Chapter XV

.). In the banqueting-scenes which are so popular a subject on the R.F. kylikes of the best period, the guests are often represented twirling vases of this shape on one finger crooked through the handle; this being the manner in which they discharged the drops of wine at the mark. Hence the kylix was also known as ἀγκύλη or κοτταβίς. When not in use the kylix was hung on a peg on the wall, as it is sometimes depicted on R.F. vases.[677]

Athenaeus[678] cites the Athenian and Argive kylikes as being of special repute; the latter are described by Simonides as φοξίχειλος, a word of doubtful meaning.[679] In the former’s own city of Naukratis a special kind of kylix[680] was made by hand (not on the wheel), with four handles and a very flat base, and this was dipped in a solution of silver to give it a metallic appearance.[681] Lacedaemonian, Chian, and Teian kylikes are also mentioned (the last-named by Alcaeus: see p. 64). But the most famous variety was the Thericleian, so named from Therikles, a Corinthian potter contemporary with Aristophanes. These cups were chiefly made at Athens; they are frequently mentioned by Middle and New Comedy writers, and are described by Athenaeus[682] as depressed round the sides, deep, with short handles. They were imitated in wood or glass, and gilded, and Athenaeus mentions that the Rhodians made ἡδυποτίδες (see above) in emulation of them.[683]

Besides the various diminutive forms of κύλιξ, such as κυλίχνη (see above, p. 133), κυλίσκη, etc.,[684] there is a long list of synonyms for this form, about most of which, however, there is nothing to say except that they are probably mere nicknames. Athenaeus gives the following: Κονώνιος, Λάκαινα, λοιβάσιον, πεντάπλοον, σκάλλιον, χαλκόστομος, χόννος, and μαθαλίς; also μετάνιπτρον, from its use after the washing of the hands, _i.e._ at the end of the meal; Προυσίας, named from a king of Bithynia; and φιλοτησία, corresponding to our “loving-cup.”[685]

In the history of Greek vase-painting the kylix is a shape known and popular at all periods, from the Mycenaean Age down to the end of the fifth century; in the fabrics of Southern Italy it but seldom occurs. The Mycenaean form is peculiarly graceful, with its tall stem and swelling bowl; it is generally decorated with a cuttle-fish, a motive well suited to its outlines (see Plate XV.).

During the archaic period of Greek vases a steady development can be traced, both in form and methods of decoration, until the outburst of the R.F. style. The early Corinthian specimens (cf. p. 313) are somewhat cumbrous, with very low stem, shallow bowl with heavy overhanging lip and small handles; in strong contrast thereto are the Cyrenaic cups (p. 341 ff.), which are in execution quite in advance of their time (first half of sixth century); their graceful, delicate forms are evidently imitated from metal. These early cups are as a rule covered with a cream-coloured or buff slip and decorated all over, and the interior designs, which cover the whole or almost the whole of the inside, are a marked feature of these types.

[Illustration: FIG. 51. KYLIX (EARLIER FORM).]

Turning to the Attic fabrics we find that in the beginning of the sixth century the prevalent form (evolved from the Corinthian type) has a high stem and deep bowl with off-set lip, the decoration being confined to the upper band of the exterior, in the form of a frieze (Fig. 51). This type is also illustrated by a small Rhodian group in the British Museum,[686] which, however, has elaborate interior designs. In the next stage, represented by the Minor Artists (see p. 379 ff.), the form remains the same, but the manner of decoration is different, interior designs again appearing; often the design is confined to a narrow band, the rest of the exterior being coloured black. Lastly, towards the end of the fifth century, an entirely new form is introduced, in which the break in the outline disappears and the bowl becomes flatter, with a gracefully-curved convex outline, while the stem is shortened (Fig. 52). This form is the one adopted throughout the R.F. period, with few exceptions, and it is possible that it was actually invented by the earliest R.F. artists, such as Nikosthenes and Pamphaios, though it is also employed by Exekias.[687] The methods of decoration cannot however be treated of here.

[Illustration: FIG. 52. KYLIX (LATER FORM).]

An extremely delicate form of kylix is used by the potter Sotades (