Red-figure kylix

The kylix was the standard vessel for drinking wine in ancient Greece, and as such, it was closely associated with the symposium - a gathering of men of aristocratic origin, who drank, ate, discussed and enjoyed various kinds of entertainment. Kylikes were decorated both on the exterior and at the centre of the interior ("tondo"). Frequently, the scenes painted on the "tondo" related to Dionysus (god of wine) and the symposium or had explicitly sexual content. That was meant to surprise the drinker who could only see the decoration after he had emptied the kylix. On this example, a naked youth is drawing wine from a krater to fill the kylix he holds in his left hand. According to the inscription, the young man is named ΛΥΣΙΣ (Lysis) and his beauty is praised by the addition of the epithet ΚΑΛΟΣ (fair). The exterior surface is decorated on both sides with symposium scenes, in particular the drinking part of the symposium ("potos"), when the participants consumed much wine and entertained themselves in various ways. Here, they are playing the "kottabos", a popular game, in which the players had to twirl the kylix on their finger and hurl the wine into a container without spilling it. The game was also known as "Sikelikon" (Sicilian) because it was considered to have been invented by the Dorian colonizers of Sicily. The kylix is attributed to the "Antiphon Painter", who was active at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th c. BC.