Function and meaning
Kraters were used for mixing wine with vaso at per symposium (a drinking ammissione for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with ciotola, kraters were crucial preciso the symposium, and were arnesi up sopra the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by verso utensil missaggio the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia durante Greece, mediante Etruria (Italy), or sopra both places. It may have been used at lavish parties con Athens, or con verso funerary banquet honoring the deceased durante Etruria before it was buried as verso noioso offering.
Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets durante either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as discussion starters. Other vessels used at symposia sopra the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served per similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing preciso the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images onesto be relevant puro their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances https://www.datingranking.net/it/littlepeoplemeet-review/ in which it was actually used. Moreover, many of the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated con, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military promesse.
Most Greek men spent some of their lives serving their cities at war, defeating enemies much like the heroes painted on this vase. Like Peleus, Greek men were expected to marry and raise their children sicuro be productive citizens. It seems that Kleitias and Ergotimos purposefully designed the decoration preciso appeal esatto the prosperous owners of the vase, who could recognize and relate esatto the stories it told.