The Fury of Lyssa in Painting and Drama. Its Depiction on an Attic Bell-Krater in Ancient Iberia

Abstract

A fragment of an Attic bell-krater found in the Region of Murcia (Spain) features the character of Lyssa standing in front of a falling Doric column. A thorough study of ancient literary sources and iconography suggests that the scene depicted on the pottery fragment could be linked either to the madness of Herakles, as portrayed in Euripides’ Hēraklēs Mainomenos, or more likely to the punishment of Lycurgus by Dionysus, the subject of Aeschylus’ lost play Edonoi. In terms of style, some particular details allow to attribute the krater to the Meidias Painter or his workshop, active in the last quarter of the 5th century BC.  Attic trade in the Iberian Peninsula increased significantly in this period, so the krater probably arrived in southeastern Iberia through Ampurias, some harbor on the coast and a commercial route along the Tader river (now Segura). The 5^th century BC was also the heyday of Athenian theatre, and the popularity of Athenian drama may have influenced the choice of the subject on this Attic krater. The Meidias Painter and his workshop likely relied on previously established Attic iconography to represent the character of Lyssa with two sprouting hounds on her head, a rare motif that has only one parallel on an Attic bell-krater of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.