Red-Figure Ram-Head Rhyton (Drinking Vessel): Symposiasts; Satyr and Maenad

Although now missing nearly half of its mold-made ram’s head, this <em>rhyton</em>, a kind of drinking horn, retains most of its painted red-figure sections. On the wheel-made bowl above, three symposiasts recline at a drinking party: a youth wearing a <em>kidaris</em> (flapped Scythian hat) and two bearded men holding drinking cups. The youth plays the pipes, while a lyre hangs nearby and one man throws his head back in song. The letters around them, which do not spell out known words, may allude to the music in the air. Flanking the handle are a pipe-playing satyr and a dancing maenad (only partially preserved).