Language/Modern-greek-1453/Culture/The-Derveni-Krater

The famous "Derveni Crater"

The Derveni Krater is a volute krater, the most elaborate of its type, discovered in 1962 in a tomb at Derveni, not far from Thessaloniki, and displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. It is made of a bronze with a high tin content of about 15%, which endows it with a superb golden sheen without use of any gold at all. It is dated to the 4th century BC, and was probably made in Athens. Large metalwork vessels are extremely rare survivals in Ancient Greek art, and the Derveni Krater is the outstanding survival from Hellenistic art, as the Vix Krater is from the Archaic period.It is a bronze vessel, 90 cm (36 in) tall and weighing 40 kilos (88lb); its purpose is the mixing of wine and water at a symposion (the ritualised drinking party that was central to male social life); Its owner was a man called Astion, son of Anaxagoras, from Larisa in Thessaly (as an inscription on the top tells us). Presumably, the grave it was found in was his.

The krater is incredibly ornate, with extraordinarily finely traced decoration depicting the marriage of Dionysos (God of wine and various kinds of ecstasy) and Ariadne, accompanied by Dionysos's entourage, satyrs and maenads, in wildly exuberant celebration. The detail of these dancing figures, their flowing and slipping garments, their expressions of ecstasy, their dynamism and their eroticism, is astonishing to behold. Fully three-dimensional figures, also of bronze, are sitting on the vessel's shoulder (not shown here), apparently nursing their hangovers or recovering from whatever else they debauched in!

Also more

https://greekreporter.com/2024/09/05/derveni-krater-masterpiece-ancient-greece/

Author

➡ Marianthi

• Ευγενική χορηγία που στοχεύει να βοηθήσει μαθητές ή μη, απανταχού της Γης, που επιδίδονται στην εκμάθηση της ελληνικής γλώσσας!
• Contribution bénévole visant à aider les personnes, partout dans le monde, qui sont engagées dans l'apprentissage de la langue grecque !
• Voluntary contribution aimed at helping people, all over the world, who are committed to learning the Greek language!