DESCRIPTION
HISTORY
EXHIBITIONS
INFORMATION
PHOTOGALLERY
 
 
 
<<Exhibitions
| Description | | Exhibits |

The permanent exhibition of the Heraklion Archaeological Museum

The stone conical rhyton with athletic representations
The Boxer rhyton

This fragmentary rhyton from the Agia Triada mansion is a true masterpiece of Neopalatial stone carving. It has one handle and the rim is decorated with engraved lines. The entire surface bears relief scenes separated into four zones. The upper and two lower zones depict boxing and wrestling matches of men wearing helmets, while the middle zone carries a scene of bull-leaping. The muscular athletes, dressed only in a loin-cloth, gloves and tall boots, are depicted in different stages of the events. Their anatomy, the tension in their faces and bodies and their physical strength, are rendered with great detail and verve and make up a composition of remarkable liveliness. It is worth noting on the first and third zones the small columns with banners which adorned the fa?ades of Minoan sanctuaries, since they not only indicate the location where the games took place, but also the connection between athletic events and religion.

Exhibit Features
Date: Late Bronze Age, 1550 - 1500 BC
Place of discovery: Agia Triada, Royal villa
Dimensions: height: 0,465 m
Material: Black Steatite
Inventory number: ΑΕ 498
Usage: Ritual
Exhibition hole: Hall VII
Copyright: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
 
 
 
  Suggestive Bibliography
 
Ελληνική Τέχνη, Η αυγή της ελληνικής τέχνης, Αθήνα, 1994, αρ. 39-41 171-173, 320-321
 
Σακελλαράκης Ι.Α., Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, Αθήνα, 2003, 66
 
Βασιλάκης Α., Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, Αθήνα, χ.χ., 121
 
 
 
  See also
 
Royal villa at Agia Triada
 
 
 
Other views
Helmeted warrior, detail from the boxer rhyton
Wrestler, detail from the boxer rhyton