Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 1): Zeus god of the bright sky (Cambridge, 1914)

2 00 The Solar Wheel in Greece

A great Apulian amphora with volute handles, found at Ruvo
and now preserved in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, has for its
obverse decoration a pair of contrasted scenes. The body of the
vase shows Hades enthroned in his palace between Persephone and
Hermes. Grouped near by are Apollon and Artemis on the one
side, Aphrodite, Eros and Pan on the other. And below are six of
the Danaides with their water-pots1. The neck (fig. 146)2 gives us
the upper, not the under, world. Here in the centre we see Ixion,
clothed indeed, but fast fettered to a triple wheel, from whose outer

Fig. r45.

rim rays dart forth in all directions. On the right Hephaistos3
leans against a tree-trunk, still holding the hammer with which he
has riveted the fetters. On the left a winged Erinys4 with snakes
in her hair is engaged in turning the wheel. Two other figures
complete the scene—Iris5 the counterpart of Hermes, and Zeus6 the
counterpart of Hades. Iris with wings and a caduceus occupies the

1 Infra ch. ii § 9 (d) ii (7), where the bibliography of the vase is given.

2 Raoul-Rochette op. cit. pi. 45'.

3 ' Le Charon grec' (Raoul-Rochette op. cit. p. 179 n. 3), ' Eaque (?)' (Reinach Rep.
Vases i. 355) !

4 ' Iris (?) ou Erinys (?)' (Reinach loc. cit.) !

5 ' Erinys ' (Reinach ib.) !

6 'Aiacos' (Raoul-Rochette toe. cit.), ' Hades (?)' (Reinach loc. cit.). But these sug-
gestions miss the intended contrast between the Upper- and the Under-world. Apulian
vases that have the Under-world on the body normally have the Upper-world on the neck,
either on the obverse or on the reverse side. Thus Karlsruhe 388 (Reinach op. cit. i. 108)
has obverse Helios in his quadriga (ib. i. 258). Munich 849 (ib. i. 258) has obverse
Helios and Heos in quadrigae conducted across the sea by Phosphoros (Furtwangler-
Reichhold Gr. Vasenmalerei i. 51). Naples 3222 (Reinach op. cit. i. 167) has reverse
Helios in his quadriga, Selene on horseback, and Eros between them, crossing the sea
(ib. i. 312). St Petersburg 426 (ib. i. 479) has obverse Eros in a quadriga—presumably
the sun's chariot (ib.). In fact, the only exception among the large-sized Under-world