"Nestor's cup" from Mycenae

The Cup of Nestor or dove cup is a gold goblet discovered in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann in Shaft IV of Grave Circle A, Mycenae,[1] which is usually dated to the 16th century BC. It is now in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

The goblet is 14.5 cm high and 14.5 cm across; it weighs 295.8 grams.[2] It has a stem, a Vapheio cup–shaped body, and two handles in the style of a kantharos.[3] The cup is the only known example of the Vapheio shape to have a stem; it is also unusual for such a small cup to have multiple handles.[4]

Each handle is decorated with a golden bird, which Schliemann observed was reminiscent of the cup of Nestor described in the Iliad.[5] The birds have since been identified by Spiros Marinatos as falcons, rather than the doves which are on the Iliadic cup.[6] J.T. Hooker suggests that the cup is an adaptation of a Cretan design made by a craftsman on the Greek mainland.[7] Despite the unusual design and value of the gold used to make the cup, it shows signs of poor-quality or hasty craftsmanship: for instance tool marks are still visible on the cup, and the rivets used to attach the handles to the base compromise the vessel's watertightness.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Gaunt 2017, p. 108.
  2. ↑ Davis 1977, p. 283.
  3. ↑ Wright 2004, p. 140.
  4. ↑ Aulsebrook 2019, p. 85.
  5. ↑ Schliemann 2010, pp. 235–236.
  6. ↑ Gaunt 2017, p. 109.
  7. ↑ Hooker 1976, pp. 40–41.
  8. ↑ Aulsebrook 2019, pp. 85–86.

Works cited

  • Aulsebrook, Stephanie (2019). Materialising Mythology: The Cup of Nestor from Shaft Grave IV at Mycenae. Sympozjum Egejskie: Papers in Aegean Archaeology. Vol. 2. University of Warsaw.
  • Davis, Ellen N. (1977). The Vapheio cups and Aegean gold and silver ware. New York: Garland.
  • Gaunt, Jasper (2017). "Nestor's Cup and its Reception". In Slater, Niall W. (ed.). Voice and Voices in Antiquity.
  • Hooker, J.T. (1976). Mycenaean Greece.
  • Schliemann, Heinrich (2010) [1878]. Mycenae: A Narrative of Researches and Discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns.
  • Wright, James C. (2004). "A Survey of Evidence for Feasting in Mycenaean Society". Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 73 (2): 133–178. doi:10.2972/hesp.2004.73.2.133. S2CID 54957703.
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