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Greek Mythology >> Galleries >> Greek Vase Paintings 8 >> T40.6

T40.6 THE PURIFICATION OF ORESTES

Purification of Orestes | Apulian red figure vase painting
DETAILS
Museum Collection Musée du Louvre, Paris
Catalogue No. -
Beazley Archive No. N/A
Ware Apulian Red Figure
Shape Krater
Painter Attributed to the Eumenides Painter
Date ca 380 - 370 B.C.
Period Late Classical

DESCRIPTION

Orestes is purified of the crime of matricide at Delphi. The hero sits beside the omphalos stone with a sword in his hand. Apollo stands above him performing the rites of purification with the blood of a suckling pig. The god holds a branch of laurel in his other hand. He is accompanied by the goddess Artemis who wears a knee-lenght maiden's skirt and holds a pair of hunting spears. On the opposite side, the three Erinyes (Furies) are appeased, falling into a restful slumber. The ghost of Clytmenestra attempts to rouse them.

ARTICLES

Erinyes, Apollo, Artemis