The lebes (, plural ''lebetes'') is a type of ancient Greek cauldron, normally in bronze. It is a deep bowl with a rounded bottom. It was often supported by a

sacrificial tripod A sacrificial tripod, whose name comes from the Greek meaning "three-footed", is a three-legged piece of religious furniture used in offerings and other ritual procedures. This ritual role derives from its use as a simple support for a cooking ve ...

. In classical times, a foot was attached and it was typically used as a cooking pot.

Variants

Tripod lebes

The tripod lebes is characterized by two round vertical handles and by three strut-supported legs. All were separately cast then riveted to the cauldron. Artefactual evidence indicates the tripod lebes was not used as a mixing bowl, even long after it lost its role as a cooking pot.

Lebes gamikos

The lebes gamikos (pl. lebetes gamikoi), or ''nuptial lebes'', appears to have been a part of pre-wedding purification ceremonies, and was often made in pottery. It may have stood by the bride's door and was probably used in ritual sprinkling of the bride with water. Lebetes gamikoi stood on variously long or short bases and each typically was painted with a scene of a wedding procession. Oftentimes, the wedding depicted was mythic (such as the wedding of

Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biogra ...

and

Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...

) or included mythic elements such as chariots bearing Helen and

Menelaos In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; ) was a Greeks, Greek king of Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean (pre-Dorians, Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen of Troy, Helen, fleeing to Troy with t ...

Value

Under the

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

system that existed in early

Iron Age Greece Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's out ...

, goods and services were directly exchanged without the use of an

exchange medium In economics, a medium of exchange is any item that is widely acceptable in exchange for goods and services. In modern economies, the most commonly used medium of exchange is currency. Most forms of money are categorised as mediums of exchange, i ...

(money). However, such transactions were aided by conventionally accepted reference values. Certain commodities were often used as reference points for evaluating the relative values of different goods.

Cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

was common as such a reference in many early cultures. In Greece during this period, in addition to cattle, bronze and iron items—specifically lebetes—were also common. Remnants of stone inscriptions preserve numerous examples of

fines Fines may refer to: *Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality *Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a Lease#Leases_of_land, premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term * Fines, ore or oth ...

and

compensatory damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

denominated in bronze lebetes from ancient

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, as early as the 7th century BCE. For example, in one instance, a bronze tripod "of

orth Orth can refer to: Places * Orth, Minnesota, an unincorporated community in Nore Township, Minnesota, United States * Orth an der Donau, a town in Gänserndorf, Lower Austria, Austria * Orth House, a historic house in Winnetka, Illinois, United ...

ten lebetes" was recorded as payment for a fine. In the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', a bronze lebes was valued at one ox. By the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, long after the introduction of

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

based money, the lebes survived as a term for a quantity of silver coinage.

References

Ancient Greek pot shapes Cauldrons {{Ceramics-stub