Black-Figure Amphora

Escorted by a mixed group of onlookers, a man and woman ride in a chariot. In the late 500s and early 400s B.C., portrayals of married couples in chariots were very popular scenes on Greek vases. Some of these wedding processions were meant to be purely mortal, while others were meant to be interpreted as weddings of the gods. The presence of the Greek god Hermes, identified by his costume and the staff or kerykeion he carries, at the head of the chariot team indicates that this is a divine wedding. The drinking horn that he carries and the branch of a grape vine that spreads through the background of the scene identify the man in the chariot as Dionysos, the god of wine. The woman must be his wife, Ariadne. A similar scene decorates the back of the vase. In this instance, the participants are harder to identify, but the scene is probably again a procession of divinities, given the presence of the god Apollo playing his lyre among the bystanders.