Day 41 - Dancing men on drinking cup





April 6, 2018

Gallery 152 focuses on objects, largely of bronze and terracotta, associated with the Greek expansion both  into Asia Minor and into the Mediterranean, including Sicily and the Italian mainland.  The captions discuss the fact that the Greeks incorporated design elements from these places, including both naturalistic depictions of animals and supernatural beings like sphinxes and griffins.  In fact, some of the small glass perfume bottles look like those from Egypt, but less refined. I have some inchoate thoughts about the value of absorbing aspects of other cultures that seem relevant at a time when various nationalisms seem on the ascendant, but these thoughts will remain undeveloped, at least for now.

 Today's object is a terracotta drinking cup whose main body is perhaps 4 inches high. It  dates from about 575-550  B.C.E. and shows dancing men in a procession, painted in black against a beige ground. But whereas the Egyptian wall painting with dancing women  suggested religious ecstasy, these men just seem to be having a really good time!

 Six bearded men are shown on each side. They are nude except for hats (helmets?) , and their genitals are clearly indicated (their cocks by two lines that create a triangle).  Several have a leg lifted high into the air, and some are waving their arms as well. On one side, five men follow a man playing a double flute. One appears to be holding his dick, which is thrust upward (a little more enjoyment for him!).  On the other side an amphora sits on the ground,  and three dancing men have thrown their arms around each other's shoulders. On each  side, one of the men holds a pitcher. Presumably all the vessels depicted contained wine, and these guys are having a fine old time drinking and getting drunk -- as the users of the cup would have, too.  Presumably the double handles provided a more secure grasp as the drinkers became increasingly inebriated.

 Dionysus' followers,the Bacchae, were mad, weren't they? And women to boot. But these guys don't look crazy, just very happy!

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