Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Swing Painter

ca. 540–530 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

Obverse, Poseidon fighting giant Reverse, Judgement of Paris The gods of Mount Olympos had to overcome several threats before their primacy was established. One was a great conflict with the giants. Here Poseidon, the god of the sea, overcomes Polybotes with a boulder that is, in fact, a piece of the island of Kos that he has broken off. The Judgement of Paris involved a potential threat as well, because it began a chain of events that led to the Trojan War. The sea nymph Thetis was fated to bear a son who would be greater than his father; she was therefore married to the mortal Peleus to whom she bore Achilles.

Artist

Swing Painter

Date

ca. 540–530 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of F. W. Rhinelander, 1898