suggesting that these are figures from myth. The last of the ‘‘Lenaia’’stamnoi, ca. 420
BC, has women given names used exclusively for nymphs on other vases. On another
stamnosone of the women holds a satyr child. It is entirely possible that all of the
women on the Lenaia vases should be seen as nymphs rather than as mortals, and that
the scene has nothing to do with an Attic festival (Carpenter 1997a:79–84).
The shape of thestamnos(a modern name for the vase) originated in Etruria, and
most Atticstamnoihave been found in Italy, including most of the ‘‘Lenaia’’stamnoi.
Also, the only depictions of thestamnosshape on Greek vases are precisely on these
stamnoi, where it is used in place of a krater for mixing wine. Thus there is reason to
see the Atticstamnosas primarily an export commodity. This does not necessarily
mean that the imagery was specially designed for export, but it does give us pause if
we want to use it as evidence of Attic religious behavior.
Figure 26.12 Women worshiping at mask image of Dionysus on an Attic red-figure stamnos
from Falerii Veteres ca. 440 BC. Villa Giulia 983. Photograph: Soprintendenza per i Bene
Archeologici di Lazio, Sezione Etruria Meridionale
416 T.H. Carpenter