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Source Description
The remarkable scene on the front of this vase relates to the famous tragedy <em>Medea</em>, written by Euripides and first produced in Athens in 431 BC. Framed in the center by a halo (recalling her sun god grandfather Helios), the sorceress Medea flies off in a dragon-drawn chariot. Seeking revenge against her husband Jason, leader of the Argonauts, Medea has just slain their two children. Two Furies flank her, while Jason and a distraught nurse and teacher approach the bodies on the altar below. <br><br>A different tragedy unfolds on the other side of the vase, from Euripides’s <em>Telephos</em> (438 BC). The wounded warrior Telephos holds the baby Orestes hostage at an altar, with Agamemnon and Clytemnestra rushing to save their son.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
155665
label
Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155665
contentType
object
title
Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B)
description
The remarkable scene on the front of this vase relates to the famous tragedy <em>Medea</em>, written by Euripides and first produced in Athens in 431 BC. Framed in the center by a halo (recalling her sun god grandfather Helios), the sorceress Medea flies off in a dragon-drawn chariot. Seeking revenge against her husband Jason, leader of the Argonauts, Medea has just slain their two children. Two Furies flank her, while Jason and a distraught nurse and teacher approach the bodies on the altar below. <br><br>A different tragedy unfolds on the other side of the vase, from Euripides’s <em>Telephos</em> (438 BC). The wounded warrior Telephos holds the baby Orestes hostage at an altar, with Agamemnon and Clytemnestra rushing to save their son.
date
c. 400 BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60757809
creators
10735
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter of mouth: 49.9 cm (19 5/8 in.); Overall: 50.5 cm (19 7/8 in.); Diameter of foot: 22 cm (8 11/16 in.)
cul
South Italian, Lucanian
accession
1991.1
Source extras
tec
ceramic
tombstone
Red-Figure Calyx-Krater (Mixing Vessel): Medea in Chariot (A); Telephos with Baby Orestes (B), c. 400 BCE. Near the Policoro Painter (South Italian, Lucanian, active c. 400 BCE). Ceramic; diameter of mouth: 49.9 cm (19 5/8 in.); overall: 50.5 cm (19 7/8 in.); diameter of foot: 22 cm (8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1991.1
collection
GR - South Italy
didYouKnow
This vase includes scenes connected to two Athenian tragedies dealing with children—<em>Medea</em> and <em>Telephos</em>.
citations
citation
Beazley Archive. n.d. <em>Beazley Archive Pottery Database</em>. Oxford: Beazley Archive.
page_number
BAPD 1002926
citation
Matheson, Susan B., and J. J. Pollitt. Old Age in Greek and Roman Art.New Haven : Yale University Art Gallery, 2022.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 30-31, fig. 6
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</em> (LIMC), vol. I. Zürich: Artemis, 1981.
page_number
s.v. Agamemnon, p. 260, no. 14a (O. Touchefeu).
citation
Von Bothmer, Dietrich. <em>Wealth of the Ancient World: The Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt Collections</em>. Fort Worth, Tex: Kimbell Art Museum, 1983.
page_number
pp. 76-79 (cat. 14).
citation
<em>Apollo </em>117 (June 1983).
page_number
pp. 493-95, fig. 7 a-b
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</em>. 3.1, 3.1. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae : LIMC / Publié Par La Fondation Pour Le Lexicon Iconographicum Mithologiae Classicae (LIMC). Zurich: Artemis, 1986.
page_number
s.v. Erinyes, p. 837, no. 101 (H. Sarian).
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae </em>1. 1. Zürich: Artemis-Verl, 1990.
page_number
635, no. 71
citation
Sotheby's (Firm).<em> The Nelson Bunker Hunt Collection: Highly Important Greek and Roman Coins</em>. 1990.
page_number
no. 14
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</em>, vol. V. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae : LIMC / Publié Par La Fondation Pour Le Lexicon Iconographicum Mithologiae Classicae (LIMC). Zurich: Artemis, 1990.
page_number
s.v. Iason, p. 635, no. 71 (J. Neils).
citation
Turner, Evan H. "Acquisitions: 1990." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 2 (1991)
page_number
p. 72
citation
Carpenter, Thomas H. Art and <em>Myth in Ancient Greece: A Handbook</em>. London: Thames and Hudson, 1991.
