Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Exhibition and Lecture at SFO Explore Ancient Mediterranean Pottery

SAN FRANCISCO —  Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Ancient Mediterranean Pottery, a new exhibition at San Francisco International Airport, presents black- and red-figure pottery of Ancient Greece and its colonies, as well as Etruscan wares. From drinking cups intended to ward off the “evil eye” to pots that depict famous Greek heroes and gods such as Heracles and Zeus, Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Ancient Mediterranean Potteryshowcases a spectacular range of vessels dating from the Archaic (700–479 BCE), Classical (479 BCE–323 BCE) and Hellenistic (323–31 BCE) periods .

Decorated with imagery that often illustrates the way the vessels were used, the scenes depicted on Greek and Etruscan vases reveal many of the cultural practices and daily lives of these ancient peoples.   The more than forty ceramic vessels on display explore a wide variety of subject matter including myths, gods and demons, warriors at battle, animals, social gatherings, athletics, and the roles of men and women in society.  

Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Ancient Mediterranean Pottery is on view in the International Terminal Main Hall, pre-security, 24-hours a day from October 16, 2009 to March 21, 2010.

Downloadable images from the exhibition are available at: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/about/news/pressres/exh-medpottery.html.  

Lecture to coincide with the exhibition on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 2 p.m.:
Drinking Dionysos: The Athenian Symposium by Andrew Stewart, Curator of Greek and Roman Archaeology, Phoebe A. Hearst  Museum  of  Anthropology  and Professor of Art History and Classics, UC Berkeley.

What was an ancient Greek drinking party like? What happened there and why? This talk examines the protocols and pleasures of the Greek symposium through the medium of Athenian painted pottery of the archaic and classical periods (c. 600–400 BC).

The lecture will be held in the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, located on the Departures Level of the International Terminal Main Hall. There is no charge to attend the lecture or to view the exhibition.

Scenes from Myths and Daily Life: Ancient Mediterranean Pottery was made possible through a generous loan from the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Special thanks to Andrew Stewart, Curator of Greek and Roman Archaeology, and Ira Jacknis, Research Anthropologist.