Underworld - Imagining the Afterlife in Ancient South Italian Vase Painting
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A01=David Saunders
afterlife
Altamura krater
ancient Greeks
Apulia
Aristophanes
Author_David Saunders
Category=AFP
Category=AGA
Category=NHC
customs
Danaids
dead
death
Delphi
Demeter
Dionysus
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Frogs
funeral
funerary
Furies
gold
Hades
Herakles
Hermes
Iapygia
imagery
inscriptions
Istitudo di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale
Judges
Kerberos
krater
Marina Pensa
Mediterranean
mystery cults
myth
Odysseus
Odyssey
Ohio State University
Orpheus
Polygnotos
religion
repatriation
rituals
Salon
Sisyphus
SUNY New Paltz
tablets
vases
Product details
- ISBN 9781606067345
- Weight: 1478g
- Dimensions: 226 x 271mm
- Publication Date: 11 Jan 2022
- Publisher: Getty Trust Publications
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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What happens to us when we die? What might the afterlife look like? For the ancient Greeks, the dead lived on, overseen by Hades in the Underworld. We read of famous sinners, such as Sisyphus, forever rolling his rock, and the fierce guard dog Kerberos, who was captured by Herakles. For mere mortals, ritual and religion offered possibilities for ensuring a happy existence in the beyond, and some of the richest evidence for beliefs about death comes from southern Italy, where the local Italic peoples engaged with Greek beliefs. Monumental funerary vases that accompanied the deceased were decorated with consolatory scenes from myth, and around forty preserve elaborate depictions of Hades's domain.
For the first time in over four decades, these compelling vase paintings are brought together in one volume, with detailed commentaries and ample illustrations. The catalogue is accompanied by a series of essays by leading experts in the field, which provides a framework for understanding these intriguing scenes and their contexts. Topics include attitudes toward the afterlife in Greek ritual and myth, inscriptions on leaves of gold that provided guidance for the deceased; funerary practices and religious beliefs in Apulia, and the importance accorded to Orpheus and Dionysos. Drawing from a variety of textual and archaeological sources, this volume is an essential source for anyone interested in religion and belief in the ancient Mediterranean.
David Saunders is associate curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum. He coedited The Restoration of Ancient Bronzes: Naples and Beyond (Getty, 2013) and Dangerous Perfection: Ancient Funerary Vases from Southern Italy (Getty, 2016).