page_number
fig. 283
citation
Kozloff, Ariellé P. "Notable Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 72
citation
Turner, Evan H. "Selected 1991 Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 2 (1992)
page_number
p. 76, no. 1
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</em> 2. 2. Zürich: Artemis-Verl, 1992.
page_number
no. 36, pl. 199
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art.<em> Masterpieces from East and West. </em>New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992.
page_number
pp. 18-19
citation
Taplin, Oliver. <em>Comic Angels: And Other Approaches to Greek Drama Through Vase-Paintings</em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
page_number
16-17, 22-23, 26, 37-38, 116-17, nos. 1.101 and 1.102
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</em>, vol. VI. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae : LIMC / Publié Par La Fondation Pour Le Lexicon Iconographicum Mithologiae Classicae (LIMC). Zurich: Artemis, 1992.
page_number
s.v. Medeia, no. 36, pl. 199 (M. Schmidt).
citation
Aellen, Christian. <em>A la recherche de l'ordre cosmique: forme et fonction des personnifications dans la céramique italiote</em>. Kilchberg/Zürich: Akanthus, 1994.
page_number
p. 39, n. 39
citation
<em>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae.</em> 7.1, 7.1. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae : LIMC / [Publié Par La Fondation Pour Le Lexicon Iconographicum Mithologiae Classicae (LIMC)]. Zurich: Artemis, 1994.
page_number
s.v. Telephos, pp. 866-67, no. 59 (M. Strauss).
citation
Easterling, P. E. <em>The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy.</em> 1997.
page_number
p. 79, fig. 12
citation
Clauss, James Joseph, and Sarah Iles Johnston. <em>Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. </em>Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997.
page_number
pp. 269-71, fig. 3
citation
Matheson, Susan B. "Hounded by Furies." <em>Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin</em>, 1997
page_number
pp. 23-24, fig. 5
citation
<em>Open University. An Introduction to the Humanities</em>. Milton Keynes: Open University, 1997.
page_number
color plate 68
citation
Schulze, Harald. Ammen und <em>Pädagogen: Sklavinnen und Sklaven als Erzieher in der antiken Kunst und Gesellschaft.</em> Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1998.
page_number
no. 1.2, plate 34
citation
March, Jennifer R. <em>Cassell Dictionary of Classical Mythology</em>. London: Cassell, 1998.
page_number
p. 245, fig. 88
citation
F. de Angelis, "Tragedie familiari. Mitigreci nell'arte sepolcrale etrusca," Palila 6 (1999).
page_number
pp. 63-64, figs. 13-14
citation
De Angelis, Francesco, and Tonio Hölscher.<em> Im Spiegel des Mythos: Bilderwelt und Lebenswelt : Symposium, Rom 19. - 20. Februar 1998 = Lo specchio del mito. </em>Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1999.
page_number
fig. 13-14, p. 64
citation
Young-Sanchez, Margaret, "A Royal Plaque", Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 39 no. 07, September 1999
page_number
Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9
citation
Hardwick, N. 1999. "A Triglyph Altar of Corinthian Type in a Scene of Medea on a Lucanian Calyx-Krater in Cleveland," <em>Quaderni ticinesi di numismatica e antichita classiche, </em>vol. 28, pp. 179-201.
citation
Euripides, and John Harrison. <em>Medea</em>. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
page_number
p. 90
citation
Neils, Jenifer, and Gisela Walberg. <em>Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. [Cleveland, OH]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
p. 48-49, pl. 89-91
citation
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner.<em> Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. </em>Mountain View, Calif: Mayfield Pub. Co, 2000.
page_number
p. 801, fig. 17-2
citation
Foley, Helene P. <em>Female Acts in Greek Tragedy</em>. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.
page_number
Book Jacket
citation
Kocur, Miros·law. <em>Teatr Antycznej Grecji</em>. Wroc·law: Wydawn. Uniw. Wroc·lawskiego, 2001.
page_number
p. 306
citation
Cartledge, Paul.<em> The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece. </em>Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
page_number
pp. 246-7
citation
Bertrand, Jean-Marie. L<em>a violence dans les mondes grec et romain: actes du colloque international, Paris, 2-4 mai 2002</em>. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2005.
page_number
pp. 48-49, fig. 2A%B
citation
Neils, Jenifer, John Howard Oakley, Katherine Hart, and Lesley A. Beaumont. <em>Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past. </em>New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 2003.
