Detail of a Terracotta Lekythos Attributed to the Tithonus Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2015

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Attributed to the Tithonos Painter

Period:Classical

Date:ca. 480–470 B.C.

Culture:Greek, Attic

Medium:Terracotta; red-figure

Dimensions:H. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm); width 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm); diameter of foot 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) diameter of mouth 3 1/16 in. (7.8 cm)

Classification:Vases

Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1925

Accession Number:25.78.2

Hermes

Hermes, the messenger god, moves swiftly across this vase on some errand for Zeus, the ruler of the gods. Dressed in traveling clothes with a chlamys (short cloak) and a petasos (broad-brimmed hat), he wears winged sandals and carries a herald's staff, a kerykeion, which terminates in entwined snakes. The same symbol was carried by Greek heralds as they traveled from city to city.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251800