Kylix (drinking cup) with Revelers. Interior: Two Revelers

The scenes on this cup show revelers (komasts) at the end of a symposium or party. A symposium was an important social activity in ancient Athens and participation was limited to aristocratic males. Wine was mixed with water in a vessel called a krater to a strength determined by the host of the symposium. Besides drinking, poetry was sung, games were played, political alliances were formed, and personal relationships started. After several kraters of wine, the end of the party was marked with a rowdy parade (called a komos) through the streets.

The Foundry Painter, the anonymous Athenian artist who painted this cup, was given his modern name from an important kylix painted by him, today in Berlin, which shows workers in a foundry casting bronze statues.