Oil Bottle (Lekythos)
Artist/Maker
Bowdoin Painter
Greece, ca. 500-475 BCE
Dateca. 500-475 BCE
CultureGreek
Mediumpottery and paint
DimensionsOverall: 10 1/8 x 3 1/8 in. (25.7 x 7.9 cm)
ClassificationsContainers
Credit LineMuseum purchase through funds from Colonel C. Michael Paul
Terms
Object number92.0028
On View
On viewCollections
DescriptionThe lekythos, a vase form associated with funerary offerings, depicts a silenus, which is a nature or woodland spirit follower of Dionysus, the god of wine. Greeks used animals as metaphors for what they saw as bestial qualities of human nature such as lack of restraint and lasciviousness. Sileni are identified by their horse’s tails and sometimes have horse’s ears as well. They should not be confused with a particular individual companion of Dionysus named Silenus, who was a satyr or goat-man.Text Entries- Art of the Ancient Mediterranean
