Amphora

Uninscribed Panathenaic amphora identified by the typical decoration used for this shape: the black figure technique, even though their production continued during the time that most pottery was in red figure. They would show on one side the sport or game of the Panathenaic festival that athletes competed in and on the other side always Athena, the goddess celebrated during the festival. Panathenaic amphoras were normally awarded to the winning athletes as a prize and they would be filled with oil. In these cases they were much bigger in size that this example and they would also be inscirbed with the name of the winning athlete. On one side of this amphora there is the standing Athena holding a shield which has a snake on it. Athena is flanked by two Doric columns, topped with cockerels, a symbol of the competitive spirit of the games. On the other side there are five runners, four men and a boy; the boy is winning. The pose of the runners looking behind them is very unusual. The foot is a later addition to the vessel.