Attic black-figured amphora attributed to Exekias / Αττικός μελανόμορφος αμφορέας που αποδίδεται στον Εξηκία, 535 BC

Artifacts

Craters, vases ect. / Κρατήρες, αγγεία κ.α.

Attic black-figured amphora
(Height 41,5 cm; width 30 cm)
Attributed to Exekias
Archaic period About 535 BC
London, The British Museum

The mythical king Memnon, seen here flanked by two warriors, was the leader in the Ethiopian contingent of the armies that gathered to defend Troy against the Greeks. He was the central hero of the lost epic Aethiopis, and his death is said to have been as tragic as that of Hector, slain by Achilles. Such was the grief of his mother, Eos, goddess of dawn, that the gods granted him immortality. It is a mark of how much he was respected that a Trojan ally was depicted on a Greek vase. 

Memnon by Exekias - II 

… κεῖνον δὴ κάλλιστον ἴδον μετὰ Μέμνονα δῖον (Odyssey, XI, 522).

… next to the noble Memnon, he was the handsomest man I never saw.

Memnon was a son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Emathion. In the Odyssey and Hesiod he is described as the handsome son of Eos, who assisted Priam with his Ethiopians against the Greeks. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, at Troy. According to the common account, Achilles avenged the death of Antilochus upon Memnon.

Στην ελληνική μυθολογία ο Μέμνων ήταν βασιλιάς της Αιθιοπίας, γιος της Ηούς και του Τιθωνού, εγγονός του Λαομέδοντα και ανιψιός του Πριάμου. Σύμφωνα με αυτήν, του αποδίδεται η ίδρυση της Σούσας, ονομάστηκε Μεμνόνιο, όπου έφθασε αφού πέρασε πρώτα από την Αίγυπτο

The Siren Vase / Ο Οδυσσέας και οι Σειρήνες - Ιπτάμενοι Έρωτες

Artifacts

Craters, vases ect. / Κρατήρες, αγγεία κ.α.

ΑΓΓΛΙΚΑ
Attributed to: The Siren Painter,Attic, 480BC-470BC (circa),  now at British Museum.

The ship of Odysseus passing the Sirens. The sea is represented by a narrow space in the foreground shaded in thinned black, and with a wavy outline of the same colour. In this the ship moves to left, propelled by oars, of which six are seen on the port side; the heads and shoulders of five bearded rowers are visible above the gunwale; the fourth and fifth are seated on the same thwart: the stroke oar looks round to left at no. 2; the rowers of the second and fifth oars are not shown, and there is a seventh port near the bows which is not occupied by an oar. High up in the stern seat sits the steersman between the two steering-oars (πηδάλια), which work on cords attached to the ship's side; with his left hand he steers, his right is extended, and his mouth open, as if he were encouraging the rowers; he is bearded and has an himation around the lower part of his body. This figure and the first two rowers are wreathed, the other rowers have a fillet. Over the aphlaston a fringed piece of drapery decorated with crosses is hung (as ensign or σημείου?). The fore part of the hull is formed like the snout of a boar, with a large eye of archaic form painted in black; above it is a raised platform or forecastle formed of crossed spars, which reaches to the mast. Near the top of the mast is the καρχήσιον, probably of metal, as it is shaded differently from the mast, with two projecting eyelet holes (τροχίλίαί) in which the halyards (ιμάντες) run. The yard, with sail attached to it by a rope (coloured brown), is hoisted to the top of the mast, in a position oblique to the keel, and is kept in position by two braces (ύπέραι), of which one is attached at the bows, the other at the stern, immediately in front of the steersman. The sail is brailed up along its whole length, the brailing ropes (μηρνματα καλωδίων) indicated by brown lines here and there on the sail, and attached on deck within the steersman's reach. Odysseus, wreathed and bearded, is fastened against the bottom of the mast, facing the stern, with his arms behind his back lashed to it. His head is thrown back, looking upwards towards the Sirens. On each side of the scene a rocky promontory projects over the sea, with a Siren standing on the top. The Sirens are represented as birds with woman's heads, their hair looped up with a dotted stephane, a single tress hanging beside the ear (parotis): their lips are parted as though singing. The one on the left flaps her wings: over her is inscribed ΗΙΜEPΟΠΑ, Ίμερόπα. The one on the right stands still with folded wings. In front of her a third Siren flings herself down from the edge of the cliff, and falls headlong with closed eyes, as though already dead.

