The Ancient Greeks: Pots, Power and the Birth of a Civilisation

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.

Images featured in this episode:

Terracotta volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Etruscan, c. 340–300 BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/645157

Terracotta hydria (water jar), Greek, Euboean, mid-6th century BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255264

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Painter of Athens 1943, c. 450–440 BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253479

Map of Peloponnesian War 431 BC https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Peloponnesian_War_431_BC-en.svg Map of Athens https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Ancient_Greece.jpg

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 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255154

Terracotta neck-amphora, Greek, Attic, c. 710 BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248292

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 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248905

Hellenistic Amphorae https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amphorae_stacking.jpg

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 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255449

Vase, first half of 6th century BC (made) https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O340731/vase-unknown/

Black Figure amphora, Exekias, Greek, c.530-525 BCE, Vatican Museum. https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/museo-gregoriano-etrusco/sala-xix--emiciclo-inferiore--collezione-dei-vasi--ceramica-atti/anfora-attica-a-figure-nere-firmata-da-exekias.html

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) (2), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254843

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) (2) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/250551

Signature Exekias Louvre https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Signature_Exekias_Louvre_F53.jpg

Death of Penthesileia, by Exekias, c. 550-543 BC, CC 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exekias_-_ABV_143_1_-_Achilleus_and_Penthesilea_-_Oinopion_and_Dionysos_-_London_BM_1836-0224-127_-_03.jpg