Etruscan Cinerary Urn with Amazonomachy

The Amazonomachy frieze shows two pairs of fighters. The left pair shows the Amazon fallen on the ground raising her shield to fend off the sword of her male opponent. He has a shield on his left arm, partially obscured. The male of the second pair (center) has fallen, face down, and his Amazon opponent grasps the edge of his shield with her left hand, pulling it back as she raises a weapon in her right (not preserved). Both men are nude, the Amazons wear knee-length tunics with one breast bared.

Alabaster Etruscan cinerary urn with lid in the shape of a reclining woman and Amazonomachy frieze on the front side panel. The nude winged woman on the far right has been identified as the Etruscan chthonic entity, Vanth. Metropolitan Museum of Art 96.9.225a, b.

Online Resources
Metropolitan Museum of Art 96.9.225a, b
Subjects
Amazons
Vanth
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution
Agent
Unknown
Date
ca. 3rd century BCE
Culture
Etruscan
Medium
Alabaster
Dimensions
h. with cover 33 1/2 in. (85.1 cm); h. without cover 17 1/4 in. (43.8 cm); l. 25 in. (63.5 cm)
Location
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Image Credit
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Intaglio of Heracles fighting the Hydra

A gold finger ring set with a garnet intaglio. Heracles (left) stands facing forward, head turned right toward the Hydra. He is nude and beardless. He raises his club over his head with his left hand. In his right hand he holds one of the Hydra's snake heads which he has apparently ripped off. The Hydra's tail is wrapped around his right leg and its six heads are raised trying to strike Heracles. The garnet is set horizontally in the band so the image would be sideways when worn.

Fourth century BCE Greek garnet intaglio set in a second century CE Roman gold ring. Found in Agrigento, Sicily. British Museum 1814,0704.1292.

Online Resources
British Museum 1814,0704.1292
Subjects
Heracles
Hydra
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Agent
Unknown
Date
ca. 4th century BCE
Culture
Greek
Medium
garnet
Dimensions
h. 3.25 cm; l. 1.30 cm
Location
British Museum
Image Credit
© Trustees of the British Museum.

Terracotta Vase in the Shape of a Ketos

Three-quarter right facing view of a lion-headed sea monster. Its back is raised in an arch touching the long rabbit-like ears which are laid back. Its mouth is open exposing its fangs. Its belly is incised with horizontal lines reminiscent of a snake's stomach. Lunate scales are incised down the creature's back. The right fin is tucked in along the creature's side. Traces of red paint are still visible. There is a large hole in the top of the head where the vase would have been filled.

Front half of an Archaic terracotta vase in the shape of the sea-monster Ketos. Metropolitan Museum of Art 2009.529.

Online Resources
Metropolitan Museum of Art 2009.529
Subjects
Ketos
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution
Agent
Unknown
Date
2nd half of the 7th century BCE
Culture
Greek
Medium
terracotta
Dimensions
3 1/16 x 3 15/16 in. (7.7 x 10 cm)
Location
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Image Credit
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pelops and his horses from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia

A young man, wearing a long chiton (center), kneels in front of a team of three horses. The youth and horses all face left toward the center of the sculpture group. A woman, probably Hippodameia, stands just to the left and slightly behind the youth. She is reaching up to her left shoulder with her left hand to adjust a fold over her clothing. All of the pieces are damaged to some degree. The horses are most damaged, missing their legs, portions of their bodies and noses.

Part of the pedimental sculpture group from the eastern end of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which depicted the moment before Pelops' chariot race. 

Online Resources
Image Source
Perseus Art and Archaeology Browser
Subjects
Pelops
Hippodameia
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
Agent
Unknown
Date
ca. 470–456 BCE
Culture
Greek
Medium
Marble
Location
Archaeological Museum of Olympia
Image Credit
Wikimedia: Holger Uwe Schmitt

Phrixus and Helle Roman Mosaic

A young man sits sideways on the back of a left-facing ram (center), holding its left horn with his right hand. He is fair-skinned and bare-chested with close-cropped dark hair. A length of cloth is wrapped around his waist and legs. Rocky outcroppings rise up on the far left and right of the scene with a body of water below the boy and ram receding into the background. In the water can be seen the head and chest of another youth, who reaches with their right arm toward the ram above.

Phrixus being carried across the Hellespont on the ram from the Golden Fleece. Helle has fallen off the ram and is drowning. From the Nymphaeum of the Villa San Marco in Stabiae. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli 10005.

Online Resources
Image Source
Subjects
Phrixus
Helle
Golden Fleece
Type
Image
License
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
Agent
Unknown
Date
ca. 50–79 CE
Culture
Roman
Medium
mosaic
Location
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples
Image Credit
Wikimedia: Amphipolis
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