Ceramic objects of note: the Great Panathenaic games prize amphoras
I will never pass on an opportunity to look at ancient pottery
In honour of the Olympic Games having just opened in Paris, I wanted to go back in time to look a specific ceramic object of note: the Great Panathenaic games prize amphoras.
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The Great Panathenaic games
Every four years since ca. 566B.C., at the end of the month Hekatombaia (July / August), the Great Panathenaea festivals were held in Athens in celebration of Athena, patron goddess of Athens. The festival featured a number of events, including four-horse chariot races, the famous pankration (a mix of wrestling, boxing, and kicking - a dangerous discipline), pentathlon (long-jump, foot-racing, wrestling, javelin- and discus-throwing), gymnastics, running, boat races and even music and poetry contests. While only men were allowed to take part in competitions, women were allowed to sponsor someone.1
The prizes for winners? Beautifully decorated terracotta amphoras containing around 40l of olive oil harvested from the secret olive trees around Athens. There are theories surrounding the actual amount of oil contained in the amphoras, as the capacity of amphoras found varied significantly, thus suggesting that the amount of oil changed every year, likely due to fluctuations in harvest and other factors.2
A closer look at the prize amphora
The Panathenaic amphoras were only decorated in the black-figure technique (even though the style itself started to decline over time outside of this usage). They share many of the features of other amphoras that were made for commerce as they were meant to be filled with oil and then shipped.3
They featured two main sides. Side A of the vase showed Athena holding a shield, framed by two Doric columns on which two roosters were perching. Official vases that were given to victors in the Games disciplines showed the inscription “of the prizes from Athens” (“TON ATHENETHEN ATHLON”). Side B showed the discipline for which the prize was awarded. In the case of the amphora showed above (part of the MET collection), the amphora features the prestigious chariot race.4
Once emptied, the amphora itself was a precious possession and numerous examples have been found outside of Greece, showing that perhaps they were sold and bought. It is interesting to note that, in the final years of the festival, amphoras seemed to have been delivered empty (they featured a hole at their base), thus suggesting that they were meant to be the prize itself.5
Who produced these vases? It is very likely that the amphoras were produced by local pottery workshops after a competition was held by the state6. The skill required was great, but so was the need to produce a certain number of amphoras in time and on budget. The evidence supporting this theory rests in the fact that many examples resembling official Panathenaic amphoras were found that did not feature the official inscription, but instead the name of the workshop.7 It appears as though artists’ signatures stopped being added to the official amphoras after the mix-sixth century B.C.8
Competing for olive oil: A Panathenaic prize amphora, Josho Brouwers. https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/competing-olive-oil-panathenaic-amphora/
“The Panathenaic Games: Proceedings of an International Conference held at the University of Athens, May 11-12, 2004”, Oxbow Books, p.16
ibid
Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora (jar), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254862
“The Panathenaic Games: Proceedings of an International Conference held at the University of Athens, May 11-12, 2004”, Oxbow Books, p.19
ibid
ibid
Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora, The MET Collection, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249067