Black-figure Panathenaic Prize Amphora depicting Athena between Columns (side a); Wrestlers and Judge with Staff (side b)

Inscriptions

Inscribed vertically: TON ATHENETHEN ATHLON (From the games at Athens)

Label

The words Ton Athenethon Athlon (from the games at Athens), inscribed on one side of the amphora, identify this object as a reward for accomplishment at the Panathenaic games. Athens would host a series of games and contests for Greek athletes every four years, like the Olympics today. Large numbers of painted amphoras would be awarded as prizes for the victors. Athletes could either sell the amphoras, which would have been filled with olive oil, for large sums of money or keep them as trophies. The armed depiction of the city’s patron goddess, Athena, and the scene of the two wrestlers at the height of their bout would have projected an image of Athenian strength wherever the amphora ended up.

Athena bears the mythological shield Aegis, which commonly featured a gorgon’s head in its center. The frightening head, given to Athena by Perseus after his encounter with Medusa, served an apotropaic (protective; literally, “turning away”) function. Two roosters flank Athena on columns; Greeks thought them to be tough and aggressive. Both details further emphasized Athenian power.

From the 2024 exhibition Ancient Narratives: A New Look at Old Art, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

REL 51, Virgin of Guadalupe, Elizabeth Perez, Winter 2013

REL 7, Dark Goddesses and Black Madonnas, Elizabeth Perez, Winter 2013

CLST 11, Sports and Democratization, Paul Christesen, Winter 2012

ARTH 21, Art in Ancient Greece: Temples, Gods, Heroes, Steven Kangas, Fall 2013

CLST 4, Classical Mythology, Pramit Chaudhuri, Summer 2014

THEA 15, Theater & Society I: Classical and Medieval Performance, Laura Edmondson, Fall 2014

CLST 1, Antiquity Today: An Introduction to Classical Studies, Robert Cioffi, Summer 2015

ARTH 11.01, Art in Ancient Greece, Ada Cohen, Fall 2019

HUM 2, The Modern Labyrinth, Timothy Baker, Winter 2020

CLST 06, Introduction to Classical Archaeology, Flint Dibble, Fall 2020

SART 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2020

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Art History 11.01, Art in Ancient Greece, Ada Cohen, Fall 2023

Greek 1.01, Introductory Greek, Alexandra Schultz, Winter 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Floriana Ciniglia, Winter 2024

Religion 4.01, Jewish Studies 4.01, Religion of Israel: Hebrew Bible, Susan Ackerman, Winter 2024

Studio Art 16.01, Sculpture I, Matt Siegle, Winter 2024

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Geography 21.01, International Studies 18.01, Global Health and Society, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 10.16, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 66.37, Gender & Sexuality in Ancient Greece, Alexandra Schutlz, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 10.16, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 66.37, Gender & Sexuality in Ancient Greece, Alexandra Schultz, OPEN HOURS, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 12.02, Greek and Roman Engineering and Technology, Margaretha Kramer, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 15, Art and Craft: Ceramics and the Question of Form vs. Function, Alison Schmauch, Class of 2004, Senior Intern, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 24-December 7, 2003.

Ancient and Premodern Global Cultures, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019.

Attic Vases in New England Collections, Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, March-April, 1972. Illustrations and descriptions in catalogue, pp.62-63.

Carpenter Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1975-

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, New York, New York, January 22-April 15, 2004.

Critical Faculties:Teaching with the Hood's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 15-March 13, 2005.

Director's Choice, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 10-July 10, 1966.

European Paintings from the College Collection, Jaffe-Friede and Strauss Galleries, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 13-October 6, 1974.

Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete and the Olympic Spirit, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, July 21-November 28, 2004.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 13, 1993-June 10, 1995.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 29, 2005-January 21, 2008.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 19, 2012 - March 13, 2016.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 16, 1997-October 24, 2003.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 25, 1995-June 22, 1997.

