Attic Black-Figure Mastoid (Side A)

Exterior: Herakles and Athena, flanked by Iolaos and a male figure (Hermes). Iolaos sits to left on a block, looking right. He is nude, and armed with a sword (only the scabbard is visible), and holds a club in his left hand. Herakles reclines to the left on a striped pillow, holding a flower and looking towards Athena. Hanging above Herakles are his bow, quiver and a garment. His lionskin hangs to the right, before Athena, who sits on a block, leaning forward. She wears an Attic helmet with a snake’s head protome, a chiton and aegis, and holds a spear. Behind her, a male figure (only his back, one leg, and the heel of his other foot survive) fills an oenochoe (type 1), dipping it into a column-krater. Given that he wears a chlamys and has boots with long tongues, he is likely to be Hermes

The interior is black. The rim’s top edge is reserved, and the offset lip is black on the exterior. Just below the offset, a red line encircles the exterior of the vessel. A faint black line serves as a groundline for the figures. Below, a zone of black, with a thin red line along the upper edge, and another encircling the base. The bottom of the cup is reserved, and slightly concave.

Adapted from Clark, A., CVA Malibu 2 (1990).