Emerging from the turmoil of the Bronze Age collapse, ancient Greece would become one of the most influential cultures in history – and ceramics were at the heart of its story.
Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh trace the extraordinary rise of Greek pottery, from the bold patterns of the Geometric period to the great workshops of Athens and Corinth and the exquisite black-figure vessels of the Golden Age. Against a backdrop of warring city-states, expanding trade and the looming threat of the Persian Empire, they discover how these pots became vessels for myth, storytelling and everyday life – and an extraordinary record of a civilisation taking shape.
To view the ceramics being discussed in this episode, please switch to video in your podcasting app.
Featured Artworks:
Images featured in this episode:Terracotta volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Etruscan, c. 340–300 BCE
Terracotta hydria (water jar), Greek, Euboean, mid-6th century BCE
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Painter of Athens 1943, c. 450–440 BCE
Map of Peloponnesian War 431 BC
Map of Athens
Proto-geometric pottery, c. 950-800, made at Kerameikos
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Plan of Kerameikos, Athens
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
(CC 4.0)
Kerameikos Photo, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Terracotta amphora (jar), Signed by Andokides, Attributed to the Andokides Painter, Attributed to the Lysippides Painter, c. 530 BCE
Terracotta neck-amphora, Greek, Attic, c. 710 BCE
Dipylon Amphora, 760-750 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens , Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Dipylon krater, Attributed to the Trachones Workshop, c. 725 BCE
Hellenistic Amphorae
Marble funerary stele, c. 4th century BCE,
National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh
Terracotta oinochoe (wine jug), Attributed to the Chigi Group, c. 625 BC
Vase, first half of 6th century BC (made)
Black Figure amphora, Exekias, Greek, c.530-525 BCE, Vatican Museum.
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) (2), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE
Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) (2) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE
Signature Exekias Louvre
Death of Penthesileia, by Exekias, c. 550-543 BC, CC 4.0
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction: The Ancient Greeks - Pots, Power and the Birth of a Civilisation
00:00:59 Historical Baggage: Reinventing the Greeks
00:04:35 The Greek Polis: City-States and Cosmopolitan Culture
00:07:06 The Bronze Age Collapse: Sea Peoples and Dark Ages
00:10:18 Geometric Pottery: The Ceramic Renaissance
00:23:02 Corinthian Innovation: New Visual Languages
00:26:31 The Persian Threat: Marathon and Military Culture
00:33:22 Black Figure Revolution: Exekias and Master Potters
00:43:15 Terra Sigillata: The Technology Behind the Beauty
00:46:20 Rebuilding Athens: Setting the Stage for Red Figure
Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond
Sound Mix and Engineering: Joe Little
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac
