213-242

The "οικεία σημεία" of Athena on Panathenaic amphoras

• Τσαντήλα, Βάσω

My paper questions the significance attributed to the repetition of certain devices that appear on the shield of Athena on the panathenaic amphorae, from 530 to 360/59 BC. So far, a number of interpretations of this phenomenon have been proposed, summarised as follows:1. The repetition of the shield devices was due to the personal preference or special taste of the vase-painter and/or potter.2. It was meant to indicate the name of the vase-painter and/or the potter (i.e. it was a kind of cryptographic signature or “a kind of official trade-mark”).3. It was imposed by the state officials who commissioned the manufacture of the amphorae and helped them to control the dilivery of the agreed quality of amphorae from the workshops to the State.4. It indicated the name of the Eupatridae commissioned to collect the oil from the sacred olive-trees. Thus, it functioned as their family blazon facilitating state control of the quantity of the panathenaic oil delivered to the state (instead of rent).It is interesting to observe, however, that the specific vase-painters did not use the same shield devices either as a matter of personal preference or as a kind of official trade-mark in their entire ceramic production. Furthermore, the number of workshops commissioned by the state to manufacture panathenaic amphoras is unknown. The control of the pot/oil quantity delivered by workshops or noblemen to the State could certainly be exercized by simpler methods and not through the complicated and unusual ‘marking’ of the state pots.More importantly, the repetition of shield devices is not statistically significant enough to provide safe grounds for definite interpretations (only 5 out of approximately 30 painters or groups of painters of panathenaic amphoras repeat the same shield devices); and when it occurred, it was more likely a matter of personal choice of the painter, though his choice was dictated not only by the nature of Athena and her properties but also by her various cult aspects. No doubt, panathenaic amphoras constituted a means of state propaganda especially through the figure of the goddess Athena, the protector and personification of the city itself. This state practice was accentuated by the devices used on the goddess’s shield. Thus, shield devices on panathenaic amphoras, apart from their general apotropaic and decorative character, functioned more specifically as οικεία σημεία of the goddess Athena.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Pottery, Greek
• Decorative arts

Η παρούσα εργασία, που ξεκίνησε ως σεμιναριακή στα πλαίσια των σπουδών της υπογράφουσας στο τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας του Πανεπιστημίου της Κρήτης, ολοκληρώθηκε χάρη στην ενθάρρυνση και τις υποδείξεις του καθηγητή της Πέτρου Γ. Θέμελη., Περιέχει συντομογραφίες και βιβλιογραφία, Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες