Terracotta Lekythos (the oil flask)
Lekythos in the ancient Greece was defined a boarder meaning when compared to the archeological term ‘Lekythos’ in the modern art. It was used as a common word of referencing terracotta of diverse forms depending on its mythical purpose. Used for oil storage, the flask was mythically accepted not only in Athens but also in other parts of the Greek world. The shape of the vases through the ancient Greek was not specified because lekythos was considered as just an oil urn. However, the shapes and representation of the terracotta vases in the classical period were significantly differentiated in accordance by a variety of mythical perspectives. For instance, the distinctions of the vases tend to depend on aspects such as the appropriateness of the terracotta to delivering its mythological function. While White-figured lekythoi reined the ancient Greek by the mythical orientations, the red-figure terracotta as well played a very important role across the land in the classical period.
The Terracotta lekythos in particular the oil flask was used in the ancient period by the Greek Persians to store olive oil. The word lekythos (in plural form lekythoi) was used to mean any small oil flask. The flask was ceramic; it had a narrow neck connecting the mouth of the flask to the holding body and one handle that is attached to the neck and the body. The flask is similar to the modern flower vase only that it had a handle for holding purposes and pouring out the contents of the flask, the oil flask was just as fragile just as the modern vase. The oil flask was used in the mid-4th century B.C. to early 5th century B.C. The vase had been painted on the outside to depict a different significance.
The red-figure Phiale
The mythical meaning of the Attic vases continues to be deepened from one generation to another in accordance with the painters responsible for their decorations. Athenian red-figured vases played a very vital role to the presentation of mythical reasoning. The red-figure Phiale was specifically a ritual vessel in the classical period around 440 B.C. The vessel is considered to be an exception among other classical arts because it was rarely painted, an aspect that gains Phiale painter much superiority in Athens and also in the Greek world. Made of fired clay, the classical vases were made in diverse shapes. Also, the sizes differed from one vase to another in accordance by the intended function. For instance, the red figure terracotta by the Phiale painter was a vessel vase that was commonly used for storage purposes. The oil flask had a height of 44.3 centimeters and a diameter of 13.6 cm with a thin neck, a key characteristic that facilitated to its storage functions. The `vase encompasses a revolutionary of paintings and myths hence the need to analyze the lekythos by its origin.
Phiale Painter
The Phiale Painter was named after his distinct painting of a red-figure Phiale, which was commonly used for the storage oil among the Greece as a mythical. He is presumed to be a student and a main partner of the Achilles Painter. The painter is noted for his significant contributions to the style of Attic red-figure within the period of 450-425 B.C. However, the painter’s legacy is recognized through a variety of vases in the line of red-figured lekythoi although his artistic skills were represented in a range of diverse shapes. On the other hand, Phiale painter is as well honored for a few ‘white lekythoi’ prior to the termination of his career within 440 to 430 B.C. The examples of the white lekythoi associated with him significantly denote some of the personal and outstanding images on his stopovers to the grave known. The few known artistic presentations tend to bring significant complexity among the archeologists when defining him as the painter of the red-figure lekythoi over white lekythoi. He is as well regarded for the decoration of two calyx-kraters characteristics in the white-ground, which was an uncommon shape through this technique.
Most of the archeological studies within the classical history stipulate that utmost 200 vases of his decorations have survived. Despite some of his works in the white lekythoi, the vase-painter primarily majored in the painting red-figure to both lekythoi and amphorae. Important to note is that the painter’s decorations were commonly represented through narrative scenes, which commonly delivered information in accordance by the orientations of normal life occurrences among the Greece. The legend of the Greek art is associated with a variety of decorations, although, the red-figure Phiale highly influences the painter’s superiority in the classical period owing to its mythical significance.
The free style, around 450-420 B.C
The free style era can be regarded as the origin of major transformations in the Athenian state. The period availed a broad environment with a variety of significant resources with affluent development potential. The Athenian state and the entire Greek experienced much developmental activities including building operations through the period of free style. On the other hand, the free style era was of much influence in regards to the historical transformation of the Greek art. The period continues to be characterized as the era of great activity owing to the still transformation capability that was evidenced on the presentation of Greek art. For instance, the Vase painters turned in the decoration field through the free style with works that reflected the spirits and mythic perspectives on particular but diverse life situations. Importantly, all artistic paintings were oriented to announce the Greek’s mythical considerations despite the limited censorships on artistic representations; the artistic freedom that was majorly facilitated by the free style.
The Greek Beliefs
Like the black-figured lekythoi in the ancient period, the red-figure vases were used during the classical period to signify the mythical themes of the Greeks. The vases included themes of time-honored Greece legends from various orientations including the religious gods. As characterized by the free style, the Greek art was characterized by partial involvement of expansive censorships during the classical period despite the fact that the encompassed works were regulated to present both life and natural occurrences across Greek. This affirms that art in the Greek world was set as an appropriate mechanism of symbolizing the normal life conditions such as moral aspirations and other life guiding principles. The skills of art were not enveloped to particular alienations so long as the works were enacted in accordance by mythological scenes on a variety of considerations. Therefore, it can be deduced that the vases were used in the classical era to preserve the mythical experiences regarding the Greek life by presenting the historical information in more imaginative orientations.
Significantly, most of the religious groups across Greek placed their beliefs on anthropomorphic features unlike religious beliefs of the southwest Asia that considered the power of the living creatures including humans and animals. The gods of the Greek were both male and female although they were of different personalities and field. Myths were used to give explanations on different aspects including the origin, the nature and the relationship of the Greeks to humankind. Therefore, the Greek art of both Archaic and Classical period encompasses diverse mythological episodes while incorporating significant symbolic features to enhance the identification of divinities. Different arenas of the Greek word believed in twelve main deities. However, Zeus among other gods was highly reputed in the entire land of the Greece. He was considered the father of gods and god of the heavens. According to the Greek, Zeus had two brothers namely Poseidon who controlled the underworld and Hades in reign over the sea.
The lekythoi were usually associated with funeral rites to anoint the deceased since the Greeks believed that at the moment of death, the spirit of the dead left the body as a short breath which left their souls roaming in the underworld, they also believed that their souls were left working for the spirits after they lay dead. It was necessary that all rituals at the burial ceremony be conducted in accordingly because an omission of one ritual amounted to being an insult to the human dignity. After the body was washed during the funeral procession it was anointed with olive oil which was poured from exclusively the lekythos oil flask.
The oil flask was also used to anoint women as a wedding gift and a ritual to women and accompanied them to their grave site meaning it was left at the grave site. Poseidon was the god of the sea and was also the god of fertility, his name in Greek means “husband”. The oil flask offered to the unmarried women to please Poseidon who they believed would help them find husbands for themselves and as a wedding gift for the married woman to be fertile in their marriage and bear children.
Conclusion
The Terracotta Lekythos (oil flask) was significant to the people of Greek in the ancient times. In the mid-400th BC to the early 500th BC, as this paper suggests it helped the Greeks during the time of grieve and demise bury their dead and they felt reassured that their loved ones would not suffer serving the legion in the underworld. The oil flask also helped the Greek women to remain optimistic when finding a husband and also belief that it would help them conceive and bear children if anointed by oil from the flask. The flask remains culturally significant to date and an inheritance for the modern Greeks as a sign of pride and identity.
