος.—Probably a kind of rhyton (p. 193).

Τριύρης.—See p. 186, under κύμβιον.

Ὑστιακόν.

Χαλκιδικόν.—Probably named from the Thracian Chalkidike.

Χόννος.—A bronze cup (perhaps a kind of kylix).

ᾨδός.—A cup associated with the singing of σκόλια.

ᾨόν.—An egg-shaped cup.

ᾨοσκύφιον.—A double cup, apparently like an egg standing in an egg-cup.

Pollux also mentions the names Βησιακόν and Καππαδοκικόν; and Athenaeus describes a γραμματικὸν ἔκπωμα, or cup ornamented with letters (in relief), probably a late Hellenistic type.

We now come to the names which can be identified with existing vases, or are described with some indication of their form.

A name which constantly occurs in two forms is the κοτύλη or κότυλος. The distinction appears to be that the former had no handles, but the latter one,[640] but otherwise the form was probably much the same, being that of a deep cup; it is also probable that it was sometimes used like the κύαθος, as a ladle for drawing out wine, as well as for drinking. The word κοτύλη is found as early as Homer,[641] used metaphorically for the hollow where the thigh-bone joins the hip; in its proper meaning as a cup, it occurs in the familiar proverb[642] which has been adopted into our language:

πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κοτύλης καὶ χείλεος ἀκροῦ “There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.”

As a measure it was equivalent to six kyathi, or roughly half a pint, as already shown (p. 135). The ἡμικοτύλιον there discussed is, however, a one-handled cup, and therefore to be called a κότυλος rather than a κοτύλη. The latter is a word constantly found in Greek literature from Homer downwards, as in the passage where Andromache describes the impending fate of her orphan child, to whom a pitying patron will hold out a cup, merely to taste, not to drain.[643]

From Athenaeus we learn that the κότυλος was like a deep washing-basin (λουτήριον), and that it was associated with Dionysos. Eratosthenes[644] calls it the most beautiful and the best for drinking of all cups. The diminutive form κοτύλισκος occurs in connection with the κέρνος], discussed below (p. 195), which had many of these little cups attached to it. It has been customary to apply the name κοτύλη to a class of vase found at all periods, with flat base, slightly curved sides, and two flat handles level with the rim (Fig. 49); it sometimes attains a considerable size for a drinking-cup, and is usually decorated with one or two figures each side. A notable exception is the beautiful vase in the British Museum (Plate LI.), signed by Hieron, with its frieze of figures all round. This identification is of course at variance with Athenaeus' statement that the kotyle has no handle; but no other satisfactory name has been found for the form.

[Illustration: FIG. 49. KOTYLE.]

Closely connected, it would seem, with the κοτύλη is the cup known as the σκύφος or σκύπφος, to which there are frequent references in the poets and elsewhere but not in Aristophanes. Homer[645] describes it as a rustic sort of bowl, which held milk; Simonides applies to it the epithet οὐατόεντα, or “handled.” Athenaeus connects the word with σκαφίς, a round wooden vessel which held milk or whey, and this seems to accord with the mention of it in Homer. It was always specially associated with Herakles,[646] who was said to have used it on his expeditions; hence certain varieties were known as σκύφοι Ἡρακλεωτικοί, but it is more probable that this word refers to Heraklea Trachinia in Northern Greece. Besides the Herakleotic, Athenaeus mentions specially Boeotian, Rhodian, and Syracusan skyphi. The ordinary shape of the vase may be inferred from the form of that which Herakles is often depicted holding on the monuments[647]; it is of the same type as the κοτύλη, but the body tapers below and has a higher foot, while the handles are placed lower down and bent upwards. Among the late black-glazed wares with opaque paintings (p. 488) some examples occur of cups with handles twisted in a kind of knot, and it has been suggested that these represent the “Heraklean knot” described by Athenaeus[648] as to be seen on the handles of these: σκύφοι Ἡρακλεωτικοί.

The word is also frequently used by Roman authors, and there is a

## particularly interesting passage in Suetonius (cf. p. 134) alluding to

the _Homerici scyphi_ adorned with chased designs from the Homeric poems[649] which Nero possessed; these were, of course, metal bowls with reliefs,[650] but they have their fictile counterparts in the so-called Megarian bowls (p. 499).

Athenaeus[651] quotes from the philosopher Poseidonios a passage referring to drinking-cups called Παναθηναικά, which may be supposed to have some connection with the Panathenaic festival, and attempts have been made to identify them with a class of skyphi or kotylae of the R.F. period, the invariable subject on which is an owl between two olive-branches (p. 410).[652] There is no doubt some reference to the Athenian goddess, but it is more likely that they represent some kind of official measure (see above, p. 135).

