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Source Description
Along with two large sets of eyes on its exterior, this drinking vessel also features other figures: a winged female, probably Iris, between each pair of eyes, and pairs of satyrs flanking them; a winged dolphin beneath each handle; and a frontal Gorgoneion, or face of Medusa, baring her teeth and tongue within the tondo. Although the eyes and Gorgoneion may serve to ward off evil, they also make for fluid identities while drinking, inviting drinkers to enter the mythical realm. For when tilting such cups to imbibe, drinkers confront monstrous beings while simultaneously masking their faces from others.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
108840
label
Black-Figure Eye Cup: Iris and Satyrs (A, B); Gorgoneion (I)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
108840
contentType
object
title
Black-Figure Eye Cup: Iris and Satyrs (A, B); Gorgoneion (I)
description
Along with two large sets of eyes on its exterior, this drinking vessel also features other figures: a winged female, probably Iris, between each pair of eyes, and pairs of satyrs flanking them; a winged dolphin beneath each handle; and a frontal Gorgoneion, or face of Medusa, baring her teeth and tongue within the tondo. Although the eyes and Gorgoneion may serve to ward off evil, they also make for fluid identities while drinking, inviting drinkers to enter the mythical realm. For when tilting such cups to imbibe, drinkers confront monstrous beings while simultaneously masking their faces from others.
date
c. 520–510 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60742001
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 21.3 cm (8 3/8 in.)
cul
Greek, Attic
accession
1926.514
Source extras
tec
ceramic
tombstone
Black-Figure Eye Cup: Iris and Satyrs (A, B); Gorgoneion (I), c. 520–510 BCE. Greek, Attic. Ceramic; diameter: 21.3 cm (8 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1926.514
collection
GR - Greek
didYouKnow
The eye cup takes its name from the large eyes on its exterior.
citations
citation
Beazley Archive. n.d. <em>Beazley Archive Pottery Database</em>. Oxford: Beazley Archive.
page_number
BAPD 331757
citation
Beazley, J. D. <em>Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters. </em>Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
page_number
p. 630, no. 3
citation
Boulter, C. G., Jenifer Neils, and Gisela Walberg. <em>Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum.</em> Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971.
page_number
p. 15, Plates 22, I&3, and 20,3
citation
Cooney, John D. “Way Stations on the Primrose Path.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 61, no. 7 (1974): 240–46.
page_number
Ill. Fig. 3.
citation
Carpenter, Thomas H., J. D. Beazley, Thomas Mannack, Melanie Mendonça, and Lucilla Burn. <em>Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena. </em>Oxford: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1989.
page_number
p. 145
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:49:12.285000
sourceId
108840
dept
Greek and Roman Art
coll
GR - Greek
med
ceramic
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6f377e474c15dd93