Despite the positive allegorical significance of Persephone's return for ancient Greeks, it was not a well-developed theme in ancient literature. This krater shows Persephone in the midst of her ascent, her return, heralding the arrival of spring and the beginning of growing season. From the hymn we learn that Persephone is to spend one-third of the year with her husband in the realm of the dead, and two-thirds of it on earth with Demeter, the goddess who gave the gift of grain to mankind, and who is responsible for the growth of crops. The scene illustrates one episode from the myth of Persephone's abduction by Hades recounted in the sixth-century B.C. The importance of the nocturnal setting of the scene is underscored by the prominent size of the torches held by Hekate, and emphasized by her central position within the composition. The goddess Hekate, "daughter of dark-bosomed night" according to Bacchylides, a Greek poet of the fifth century B.C., occupies the center of the vase holding two flaming torches with which she illuminates Persephone's nighttime journey from the Underworld. At the left, Persephone steps up from Hades through a cleft in the ground, as Hermes, messenger of the gods, stands back. The scene on the obverse of this bell-krater depicts the return of Persephone to her mother, the goddess Demeter. Red-figure Attributed to the Persephone Painter Greek, Attic Terracotta This vessel, known as a bell-krater, was used for mixing wine and water at the Greek symposium. ![]() cīell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), ca. Red-figure Attributed to the Persephone Painter Greek, Attic Terracottaģ Bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), ca. Paris: LouvreĢ Bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), ca. The wedding of Thetis, pyxis by the Wedding Painter, circa 470/460 BC. ![]() 1 The wedding of Thetis, pyxis by the Wedding Painter, circa 470/460 BC
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