Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Attributed to the Diosphos Painter
ca. 500 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 154
Obverse, Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep) with the body of Sarpedon
Reverse, Eos (Dawn) with the body of her son, Memnon

The scenes on this jar show two great heroes of the Trojan War being lifted from the battlefield after their deaths. Sarpedon, a son of the god Zeus, will be carried to Lycia, his homeland in southern Asia Minor, and Memnon, to his kingdom in Ethiopia.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)
  • Artist: Attributed to the Diosphos Painter
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: ca. 500 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; black-figure
  • Dimensions: H. 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm)
    diameter of mouth 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm)
    diameter of foot 2 5/8 in. (6.6 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1956
  • Object Number: 56.171.25
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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