Attic Red-Figure Cup

Komasts or revelers frolic around the exterior of this Athenian red-figure cup. The men dance and hold *skyphoi* (deep drinking cups), while women provide music with double pipes (*auloi*) and clappers (*krotala*). The men’s attire, however, is rather unusual. Like the women, they wear long chitons over which are draped *himatia* (cloaks), as well as turban-like headdresses and earrings. Also notable is the female figure on each side who accompanies the men with a parasol.

Several dozen vases with similar scenes survive. They are often termed ‘Anakreontic’, after the poet Anakreon, who was born in Teos (on what is today the west coast of Turkey), and came to Athens in the late 500s B.C. The costume worn by the men in these scenes finds parallels with clothing worn in East Greece (the Greek communities in western Turkey) and in the neighboring kingdom of Lydia. Art and ideas from these regions began to enter Athenian culture towards the end of the sixth century B.C., and men wearing turbans and earrings may be part of this trend. More generally, men’s adoption of what might be seen as traditionally feminine attire can be understood in connection to Dionysos. Best known as the god of wine, and thus a central figure in any symposium (an ivy-wreathed mixing vessel stands under one of the handles of this cup), he was also associated with the blurring of conventions.

A quieter scene decorates the interior, with a young man offering a flower to a standing woman who holds a mirror. The cup is signed under the handle by Brygos as potter.