Orpheus flees right, looking toward the woman chasing him. He holds his lyre in his left hand and reaches back, pleadingly, with his right. He is nude except for a himation around his shoulders. He has been stabbed through the right back/side by a staff or spit and is bleeding from the entrance and exit wounds. The woman holds a spear pulled back in her right hand; her left arm is raised with her mantle wrapped around it. A ladder-like design is painted on her right arm, neck, and feet.

Attic red-figure neck amphora depicting the killing of Orpheus by a Maenad/Thracian woman. Discovered in Capua, Italy.

Online Resources
British Museum 1873,0820.363
Subjects
Orpheus
Maenad
Thracian woman
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Agent
The Oionokles Painter
Date
ca. 470 BCE
Culture
Greek
Medium
terracotta
Dimensions
h. 33.02 cm; diameter 19 cm
Inscription
Two inscriptions, one each above the Maenad and Orpheus, but both are nonsense.
Location
British Museum
Image Credit
© Trustees of the British Museum.