DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4762#0019
14 CATALOGUE OF VASES.
distyle building evidently representing a heroon, or shrine devoted to the worship
of an ancestor or family r/'pco?. In the entrance of this building (which is painted
white to denote marble) generally stands or sits the figure of a young man or
woman, holding some attribute, a cup or piece of armour, or standing by a horse.
These figures are usually painted white throughout, like the building, which
fact seems to imply that a statue or relief is represented, rather than an actual
human figure. On either side of the heroon figures are represented in the act of
bringing offerings and libations. It is natural to suppose that these scenes
represent the worship of a ?;pa>9 or deceased ancestor of a family, such as is
known to have been a universal custom among the Greeks. This is not the
place to enter into a discussion on the cult of the dead, and it may suffice to
refer to the exhaustive article in Roscher's Lexicon, vol. i. pp. 2441-2589 (s. v.
Heros); also to Furtwaengler, Coll. Sabouroff, i. Introd. pp. 17-55; J. H. S.
v. p. 105 ff. (P. Gardner) ; Millingen-Reinach, Peintures de Vases Grecs, p. 102 ;
and Brit. Mus. Cat. of Sculpture, i. p. 293 ff. We may also compare the tomb
near Tritaea in Achaia which Pausanias describes (vii. 22, 6). It was of white
marble, with remarkable paintings by Nicias (c. 360 B.C.), representing a young
woman seated on a chair, with an attendant holding her parasol, and a youth
standing beside her with his servant carrying his spears and leading his hounds.
Pausanias, unable to ascertain the names of these persons, concludes that
any one could see that it was a tomb where a man and his wife had been
buried together.
Sometimes the actual tomb of the dead appears to be represented, with a
plant growing in it, as F 353 ; but as a rule the parallelism with the sepulchral
reliefs is very strongly marked. Each person is represented with his appropriate
costume or attributes—the warrior with horse or armour, the hunter with dog,
and the lady with articles of toilet. There can therefore be no doubt of the
sepulchral character of these vases, although the majority of vases of this period
seem to have been made merely for household use or ornament, such as the
crateres of which only one side is meant to be seen, or the large phialae for
hanging against the wall.
One of the Apulian sepulchral vases, now in the Louvre, bears the name
of its maker, Lasimos, whose style may perhaps be recognised in our vase
F 284; and two other artists of this period are known, Assteas and Python,
the former of whom probably lived at Paestum, though both must have
been closely connected (see below, p. 16). Of these three, only Python is
represented in the Museum collection; but his vase (F 149) is a master-
piece of its kind, and is moreover the only existing specimen of his work.
We should, however, also include among the signatures that of Statius, probably
a semi-Roman potter of about 250 B.C., who has incised on a vase of black
ware (F 594) the inscription XraTiov epyov ~KkoFaTu> Bwpov. On the whole
there is little interest to be derived from the inscriptions on these vases ; and
indeed they seldom occur. We may, however, note the sign |- for the rough
breathing on F 269, while on the later vases of black ware are some interesting
distyle building evidently representing a heroon, or shrine devoted to the worship
of an ancestor or family r/'pco?. In the entrance of this building (which is painted
white to denote marble) generally stands or sits the figure of a young man or
woman, holding some attribute, a cup or piece of armour, or standing by a horse.
These figures are usually painted white throughout, like the building, which
fact seems to imply that a statue or relief is represented, rather than an actual
human figure. On either side of the heroon figures are represented in the act of
bringing offerings and libations. It is natural to suppose that these scenes
represent the worship of a ?;pa>9 or deceased ancestor of a family, such as is
known to have been a universal custom among the Greeks. This is not the
place to enter into a discussion on the cult of the dead, and it may suffice to
refer to the exhaustive article in Roscher's Lexicon, vol. i. pp. 2441-2589 (s. v.
Heros); also to Furtwaengler, Coll. Sabouroff, i. Introd. pp. 17-55; J. H. S.
v. p. 105 ff. (P. Gardner) ; Millingen-Reinach, Peintures de Vases Grecs, p. 102 ;
and Brit. Mus. Cat. of Sculpture, i. p. 293 ff. We may also compare the tomb
near Tritaea in Achaia which Pausanias describes (vii. 22, 6). It was of white
marble, with remarkable paintings by Nicias (c. 360 B.C.), representing a young
woman seated on a chair, with an attendant holding her parasol, and a youth
standing beside her with his servant carrying his spears and leading his hounds.
Pausanias, unable to ascertain the names of these persons, concludes that
any one could see that it was a tomb where a man and his wife had been
buried together.
Sometimes the actual tomb of the dead appears to be represented, with a
plant growing in it, as F 353 ; but as a rule the parallelism with the sepulchral
reliefs is very strongly marked. Each person is represented with his appropriate
costume or attributes—the warrior with horse or armour, the hunter with dog,
and the lady with articles of toilet. There can therefore be no doubt of the
sepulchral character of these vases, although the majority of vases of this period
seem to have been made merely for household use or ornament, such as the
crateres of which only one side is meant to be seen, or the large phialae for
hanging against the wall.
One of the Apulian sepulchral vases, now in the Louvre, bears the name
of its maker, Lasimos, whose style may perhaps be recognised in our vase
F 284; and two other artists of this period are known, Assteas and Python,
the former of whom probably lived at Paestum, though both must have
been closely connected (see below, p. 16). Of these three, only Python is
represented in the Museum collection; but his vase (F 149) is a master-
piece of its kind, and is moreover the only existing specimen of his work.
We should, however, also include among the signatures that of Statius, probably
a semi-Roman potter of about 250 B.C., who has incised on a vase of black
ware (F 594) the inscription XraTiov epyov ~KkoFaTu> Bwpov. On the whole
there is little interest to be derived from the inscriptions on these vases ; and
indeed they seldom occur. We may, however, note the sign |- for the rough
breathing on F 269, while on the later vases of black ware are some interesting