No C 07
Philadelphia, University Museum MS 3440
Black-figure amphora
Zeus is seated on a chair. He is represented with head and
legs in profile to the right, the body diagonally. Seated, he
is almost as tall as the surrounding standing figures. The
feet rest on a footstool. The forearms are extended almost
horizontally forward, the left hand holding a staff, the right
hand clenched. The god's dress consists of a chiton and a
himation, which covers the arms.
Athena is represented emerging from the head of Zeus in a
sprinting position, head and legs in profile to the right, the
body facing. Her dress presumably consists of a peplos and an
epiblematon. She wears a helmet and carries a shield on the
left arm, the right forearm extended almost horizontally
forward, with clenched fist.
There are four deities on each side of the picture. On the
right stand two goddesses, close to each other, the right arms
raised, with palm turned outward and extended fingers, Ares,
characterised as such by helmet and shield, and Dionysos,
identified by the ivy-wreath round his head. On the left side
three gods are identified as Apollo, by the zither, Poseidon,
by the trident, and Hermes, by the petasos, while a goddess
without any attribute stands between Poseidon and Hermes
(Hera?)
The chair has slightly curved plain legs and a low back with
a swan's head finial. The tenons and dowels by which the frame
of the seat is mortised into the legs are clearly indicated.
A small figure of a winged creature with a human body and
the head of a dolphin is seen between the legs of the chair.
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