Red-Figure Kylix

Battle rages before the crenellated wall of a city on the interior of this red-figure kylix or drinking cup. Two warriors standing on the walls defend the city, while two attackers rush in below. As the defenders lean out from the battlements, menacing with their spears, the attackers raise their shields in response, and the warrior on the right reaches back to hurl a stone. No inscriptions name the figures, but the composition could derive from mythical narratives, such as the Seven against Thebes or the Trojan War. 

Vase-painters in the closing years of the 500s B.C. began to show an interest in the setting of their scenes, but the depiction of battle before a city wall remains very rare in Greek art. Today the cup is reassembled from fragments, but it was already broken and repaired in antiquity. Five small holes once held staple-like lead clamps that served to reattach the left handle.