Kylix (drinking cup): Men and Women at the Symposium c. 480

Curator: At the Harvard Art Museums, we see a kylix, a drinking cup, attributed to the Painter of London E 55, illustrating men and women at a symposium. It measures about 12 by 32 centimeters. Editor: My initial impression is one of organized revelry—the stark black and red figures against the glossy ground create a frieze-like composition. Curator: Indeed. The symposium was a vital institution in ancient Greece, an exclusive male gathering for intellectual and sensual pleasures. This kylix provides a rare glimpse into those gatherings. Editor: Observe the figures carefully: the artist uses line to define their forms, creating a hierarchy of shapes across the curve. The negative space, the black ground, shapes the figures as much as the painted lines. Curator: These vessels were commissioned and traded; the imagery was intended to reinforce cultural norms around leisure, class, and gender roles in antiquity. Editor: The continuous narrative around the cup encourages a reading from multiple perspectives, which highlights the complexities of the social dynamic within its setting. Curator: It's interesting to contemplate how this object, once part of intimate gatherings, now resides in a museum, inviting us to reassess those ancient social dynamics. Editor: A fine example of how structural harmony conveys meaning, even across millennia.