page_number
fig. 17, pp. 23, 217-218
citation
Small, Jocelyn Penny. <em>The Parallel Worlds of Classical Art and Text.</em> Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
page_number
cover
citation
Bianchi, Olivier, Olivier Thévenaz, and Philippe Mudry. <em>Conceptions et représentations de l'extraordinaire dans le monde antique: actes du colloque international, Lausanne, 20-22 mars 2003.</em> Bern: Lang, 2004.
page_number
fig. 1, p. 24
citation
Neils, Jenifer, John Howard Oakley, Christine Kondoleon, and Katherine Hart. <em>Striving for Excellence: Ancient Greek Childhood and the Olympic Spirit. </em>2004.
page_number
p. 29, fig. 20
citation
Pache, Corinne Ondine. <em>Baby and Child Heroes in Ancient Greece. </em>Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.
page_number
p. 27, fig. 2
citation
Brown, John Russell. <em>The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre</em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
page_number
p. 23
citation
Storey, Ian Christopher, and Arlene Allan. <em>A Guide to Ancient Greek Drama.</em> Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2005.
page_number
p. 152, fig. 2.4
citation
Revermann, M. 2005. "The 'Cleveland Medea' Calyx Crater and the Iconography of Ancient Greek Theatre," <em>Theatre Research International</em>, vol. 30.1, pp. 3-18.
citation
Taplin, Oliver. <em>Pots & Plays: Interactions between Tragedy and Greek Vase-Painting of the Fourth Century B.C.</em> Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007.
page_number
pp. 122-123 (cat. 35), 207 (cat. 76).
citation
Ankarloo, Bengt. <em>Satans raseri: en sannfärdig berättelse om det stora häxoväsendet i Sverige och omgivande länder. </em>Stockholm: Ordfront, 2007.
page_number
p. 161, color plate 1
citation
Goldhill, Simon. <em>How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today.</em> Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
page_number
p. 22, fig. 4
citation
Oakley, John H. "Child Heroes in Greek Art," in Albersmeier, Sabine, and Michael J. Anderson (Eds.). <em>Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece.</em> (Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2009): 66-87.
page_number
See pp. 73, 77-78, figs. 40, 47.
citation
Hart, Mary Louise, and J. Michael Walton. <em>The Art of Ancient Greek Theater. </em>Los Angeles, Calif: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010.
page_number
cat. no. 27, p. 72-73
citation
Buxton, Richard. <em>How Medea Moves: Versions of a Myth in Apollonius and Elsewhere. </em>London: Legenda, 2010.
page_number
p. 34, fig. 2.6
citation
Todisco, Luigi, and Giuseppina Gadaleta. <em>La ceramica a figure rosse della Magna Grecia e della Sicilia. </em>Roma: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 2012.
page_number
Tav 19, p. 299, 1 & 2
citation
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. C<em>lassical Mythology: Images and Insights. </em>2012.
page_number
p. 776, fig. 17-3
citation
Buxton, R. G. A. <em>Myths and Tragedies in Their Ancient Greek Contexts</em>. 2013.
page_number
p. 115, fig. 15
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 82
citation
Fortenberry, Diane and Rebecca Morrill. <em>Flying Too Close to the Sun: Myths in Art from Classical to Contemporary</em>. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2018.
page_number
Reproduced and mentioned: p. 189
citation
Dunand, Françoise. C<em>orps Vivants des Dieux: Les Statues Animées dans le Monde Méditerranéen Antique</em>. Paris: Éditions Picard, 2018.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 139, fig. 96
citation
Craig Jendza. <em>Paracomedy: Appropriations of Comedy in Greek Tragedy.</em> 2020. New York: Oxford University Press.
page_number
Cover image (side B).
citation
Luckow, Almuth, and William Blake. Die Gottesbilder des William Blake: Kunst und Philosophie. Darmstadt : WBG Academic, 2021.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 292-293, Abb. 63
citation
Carpenter, Thomas H. Art and Myth in Ancient Greece. 2021. 238-239.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced; pp. 238-239, fig. 235.
creditline
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:05:15.037000
sourceId
155665
dept
Greek and Roman Art
coll
GR - South Italy
med
ceramic
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
846bf6f4f7206067