Kylix fragment 520 BC

This is a fragment of a Kylix, or drinking cup, made in Greece around 500 BC by the artist Oltos. Though only a piece remains, it shows a leaping gazelle painted in the red-figure style on a black background. Now, these cups weren't merely functional. They were also important cultural objects. In Athenian society, drinking parties or symposia, were important social and political events for aristocratic men. Kylixes like this one would have been used during these gatherings, becoming part of the rituals of male bonding and intellectual exchange. The imagery on the cups, therefore, served to both entertain and provoke conversation among the participants. The image of the gazelle, beautifully rendered with a keen eye to naturalistic detail, might have been intended to evoke ideas of swiftness, grace, or even wildness, qualities that would resonate within the symbolic world of the symposium. By studying the fragments that remain, and the social rituals in which they played a part, we get a sense of the world of ancient Athens.