John H. Oakley

Wonderfully preserved Greek vases are a unique source of information about the mythology, religion, drama and daily life of the ancient Greek world. This sumptuous photographic book offers a superb visual introduction to the artistry of ancient Greek vases, exploring them not merely as beautiful vessels to bear water and wine, but also as instruments of storytelling and bearers of meaning. Presenting the vases and their imagery in their full narrative glory, The Greek Vase interprets their forms and stories along a variety of themes, from the adventures of gods and mythological heroes, to expressive scenes of sexual intimacy and depictions of social, family and domestic life. This beautifully illustrated book highlights what these pictures would have meant to the people who lived with and used them, how they have been received by later generations, and the profound influence of their form, decoration and narrative on subsequent art, architecture and literature.

Painted vases are the richest and most complex images that remain from ancient Greece. Over the past decades, a great deal has been written on ancient art that portrays myths and rituals. Less has been written on scenes of daily life, and what has been written has been tucked away in hard-to-find books and journals. A Guide to Scenes of Daily Life on Athenian Vases synthesizes this material and expands it: it is the first comprehensive volume to present visual representations of everything from pets and children's games to drunken revelry and funerary rituals. John H. Oakley's clear, accessible writing provides sound information with just the right amount of detail. Specialists of Greek art will welcome this book for its text and illustrations. This guide is an essential and much-needed reference for scholars and an ideal sourcebook for classics and art history.

Painted vases are the richest and most complex images that remain from ancient Greece. Over the past decades, a great deal has been written on ancient art that portrays myths and rituals. Less has been written on scenes of daily life, and what has been written has been tucked away in hard-to-find books and journals. A Guide to Scenes of Daily Life on Athenian Vases synthesizes this material and expands it: it is the first comprehensive volume to present visual representations of everything from pets and children's games to drunken revelry and funerary rituals. John H. Oakley's clear, accessible writing provides sound information with just the right amount of detail. Specialists of Greek art will welcome this book for its text and illustrations. This guide is an essential and much-needed reference for scholars and an ideal sourcebook for classics and art history.

Dieser Band stellt den reichen Bestand mythologischer Szenen auf Sarkophagen vor, die in Athen im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. gefertigt wurden. Behandelt werden 67 Stucke mit mehr als 30 verschiedenen Mythenbildern. Mit diesem Band wird der dritte Faszikel vorgelegt (der erste von S. Rogge wurde 1995 publiziert, ein zweiter von C. Kintrup wird in Kurze folgen), der sich mit den romischen Sarkophagen beschaftigt, die in Athen wahrend der Kaiserzeit produziert wurden. Die breite Palette von griechischen Mythen, die auf diesen Sarkophagen wiedergegeben sind und hier vorgestellt werden, umfasst u.a. Szenen mit Bellerophon, Helena, Herakles, Iphigeneia, Orestes, Odysseus, Oedipus, Opheltes, Orpheus, Pelops und Theseus. Die behandelten Sarkophage werden in einem ausfuhrlichen Katalog sowie einem 64 Tafeln umfassenden Abbildungsteil detailliert dokumentiert. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt wurde auf die Ikonographie der verschiedenen Szenen und ihre Interpretation im kaiserzeitlichen griechischen und romischen Kontext gelegt.

This is the first in-depth study of the pictures found on Attic white lekythois. These funerary vases, placed in and on Athenian graves, have long been appreciated for their beautiful polychrome images that evoke the style of lost classical wall and mural paintings. The most important visual source for classical Greek funerary customs, they exhibit a limited range of subject matter, most of it connected with death. This richly illustrated volume closely examines the four major types of scenes: domestic pictures, the mythological conductors of the soul, the prothesis (wake), and visits to the grave. In addition to analysis of the iconographical development of each type, this study places these pictures in the historical, social, cultural, archaeological, and literary contexts, documenting relationships between the ‘rites of Passage’, Athenian history, the changing perceptions of death in fifth-century Athens, and funerary epigrams and laments.

In 1972 a large deposit of pottery and other finds from the mid-5th century B. C. were found in a pit just west of the Royal Stoa in the Athenian Agora. It contained many fragments of figured pottery, more than half of which were large drinking vessels. Twenty-one fragments were inscribed with a graffito known to be a mark of public ownership. The authors conclude that the pottery is refuse from one of the public dining facilities that served the magistrates of Classical Athens. The volume examines the archaeological context and chronology of the deposit and gives a detailed analysis of all the finds. A complete catalogue arranges the finds by type and in chronological order.