Three Erotes flying over the sea. The sea is represented as in a. The Erotes fly in single file to right, the foremost inscribed HIMEPOΣ, Ιμερος, carrying in both hands a long taenia decorated with key pattern and fringed ends; he looks round at the others, who carry a long tendril and a hare respectively. Their type is that of a full-grown boy, with long hair coiled above the neck (cf. Ε67) and hanging over the ear, and a fillet. Beside each of the second and third figures is inscribed KAΛΟΣ, καλός.

At the bottom of the foot an incised character.

Purple rigging of ship, wreaths, fillets, and inscriptions. Brown inner markings, shading of the sea and sails, gunwale of boat, feathers of Sirens, earth in b, pinions of wings, and skin of hare. Eye in archaic form (both angles slightly open). Each design is enclosed in a panel, formed by (below) sets of three maeanders separated by chequer squares, (above) tongue surmounting egg pattern, (at sides) net pattern. In b the design partly cuts and is partly cut by the border at the top.

GREEK
Στάμνος ύψος 35,56 εκ. 480-470 π.Χ. Βρετανικό Μουσείο, Ε440

Το πλοίο του Οδυσσέα έχει φτάσει στις Σειρήνες και ο Οδυσσέας είναι δεμένος στο κατάρτι, ενώ οι σύντροφοί του, έχοντας κλείσει με κερί τα αυτιά τους, κωπηλατούν για να ξεφύγουν. Το πλοίο κινείται προς τα αριστερά. Διακρίνονται έξι κουπιά, ενώ οι κωπηλάτες είναι πέντε. Στην πρώτη αριστερή θέση κάθονται δύο μαζί, δε φαίνεται όμως ότι κωπηλατούν και οι δύο, γιατί δε διακρίνεται το δεύτερο κουπί. Υπάρχουν οπές,  απ' όπου δεν προβάλλουν κουπιά. Ίσως για να γίνει φανερό ότι κάποιοι σύντροφοι του Οδυσσέα έχουν ήδη χαθεί. Στην πρύμνη βρίσκεται ο πηδαλιούχος. Το πανί του πλοίου είναι δεμένο στην αντένα. Δύο από τις Σειρήνες κάθονται σε βράχους, αριστερά και δεξιά της σύνθεσης. Αυτή στα δεξιά, είναι ακίνητη, ενώ αυτή που βρίσκεται αριστερά κουνάει τα φτερά της, έτοιμη να πετάξει. Διακρίνεται η επιγραφή: ΗΙΜEPΟΠΑ, Ιμερόπα. Η τρίτη πετάει ανάποδα με τα μάτια κλειστά και βρίσκεται μπροστά στον Οδυσσέα. Παρουσιάζονται ως πτηνά στο κάτω μέρος του σώματος και γυναίκες στο πάνω. Έχουν τα μαλλιά τους μαζεμένα και δεμένα με ταινία, ενώ ξεπροβάλλει μία παρωτίδα (μικρή κοτσίδα δίπλα στο αυτί). Η θάλασσα αποδίδεται με καμπύλη γραμμή και αραιωμένο μαύρο.
Στη β' όψη του αγγείου εικονίζονται τρεις έρωτες που πετούν πάνω από τη θάλασσα να κατευθύνονται προς τα δεξιά. Ο πρώτος στα δεξιά, φέρει την επιγραφή: HIMEPOΣ, Ιμερος. Κρατάει στα χέρια του μια ταινία διακοσμημένη με μαίανδρο και κοιτάει προς τους άλλους δύο που τον ακολουθούν. Αυτοί με τη σειρά τους κρατούν μια ταινία κι ένα λαγό. Ο λαγός, όπως και ο πετεινός, είναι δώρα που προσέφερε ο εραστής στον ερωμένο του. Δίπλα τους υπάρχουν οι επιγραφές ΚΑΛΟΣ. Τα σώματά τους δεν έχουν αποδοθεί με τον καλύτερο τρόπο. Για τον Boardman είναι "κακόσχημοι".