K7.9 THE BIRTH OF ATHENE

Museum Collection: British Museum, London, UK
Catalogue No.: London B424
Beazley Archive No.: 301068
Ware: Attic Black Figure
Shape: Kylix, little master lip
Painter: Signed by the Phrynos Potter
Date: ca 560 BC
Period: Early Archaic

SUMMARY

Side A: Hephaistos splits open the skull of Zeus with a mallet, releasing the goddess Athene from his head. The king of the gods is shown seated on a swan-backed chair, holding a lightning bolt in his hand. A miniature Athene springs from his head, already equipped with a shield. Hephaistos waves one hand, in imitation of an Eileithyia (birth goddess) bringing forth a child. In the other hand he holds a two-headed mallet or axe.
Side B: The reception of Herakles into Olympos (see other image)

ARTICLESAthene, Zeus, Hephaistos

OTHER IMAGES OF VASE