Function and meaning
Kraters were used for mixing wine with tazza at verso symposium (per drinking party for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with vaso, kraters were crucial esatto the symposium, and were servizio up in the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by per utensil mixage the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia sopra Greece, in Etruria (Italy), or per both places. It may have been used at lavish parties sopra Athens, or con per funerary banquet honoring the deceased mediante Etruria before it was buried as a insopportabile offering.
Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets durante either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as conciliabule starters. Other vessels used at symposia mediante the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served verso similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing preciso the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images puro be relevant esatto their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances durante which it was actually used. Moreover, many of older women dating sito di incontri the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated in, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military promesse. (more…)