This Attic red-figure skyphos (two-handled drinking cup)
from Suessula in southern Italy is one of the earliest certain depictions of
the abduction of Helen by Paris. Its
date is c. 480. The vase is signed by
Makron as painter and Hieron as potter.
Paris, preceded by Aeneas, grasps Helen by the wrist and leads her away. Peitho, the goddess of persuasion, crowns
Helen with the encouragement of Aphrodite.
The small winged figure between Paris and Helen is Eros. All the figures are identified with
inscriptions.
A note on Eros. On
Greek vases Eros or Erotes (plural) can appear with, say, Atalanta, or at the
Judgment of Paris, or, as here, with Paris and Helen—all stories in which he
has a powerful impact as the personification of love. At first he is depicted as a wingless
boy. Later, from about 500 BC, he is
shown with wings (often as a tiny, adult-like figure, aka homunculus), as on
Makron’s vase. He becomes quite popular,
especially on red-figure vases, where he pursues other figures (sometimes with
a whip) or carries a hare, which is the token of love, or a torch. It is not until the 4th century
that he is regularly shown with a bow and becomes the chubby kid that we
recognize from the Roman tradition (in which he becomes Cupid or Amor).
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