Kylix by Aison

This exceptional red-figured kylix is the work of one of the great painters of Attica from the second half of the 5th century BC. The painter signed his work on the lower part of the inner medallion on the kylix: Aison égrapsen. The unifying theme of the kylix is the exploits of Theseus. The hero faces his opponents in successive individual competitions: on the outside on side A we find: Theseus and Sciron, Theseus and the Crommyonian Sow and Theseus and Sinis. On side B we see Theseus and the Cretan Bull, Theseus and Procrustes and Theseus and Cercyon. In the inner medallion, Theseus has defeated a Minotaur and is removing it from the Labyrinth in the presence of the goddess Athena. After all of his exploits, the hero receives his final reward from the very goddess who gives her name to the polis of Attica. The image and myth here exalt the Athenian hero as an undefeated protector of the pathways and, finally, of the entrance to the kingdom of the Labyrinth, where death lurks and from where there was no return.