- chapter 30: The sanctuary of Pyrgi –
purpose of offering, analogous to what has been attested in the case of the great kylix
attributed to Onesimos and dedicated to Heracles in the sanctuary of Porta S. Antonio in
the mother city, Caere. This large vessel, in size and in the profi le of its very thin walls,
testifi es above all to the great skill of the potter, certainly presented technical diffi culties
in the process of its throwing and fi ring. The break restored in antiquity with small
bronze clamps may have been produced or manifested just after fi ring.
The subject chosen for the decoration of the exterior, as in the case of the high relief
in the gable of Temple A, is a sign of a precise ethico-political ideology that entrusts
to the fi gural message a stern warning on the observance of the laws of hospitality and
social life. On the exterior, in a fi gural register slightly over 13 cm in height, runs a
continuous frieze of a complex composition that depicts with great excitement the
dramatic conclusion of the banquet of the wicked Suitors, executed by Odysseus after his
return. The decapitation of the diviner Leiodes, the fi nal victim of Odysseus, is clearly
identifi able in the severed head that has fallen beneath a couch. From the kline (“couch”)
hang, now inert, the arms of the slain suitors and all the drama of the event appears in
the overlap of lifeless bodies and fallen, overturned couches, in the meticulous depiction
of the tremendous upheaval that struck the banquet hall, where nothing more (pottery,
tripods, tables) is intact or in place. Signifi cantly, the interior frieze contrasts with the
tragic outcome of the wicked banquet, carried out in defi ance of the laws of hospitality
and society. The work of a vase painter of great skill in drawing and composition, which
was put to the test in this, the oldest representation remaining to us of the massacre of the
Suitors, the phiale can be attributed to the mature phase of the unknown master known
as the “Brygos Painter,” around 470 bc.
The organization of the decoration is knowingly calibrated: while on the interior a series
of elaborate decorative friezes frame the fi gured fi eld and the hole where the omphalos, now
lost, was placed, on the exterior the fi gured fi eld is spread over a wide black band using the
full height of the visible part of the wall, with a desired effect of contrast. On both exterior
and interior the decorative theme is the symposium, with contrasting results: while on
the interior frieze the banqueters, leaning on cushions, are enjoying everything that a
banquet among free men can offer (wine, music and song, the company of hetairai), in the
exterior frieze the banquet hall, sumptuously furnished, is the scene of the massacre of the
guests. The different atmosphere that prevails in the two scenes has a profound impact
on the composition: on the interior the space is marked by the calm fi gures of the diners,
joined in groups formed of wreathed youths facing young girls, in two cases portrayed
with long fl owing hair, a genuine “bravura piece” of the potter. The fi gurative repertoire
is that adopted by the Athenian vase painters of the years around 490/480 bc; the melody
of the double fl ute played by a standing youth induces an ecstatic atmosphere to which a
banqueter on a couch has abandoned himself in a rare frontal view.
On the exterior, the continuous overlapping of bodies on different levels, the bold views
of overturned and destroyed furniture, illustrate the drama of the event. On the exterior
is one of the rare representations of the massacre of the Suitors that has come down to us,
perhaps the oldest yet known. In this case the fi nal phase of the massacre is represented,
where the hero Odysseus rather ruthlessly restores order to his house and punishes those
who have violated the sacred rules of hospitality and banquet. The subject therefore
represented a stern warning to comply with the norms governing the coexistence of citizens
with full rights and such a reminder of the rules of coexistence “among equals” could be
linked to a particular political situation in the mother city of Caere. The decorative scheme