Lekythos, Satyr and Maenad

Most of the vessels exhibited here were produced in Athens , exported to Italy and served as tableware during the symposium, the banquet. The pictures on the drinking cups, beakers and wine -mixing vessels show both mythical creatures from the circle around Dionysus – satyrs,maenads, nymphs – and the humans using these vessels during the symposium: Men of various ages and hetaerae, professional ‘ladies of pleasure’. Homo- and heterosexual activities are to be seen in almost equal measure; both were depicted particularly drastically around 500 BC. In reality, strict social norms applied.