Rhyton in the form of a griffin. Culture: Greek, South Italian, Apulia. Date: c. 350–325 BC. Medium: terracotta, red‑figure with added white. H. 20.5 cm. Collection: Musée du Louvre, Paris. This isn't just a cup, it's a rhyton, a vessel often designed to be intentionally impractical. Many rhyta lack a flat base, forcing the drinker at a symposium (drinking party) to finish their wine quickly as it couldn't be set down. but this specific Apulian type has an even more interesting context. It was likely never used at a party for the living. In south italy most red figure pottery from this era turns up in tombs rather than dining rooms, with workshops at Taranto and beyond supplying a thriving grave market. a griffin rhyton like this was typically built in two stages — the head molded and the neck wheel‑made — then joined and painted before being laid beside the dead. The griffin was a powerful apotropaic figure and often read as a guardian of the tomb. The rhyton was buried with the deceased, symbolizing their high status and entry into an 'eternal symposium' in the afterlife. the very word rhyton comes from the greek for ‘to flow’, and in apulia that flow often went straight to the underworld..

Hellenistic Prince (Terme Ruler). Culture: Greek. Date: 2nd century BC. Medium: Bronze. Currently on view: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. Photographer: Carole Raddato.

Gustave Moreau. Hesiod and the Muse. 1891. Oil on panel. 59 × 34.5 cm. Collection: Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Edward Burne‑Jones. The Doom Fulfilled (from the Perseus cycle). 1888. Mixed media on paper. 153.8 × 138.4 cm. Collection: Southampton City Art Gallery.

Gorgon Medusa Relief, Temple of Apollo at Didyma (Didim). Photographer: Serhii Kolotusha.

Temple E (Hera) at Selinunte. Built in the 5th century BC.Photographer: Michael Gunther.

A Roman gold and green chalcedony finger ring with a parrot. Date: c. 1st century BC to 1st century AD. Medium: gold with engraved green chalcedony intaglio; W. 2.6 cm. Collection: formerly the G. Sangiorgi Collection. Auction: Christie’s, New York, Masterpieces in Miniature Part II. Parrots were luxury pets imported from india, trained to greet guests with ave and sometimes ave caesar. pliny even says trainers used a small iron rod to correct mispronounced syllables.

Temple of Segesta, Sicily — Vintage Albumen Print by Giorgio Sommer. early 1900s. Medium: Albumen print. Collection/Source: Harvard Art Museums (Sommer catalogue 2686)

Great Artemis (Artemis of Ephesus). Culture: Roman period, Ephesian cult. Date: 1st–2nd century AD. Medium: Marble. Collection: Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Selçuk.

Temple of Athena (formerly “Temple of Ceres”), Paestum (Poseidonia), Campania. Culture: Greek. Date: c. 500 BC.Photographer: Maudanros.

Greek Theatre of Syracuse (Teatro Greco). Date: 5th century BC with later refurbishments.Site: Parco Archeologico della Neapolis, Syracuse.

Baptism of Christ, Arian Baptistery, Ravenna. Date: late 5th–early 6th century AD. Photographer: Avrilmorgan.

Gold funerary wreath. Culture: Macedonian Greek. Place of origin: Aigai (Vergina), Macedonia. Date: 4th century BC. Medium: Gold. Collection: Polycentric Museum of Aigai, Vergina. Photographer: Vasilis Ververidis.

Theatrical Masks, Roman mosaic. Culture: Roman (reflecting Greek theatre), 2nd–3rd century AD.

Temple of Isis (Delos). Culture: Greco‑Roman (Hellenistic). Place: Delos Island. Date: 2nd century BC.

Chludov Psalter, folio 67r “Crucifixion with Iconoclasts”. Date: mid-9th century AD. Medium: Illuminated manuscript on parchment. Collection: State Historical Museum, Moscow.

Veroli Casket. Culture: Byzantine. Place of origin: Constantinople. Date: c. 10th–11th century AD. Medium: Wood core with carved ivory and bone plaques with traces of polychromy and gilding. Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Aphrodite of Capua (Venus of Capua). Culture: Greek original, Roman copy. Date: 2nd century AD. Medium: Marble. Collection: National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Photographer: Sergey Sosnovskiy.

William Blake Richmond - Hermes

Think you know what an ancient Roman gladiator looked like? The reality will make you think again historyextra.com/period/roma…