Kantharos

For the genus of snails, see cantharus.

File:Greek - Red-Figure Kantharos (Drinking Vessel) with Female Head - Walters 482763 - View A.jpg

Red-figure Apulian kantharos with a female head, 320–310 BC (Walters Art Museum)

A kantharos (Ancient Greek: κάνθαρος) or cantharus is a type of Greek pottery used for drinking. In its iconic "Type A" form, it is characterized by its deep bowl, tall pedestal foot, and pair of high-swung handles which extend above the lip of the pot. The Greek words kotylos (κότῦλος, masculine) and kotyle (κοτύλη, feminine) are other ancient names for this same shape.

The kantharos is a cup used to hold wine, possibly for drinking or for ritual use or offerings. The kantharos seems to be an attribute of Dionysos, the god of wine, who was associated with vegetation and fertility.

It may not be a banquet-cup, but rather a vessel used in pagan cult as a symbol of rebirth or resurrection, the immortality offered by wine, "removing in moments of ecstasy the burden of self-consciousness and elevating man to the rank of deity."

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  Bucchero kantharos (Latial culture, 830–730 BC)

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  Geometric funerary kantharos (Attica, ca. 780 BC)

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  Black-figure kantharos with sphinxes (Boeotia, ca. 550 BC)

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  Black-glaze kantharos with Boeotian inscription (Thespiae, 450–425 BC)

• Janiform kantharos Louvre H44.jpg

  Side view of janiform kantharos with Herakles and woman (480–460 BC)

• Satyr kantharos Met 27.122.9.jpg

  Satyr side of a janiform kantharos by Aison (420 BC)

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  Silver cantharus (Gaul, present-day Alise-Sainte-Reine, latter 1st century BC)

See also

• Kylix
• Rhyton