A ''kantharos'' ( grc, κάνθαρος) or cantharus is a type of ancient Greek cup used for drinking. Although almost all surviving examples are in
Greek pottery
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...
, the shape, like many Greek vessel types, probably originates in metalwork. In its iconic "Type A" form, it is characterized by its deep bowl, tall pedestal foot, and pair of high-swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot. The Greek words ''kotylos'' (κότῦλος, masculine) and ''kotyle'' (κοτύλη, feminine) are other ancient names for this same shape.
The ''kantharos'' is a cup used to hold
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
, possibly for drinking or for
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
use or
offerings. The ''kantharos'' seems to be an attribute of
Dionysos
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, the god of wine, who was associated with
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic charac ...
and
fertility
Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Ferti ...
.
As well as a banqueting cup, they could be used in pagan rituals as a symbol of
rebirth or resurrection, the
immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
offered by wine, "removing in moments of ecstasy the burden of self-consciousness and elevating man to the rank of deity."
[Elderkin, Kantharos: Studies in Dionysiac and Kindred Cult, 2-6]
Gallery
File:Bucchero kantharos Terme.jpg, Bucchero
Bucchero () is a class of ceramics produced in central Italy by the region's pre-Roman Etruscan population. This Italian word is derived from the Latin ''poculum'', a drinking-vessel, perhaps through the Spanish ''búcaro'', or the Portuguese ' ...
''kantharos'' (Latial culture
The Latial culture ranged approximately over ancient Old Latium. The Iron Age Latial culture coincided with the arrival in the region of a people who spoke Old Latin. The culture was likely therefore to identify a phase of the socio-political self ...
, 830–730 BC)
Image:Geometric kantharos Staatliche Antikensammlungen 8501.jpg, Geometric
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
funerary ''kantharos'' (Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
, ca. 780 BC)
File:Kantharos sphinxes Louvre CA1339.jpg, Black-figure
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...
''kantharos'' with sphinxes
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
(Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...
, ca. 550 BC)
File:Boeotian kantharos Louvre MNC670.jpg, Black-glaze ''kantharos'' with Boeotian inscription ( Thespiae, 450–425 BC)
File:Janiform kantharos Louvre H44.jpg, Side view of janiform ''kantharos'' with Herakles and woman (480–460 BC)
File:Satyr kantharos Met 27.122.9.jpg, Satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...
side of a janiform ''kantharos'' by Aison (420 BC)
File:Canthare argent MAN St Germain.jpg, Silver cantharus (Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
, present-day Alise-Sainte-Reine, latter 1st century BC)
File:Head-Kantharos of a Female Faun or Io (?) LACMA 50.8.25.jpg, Iliupersis Painter (South Italy, active 375-350 B.C.), Head-''Kantharos'' of a Female Faun or Io (?), red-figure pottery
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting.
It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure va ...
File:Canthare janiforme 01.JPG, Janiform ''kantharos'', Etruscan pottery, second half of the 4th century BC.
File:Canthare janiforme 02.JPG, ''Kantharos'' Janus
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Jan ...
. ''Kantharos'' plastic double head: satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...
head (shown here) and female head, group Chiusi
Chiusi ( Etruscan: ''Clevsin''; Umbrian: ''Camars''; Ancient Greek: ''Klysion'', ''Κλύσιον''; Latin: ''Clusium'') is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy.
History
Clusium (''Clevsin'' in Etruscan) was ...
, 2nd half of the fourth century BC. BC, terracotta.
File:Kantharos BM CAT Vases E786.png, ''kantharos'', made in Athens, about 470 BC, British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
See also
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Kylix
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Rhyton
A rhyton (plural rhytons or, following the Greek plural, rhyta) is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table. A rhyton is typically formed in t ...
*
Ancient Greek vase painting
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has ex ...
*
Pottery of ancient Greece
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has ex ...
Notes
References
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{{Greek vase shapes
Ancient Greek pot shapes