This fine piece of ancient pottery was created by an Attic Greek or Athenian artist known as the Danaë Painter (c. 5th century BCE). Dated to around the year 460 BCE, this particular ancient bowl features groups of Greek women in their daily lives. Unfortunately, there are no inscriptions or unambiguous clues on the artwork that can identify the figures with certainty, but the presence of the seated woman with the musical instrument allows for speculation. Due to the affectionate and intimate disposition of the musician scene, it has been suggested that the sitting woman playing the instrument may be a representation of Sappho of Lesbos.
Sappho was an ancient poetess from the Greek island of Lesbos who prolifically composed songs and poems during the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE. Many of Sappho’s verses contained evidence that she may have been attracted to women, and, as a result, her Sapphic name and her Lesbian homeland gained an association with relationships between women. Sexuality aside, Sappho’s poetry was greeted with great acclaim in ancient Greek and Roman circles, and she was considered to be rightfully ranked among the most talented poets to have ever lived in ancient Greece. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, enough of Sappho’s poems were still existent to fill nine volumes in the Library of Alexandria, possibly amounting to around 9,000 lines of poetry. Time, however, ravaged Sappho’s work, and of the nine volumes of her poems known to the ancients, only around 230 poetic fragments have survived to the modern day.
Sappho’s likeness has been found on other Greek pottery pieces discovered by archaeologists, so it would not be uncommon for the Danaë Painter to decorate bowls and vases with depictions of the famous poetess and her followers. Alternatively, one could argue that the women on the pottery may be representations of some of the Muses. And, of course, instead of celebrity poets or goddesses, the artist may have simply decided to depict everyday Greek or Athenian women in the art piece, with one of them just so happening to play an instrument. As is often the case with vague and obscure art, the meaning and identity of the artwork is largely up to the eye of the beholder, but a tentative identification of the musician as Sappho is convincing.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Sappho, Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments, translated and introduced by Aaron Poochigian. Penguin Classics, 2009.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sappho-Greek-poet
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251413
