Black-figure amphora
OBJECT NARRATIVES
DESCRIPTION
On one side of this black-figure amphora, dating to 510 – 500 BC, a scene from the Gigantomachy (battle against the Giants) is vividly depicted. The god Poseidon here overwhelms the giant Polybotes. The god of sea holds his trident, the symbol of his power, and carries a large rock. He is about to throw the latter at Polybotes.
In the myth, Poseidon had undertaken to kill Polybotes, who fled across the Aegean Sea trying to save himself. Poseidon caught up with him near the island of Kos, cut a piece of the island off and threw it at the Giant. From this piece a new island, Nisyros, sprang up nearby. The Nisyros volcano is called Polybotes and when it roars, according to tradition, it is from the trapped giant’s cries.
