The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B)

Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B)

c. 400 BCE
(South Italian, Lucanian, active c. 400 BCE)
Diameter of mouth: 49.9 cm (19 5/8 in.); Overall: 50.5 cm (19 7/8 in.); Diameter of foot: 22 cm (8 11/16 in.)
Location: 102D Pre-Roman

Did You Know?

This vase includes scenes connected to two Athenian tragedies dealing with children—Medea and Telephos.

Description

The remarkable scene on the front of this vase relates to the famous tragedy Medea, written by Euripides and first produced in Athens in 431 BC. Framed in the center by a halo (recalling her sun god grandfather Helios), the sorceress Medea flies off in a dragon-drawn chariot. Seeking revenge against her husband Jason, leader of the Argonauts, Medea has just slain their two children. Two Furies flank her, while Jason and a distraught nurse and teacher approach the bodies on the altar below.

A different tragedy unfolds on the other side of the vase, from Euripides’s Telephos (438 BC). The wounded warrior Telephos holds the baby Orestes hostage at an altar, with Agamemnon and Clytemnestra rushing to save their son.
  • 1991-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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  • {{cite web|title=Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B)|url=false|author=Policoro Painter|year=c. 400 BCE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.1