It will be noted that the σκύφος appears to have been originally a wooden vessel used as a milking-pail, and it is further identified in Theocritus with the wooden κισσύβιον, to which we have already alluded. Two other words are given by Athenaeus to denote large wooden bowls of the type of the σκύφος, namely the ἄμφωτις and the πέλλα[653] both used as milking-pails. They were not strictly speaking drinking-cups. Among existing Greek vases this form, viz. a deep straight-sided bowl, such as a carved wooden vessel would naturally take, seems to be best represented by the examples discovered on the site of the Cabeiric temple at Thebes, which are of this shape and of considerable size (see Fig. 98, p. 392).[654]

The βρομίας is described by Athenaeus[655] as a cup resembling the taller skyphi, and the κιβώριον[656] (whence the ecclesiastical Latin _ciborium_[657]) was also a kind of skyphos. The name μαστός should also be included here, from the likeness of the cup to the skyphos. Its characteristic is that it has no foot but only a small knob, and therefore exactly resembles a woman’s breast with the nipple, whence its name. In Greek pottery the only known painted examples are of the B.F. period,[658] and these are usually modelled and painted with great care and delicacy. The so-called Megarian bowls (see p. 499) should also be included under this heading, in reference to which it has been pointed out that μαστοί of metal were dedicated in temples at Oropos in Boeotia and at Paphos.[659]

Another form of cup, of which Athenaeus has much to say, is the κύμβιον[660] (other forms being κύμβη and κύββα), which was supposed to represent the κύπελλον of Homer. He describes it as small and deep, without foot or handles. On the other hand, the word also means “a boat,” and we further find the words ἄκατος and τριήρης cited by Athenaeus[661] as names of cups, the former being expressly called “a boat-shaped cup.” This has the support of the author Didymos (quoted by Athenaeus, 481 F) who says the κύμβιον was a long narrow cup like a ship.[662] A possible instance of it is a long askos-shaped vessel in the British Museum,[663] on which is incised [ΠΡΟΠΙΝΕ ΜΗ ΚΑΤΘΗΣ], “Drink, do not lay me down”; but it is not of a form adapted for drinking. The question must therefore remain undecided. Ussing thinks that κύμβιον was originally a cup-name, and that the other meaning is derived from it; but, on the other hand, ἄκατος and τριήρης are merely nicknames as applied to cups.

The κώθων is a cup which cannot now be identified, but is often referred to by ancient authors.[664] It seems to have been a Spartan name for a soldier’s cup, used for drinking-water, and was adapted by its recurved mouth for straining off mud.[665] It has been conjectured to have been the name for the shape we have above described as a κοτύλη, but on no good grounds; Pollux (vii. 162) wrongly classifies it with the πίθος and amphora, but it was undoubtedly a cup, as indeed he implies elsewhere (vi. 97). Usually of clay, it is sometimes described as of bronze,[666] and Aristophanes applies to it the epithet φαεινός,[667] which suggests a bright metallic surface. Hesychius and Suidas describe it as having one handle. From the κώθων was derived the word κωθωνίζεσθαι, “to drink hard.”[668]

The κάνθαρος was a cup so called because of a fancied resemblance to an inverted beetle.[669] It was specially associated with Dionysos,[670] and from this fact its form has been identified with certainty from the two-handled drinking-cup which he is so often depicted holding, especially on B.F. vases. It is a very beautiful though for some reason never a very popular shape in pottery, and is found at all periods.[671] In form it may be described as a deep straight-sided cup on a high stem, with loop-shaped handles starting from the rim each side and coming down to the lower edge of the body (Fig. 50). Probably it was considered a difficult shape to produce in pottery, and was commoner in metal examples.

At all events the καρχήσιον, a similar kind of cup, seems to have been consistently made of metal. Athenaeus[672] describes it with more than usual detail as tall, moderately contracted in the middle, with handles reaching to the bottom (_i.e._ of the bowl). The form is to be recognised on the monuments (if not in actual examples[673]) as a variation of the κάνθαρος in which the body has a sort of “waist,” bulging out again below. Virgil mentions _carchesia_,[674] and silver specimens were among the dedications in the Parthenon at Athens.[675]

[Illustration: FIG. 50. KANTHAROS.]

Of all the ancient forms of drinking-cup, the most celebrated and in some respects also the most beautiful, was the =Kylix= κύλιξ, Lat. _calix_),[676] a two-handled cup of varying size, with large bowl on a high stem. The shape of this vase shows a continuous development, as does also its decorative treatment, from the most primitive times down to the end of Greek vase-painting. It was moreover the form which the great artists of the early part of the fifth century selected as the medium of their finest efforts. The kylix played an important part at the banquet, being not only one of the commonest forms of drinking-cup in use, but as being also used in the game of kottabos (see