Function and meaning
Kraters were used for mixing wine with chicchera at per symposium (verso drinking ricevimento for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with water, kraters were crucial to the symposium, and were attrezzi up durante the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by per utensil missaggio the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia in Greece, durante Etruria (Italy), or durante both places. It may have been used at lavish parties sopra Athens, or durante per funerary banquet honoring the deceased sopra Etruria before it was buried as per pesante offering.
Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets sopra either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as tete-a-tete starters. Other vessels used at symposia per the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served per similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing puro the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images sicuro be relevant to their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances sopra which it was actually used. Moreover, many of the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated sopra, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military annonce.
Most Greek men spent some of their lives serving their cities at war, defeating enemies much like the heroes painted on this vase. Read more