PLATE XLIX
1
Dionysos in the Ship
Dionysos, crowned with ivy, leans back at his ease in the middle of his ship. Springing from beside him, two stout vine-stalks clamber up the mast, at the peak of which they send out spreading branches laden with grapes and leaves. The dolphins indicate that the ship is afloat in the sea, but the painter gives no hint whether they represent the transformed pirates of the literary myth. From a black-figured kylix by Exekias (latter part of the sixth century b.c.), in Munich (Furtwängler-Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, No. 42). See p. 219.
2
Kastor and Polydeukes at Home
The figures in this composition can be identified by means of the inscriptions. They represent all the family of Tyndareos, excepting Helen, in their Spartan home; proceeding from right to left they are Tyndareos himself, a boy slave, Kastor, Leda, and Polydeukes. The whole scene is eloquent of a domestic harmony which includes even the animals of the household. From a black-figured amphora by Exekias (latter part of the sixth century b.c.), in the Vatican (Furtwängler-Reichhold, Griechische Vasenmalerei, No. 132). See pp. 24 ff.