Global Cultures at the Hood: Ancient to Premodern, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26. 2019.

Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 12-December 6, 1992; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, January 9-April 16, 1993; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, May 11-August 1, 1993; The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, August 31-Novmeber 28, 1993, no. 39.

Investigations into the Ancient Mediterranean, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Yale University Collection-Sharing Initiative, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 5-June 24, 2012.

Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey, March 24, 2016-July 24, 2018.

Representing Myth: The Classical Tradition in Western Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 11-August 17, 1995.

The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C., Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey, March 4-June 11, 2017; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, July 8-October 1, 2017.

Publication History

Candice L. Goucher, Charles A. Le Guin and Linda A. Walton, In the Balance: Themes in Global History, Jane Vaicunas, Ed. director, New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999, 986 pp., ill. p. 104., fig. 3.7.

Martin Bentz, Eine athenische Vasengattung und ihre Funktion vom. 6.-4. Jahrhundert v. Chr., Basel, Schweiz: Vereinigung der Freund antiker Kunst, c/o Archaologisches Seminar der Universitat, 1998, ill. no. 5.074, p. 64-65.

Jenifer Neils, Worshipping Athena: Panathenaia and Parthenon, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.

B.A. Sparkes, The Red and the Black : Studies in Greek pottery, London; New York: Routledge, 1996, 203 p., ill.

Jane Benson Ackerman, The Hood Museum of Art: Ten Years of Making Art at Home in the Upper Valley, Upper Valley Magazine, November/December 1995, Volume 9, No. 6, Van Etten, Inc., 1995, pp. 22-29, ill. p. 24 & 27

Jenifer Neils, "Goddess and Polis: the Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens", Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College and the Princeton University Press, 1992, p. 171, ill. p. 28, 30, 34, 41.

Mardy High, borchure for Alumni Continuing Education seminar on Panathenaic, Nov. 14

Jonathan Douglas, Arts & Sciences Renewed, Dartmouth: A Campaign Report, Fall 1992, ill. p. 6

Jacquelynn Baas, From "a few curious Elephants Bones" to Picasso, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, September 1985, Hanover, New Hampshire: Dartmouth College, 1985, pp. 37-43, ill. p. 39

John J. Herrmann, Jr., and Christine Kondoleon, Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete and the Olympic Spirit, Boston, Massachusetts: MFA Publications, 2004, 201 pp., p. 177, ill. p. 96, checklist no. 56.

David Sansone, Ancient Greek Civilization, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004, 226 pp., B&W ill. p. 25.

Jenifer Neils and Stephen V. Tracy, Tonaoeneoenaodon: The Games at Athens, Princeton, New Jersey: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2003, pp. 19-22, ill. pp. 22.

Andreas V. Georgiou, Pankration: An Olympic Combat Sport: An Illustrated Reconstruction, Volume II, Philadelphia, PA; Xlibris Corporation & Andreas V. Georgiou, 2005, p. 107, ill. p. 145, fig.89.

Alison Schmauch, A Space for Dialogue 15, Art and Craft: Ceramics and the Question of Form vs. Function, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2003, ill. cover.

Investigations into the Ancient Mediterranean, Special Hood Website: The Yale University Art Gallery Collection-Sharing Initiative, 2012

J. Michael Padgett, ed., The Berlin Painter and his World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C., Princeton University Art Museum, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2017, 430 pp., color ills. p.354, 356, 357.

John R. Stomberg, The Hood Now: Art and Inquiry at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019, p. 72, ill. plate no. 3.

Tyler Jo Smith, Religion in the Art of Archaic and Classical Greece, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021, pp. 94-105, ill. pp. 96, fig. 49a-b.

Provenance

Unknown collection, Europe; sold to Bonnie Dora Jones Smith (1899-1990) and Ray Winfield Smith (1897-1982), Dublin, New Hampshire, date unknown; given to present collection, 1959.

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