small black figure Dionysos kylix after an original by Exekias

the myth behind this replica - the kidnapping of Dionysos!

This famous masterpiece by Exekias captures one of the most captivating stories in Greek mythology, inspired by the 7th Homeric Hymn to Dionysus.

Pirates from Etruria in Italy had spotted a handsome young man, dressed in a purple robe, standing on a deserted promontory in the Aegean, looking out to sea. Surely someone of royal blood, who could command a handsome ransom if kidnapped? They could even sell him into slavery.... They captured him, tied him up, and sailed east, feeling rather pleased with themselves.

However, early on in the journey, the ropes miraculously slipped off the youth's hands, heavy grapevines and ivy started to sporout from the mast, and wild beasts appeared on deck.

The terrified pirate crew leapt into the sea to escape, but Dionysos instantly transformed them into dolphins. The helmsman was spared this fate, however, since he had recognised the god's divinity and had tried to protect him.

the scene on the kylix

In the tondo of this kylix, Exekias chose to depict the serene aftermath of this divine triumph, rather than the chaos that preceded it. The god is shown reclining peacefully on deck, holding a cornucopia (symbol of abundance), whilst seven stylised dolphins leap and swim around the boat, its mast transformed into a vine, heavy with grapes.

about Exekias

Athenian Exekias was a pioneer and master of the black-figure technique of vase-painting in the 6th century BC.

NOTE: the underside of the kylix in this replica is left undecorated, whereas the original shows two pairs of stylised eyes, and some warrior scenes.

Dionysos, son of Zeus and the mortal Semele, was the god of the vine and wine, liquid life, fertility and rebirth in nature. From his complex cult and ritual emerged Greek drama.

He was the only god to be born of a mortal mother, and he was one of the few who went to bring a dead soul back from the underworld - he brought his mother Semele back with him to Mount Olympos.

Jealous Hera had tricked Zeus into causing Semele's death, but Zeus delivered the prematurely born Dionysos and stitched him into his thigh, from which he was born again at full term. Hera continued her campaign of revenge against the baby Dionysos, and arranged for him to be dismembered by the Titans, but Rhea, mother of Zeus, put him back together, and brought him back to life.

Dionysos rescued Ariadne on the island of Naxos, after she had been abandoned by Theseus, after she'd helped him to kill the Minotaur. They married and had several children.

Dionysos would look after his half-brother Apollo's sanctuary in Delphi whenever Apollo left to spend time with the Hyperboreans.

The focal point of the Dionysia, the spring festival held in Athens in his honour, became the performances, in competition, of comedies, tragedies and satyr plays. These took place in the Theatre of Dionysos on the slopes of the Akropolis. One of those tragedies was Euripides' Bacchae, which explores the complexity and duality of this elemental and multi-faceted god.

He is often represented wearing vine leaves, even grapes, around his head. He is often accompanied by his followers, the female Maenads, and the hybrid Satyrs. He wears an animal skin cloak, and often carries a thyrsos and his signature wine-drinking vessel, the kantharos.

This pottery collection is produced in Greece in the workshop of the Lioulias family, with whom It's All Greek is proud to have been working since 2004.