The krater of the Painter of Cadmus 1093: Vase painting and society

Abstract

The study analyzes the famous krater of the Painter of Cadmus, stored in the Archaeological Museum of Ruvo di Puglia. For the first time, a unitary reading of the mythical scenes is proposed in the light of the historical and cultural context of Athens in the last twenty years of the 5th century B.C., in which this masterpiece was shaped and painted. In particular, in this paper will be illustrated the influence that the "new music" of Melanippides and of that group of innovators - who operated a real revolution in the musical field- exerted on poetry, in particular on Euripides and on the Attic pottery iconography of the last quarter of the fifth century BC.