Kylix

Kylix, painter of Wurzburg, Greek, 470 BCE

This drinking vessel depicts Eros, God of Love, at the center most part of the cup, taking part in a courtship ritual characterized by placing a bird at the feet of another man. The common practices of Ancient Greece specifically symposiums – parties that included drinking wine from cups like this Kylix, poetry, and music – and male homosexual relationships come together on this drinking vessel. The presence of such a scene tells us that male, same sex relationships were as commonplace in Ancient Greece as drinking wine.