The Concentric Circle Group

In ancient Greece, the rituals and objects of death and burial provided a final opportunity to display wealth, class identity, and familial pride. Luxury items such as the wine jug (oinochoe) and the lidded box (pyxis) and were particularly appropriate grave gifts.

Wealthy women used pyxides to store cosmetics or jewelry, while oinochoai were used during the symposium, a social activity attended by aristocratic men. Horses figure prominently in both vessels.

They signify wealth, as only landowners could afford them. The water birds on the wine jug suggest drinking as well as death, as the dead were believed to be thirsty.

—GB

The ancient Greeks placed great importance upon the proper observance of rites for the dead, including regular offerings of food and drink at the gravesite. This Late Geometric wine jug (oinochoe) is one of only fifteen vessels worldwide attributed to the Concentric Circle Group, a group of vases sharing a unique style emphasizing concentric circles. The decorative elements in this example combine a circle pattern with a central figural scene. The animals in the scene suggest this vessel’s funerary context: water birds were identified with both drinking vessels and the dead, who were believed to be thirsty; and horses, a symbol of status and wealth, commemorated the lifestyle and class of the deceased. A snake is painted on the handle; snakes, who moved easily between the earth and life above, were both companions of the dead and protectors of the tomb.